Timber Creek football program investigated

• The allegations under investigation against Timber Creek were made anonymously and include:
• Claims of tainted championships.
• Claims of illegal recruiting and the use of falsified home addresses for players.
• Claims of fraud that bilked taxpayers out of tens of thousands of dollars.

GLOUCESTER TWP. - The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating whether one of South Jersey’s top high school football programs has built its success on athletes who were illegally recruited and enrolled.

The investigation comes after detailed allegations against Timber Creek Regional High School were made anonymously to the prosecutor’s office and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, which regulates high school sports. Those include accusations that many athletes attended Timber Creek and played on the championship teams while living outside of the district.

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The Courier-Post has not been able to independently verify the claims of impropriety and it’s unclear if the prosecutor’s ongoing probe has uncovered any irregularities.

The man at the center of the controversy, football head coach Robert Hinson, insists he’s acted properly and is the victim of a malicious smear campaign fueled by jealousy.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” he told the Courier-Post, while lamenting he’s “already convicted in the court of public opinion.”

The stakes are high — and not only for Hinson. Any findings that Timber Creek’s football program violated recruiting or enrollment rules could result in consequences such as player ineligibility, stripping of wins and titles, postseason bans or even legal repercussions.

The accusations

The allegations under investigation are stunning.

Claims of tainted championships.

Claims of illegal recruiting and the use of falsified home addresses for players.

Claims of fraud that bilked taxpayers out of tens of thousands of dollars.

An anonymous, highly detailed packet of accusations sent in May to the NJSIAA, the Courier-Post and others appears to have prompted the investigation.

The 13-page document claims to be from a grassroots community watch group that calls itself Stop Taking Our Players, or STOP. The anonymous group says it comprises parents, educators, coaches, game officials, administrators and attorneys.

The Courier-Post has not been able to identify STOP’s members or determine its motivation.

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In the document, STOP claims it conducted a one-year, independent investigation into Timber Creek’s highly successful football program. The Chargers have reached the sectional finals in each of the past five seasons, winning South Jersey Group 3 in 2011 and South Jersey Group 4 in 2012 and 2015.

But STOP asserts Timber Creek’s success is not what it seems, alleging its findings show the school operates as a private football factory at taxpayer expense.

Its documentation includes information on 11 football players it alleges lived outside the Black Horse Pike Regional School District yet attended Timber Creek, giving the team unfair athletic advantages. The group estimates the extra tax burden on district taxpayers who funded the players’ education is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The organization alleges Hinson and others associated with the program helped players establish fraudulent addresses within the Timber Creek sending district in order to attend the school and play football.

Hinson categorically denies that allegation.

“I don’t do anything to encourage kids to come to Timber Creek,” he told the Courier-Post in a June 8 telephone interview.

STOP also claims school district sources informed the organization that several duplicate addresses have been used for players in the football program. They allege those addresses are recycled on a year-to-year basis, with multiple players living at the same address or some players using an address previously used by a graduated player.

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The depth and gravity of STOP’s accusations suggest either the football program is deeply mired in questionable practices, or a sophisticated campaign has been launched to tarnish its reputation and dismantle the football powerhouse.

Camden County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Robert English told the Courier-Post investigators are pursuing an allegation of illegal recruitment and enrollment of Timber Creek football players.

“There was an anonymous allegation,” English said in an email last week. “An investigation into the matter is ongoing. There is no further information to release at this time as it may jeopardize the integrity of the investigation."

Black Horse Pike Regional Superintendent Brian Repici said in an email Sunday that he has been working with the prosecutor’s office for “some time now regarding residency concerns.” He declined to elaborate further on the accusations.

When reached Monday by phone, Black Horse Pike Regional athletic director Frank Torcasio said he didn't "know too much" about the investigation.

"I can't comment on anything that's going on right now," Torcasio added.

The NJSIAA confirmed it received STOP’s initial packet as well as a follow-up letter with more details. The organization said an investigation is underway into the Timber Creek allegations, but would not elaborate whether the NJSIAA was conducting its own independent probe or relying on another agency.

The rules

The transfer process for athletes differs on a school-to-school basis. Parochial and choice institutions have guidelines specifically different from a regular public school, such as Timber Creek.

Timber Creek is neither choice nor private. Under its classification, a student who transfers there must withdraw from their previous school. When some form of verification of a new residency within the school district is presented, the enrollment process begins and the student is immediately eligible to play.

For athletes, the new school must send an NJSIAA transfer form to the student's prior school. On this form, there are two boxes that, if marked by the previous school's athletic director, indicate the student either is transferring for an “athletic advantage” or was recruited.

In cases where either box is marked or the form is returned unsigned by the former school, the NJSIAA requires written evidence be sent immediately for review. Often, such cases end with an eligibility hearing to decide the transfer’s validity.

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When it comes to the importance of regulation in terms of transfers, the state’s position is simple: A change of school for competitive advantage must be tempered.

In cases where students who've previously competed in a varsity event transfer, such as to or from choice or parochial schools, a 30-day ineligibility period typically is handed down. But in cases where that student has moved into a different district, no sit-out period is required.

The circumstances that seem to be at the heart of STOP’s accusations point to two rules where there is little wiggle room: No athlete can be recruited to attend a public school and any student at a non-choice public school must live in the district.

‘Malicious plot’

Hinson, who has coached the Chargers since 2006, denied all wrongdoing in a June 8 telephone interview and in a letter sent by his attorney last week.

“I don’t do anything to encourage kids to come to Timber Creek. I don’t have contact,” Hinson said in the interview. “If it happens, it happens. But I don’t do anything. I haven’t enticed anyone, there’s no contacting.

“I don’t know how to defend myself. There’s nothing I can do to prove I haven’t done anything. It’s public opinion that I must be doing something. … There’s nothing I can do to defend myself. …

“I don’t register anyone. If I’m told they don’t belong, they don’t belong. If they say someone has to leave, he goes. I’m not fighting the district. As a man, all I can ask for is to defend myself and I don’t have the opportunity to do it.”

In a conversation via text message the next day, Hinson was asked if he would like to further discuss the matter with the Courier-Post. He declined.

“I’m already convicted in the court of public opinion, so no need. … I haven’t done anything wrong, so I’ll have to leave it at that. Anything further or deeper than that is really out of my pay grade,” Hinson wrote.

He remained firm on the issue when reached again for comment last week.

“I’ve heard so many things by so many people,” he said. “It’s been all summer. Since May or June it’s been nonstop. People all over Twitter saying the death is coming, the death of the program is coming. All kinds of crazy stuff. …

“It’s the same as always. There’s nothing I can say. Kids transfer all over the place. What families decide to do is not my business. If they show up, I coach them. I understand the perception.”

The coach’s attorney, Troy Archie, reiterated that Hinson’s actions were proper. The anonymous campaign against him, Archie wrote, “reeks with the stench of a jealous, envious and malicious plot to scandalize and tarnish the reputation of an honest coach by a rival competitor seeking to damage Coach Hinson’s reputation without proof of anything including providing their own name.”

Archie, whose son plays for the Chargers, also said Timber Creek’s players have done nothing wrong.

“Under no circumstances would Coach Hinson employ illegal methods to lure athletes away from other schools near or far to join the Timber Creek program,” he wrote. “Any investigation will reveal that all of the Timber Creek players past and present either lived in the Black Horse Pike Regional School District or moved to the area and followed all the requirements for legal enrollment in the district.”

Archie and Hinson noted a winning record like Timber Creek’s is likely to draw families to enroll their children there, no matter what coaches say or do.

“I’m sure there are schools upset when guys are leaving,” Hinson said. “I’d be upset as well. It would bother me if kids were leaving for certain schools.

“I haven’t tried to entice a kid to come to Timber Creek. They make the decision that’s best for them. It’s nothing due to efforts by me that kids are coming to Timber Creek.”