Imagine what it’s like to be a student-athlete, a football or soccer or field hockey player spending the last few months preparing for the upcoming fall season.

Now imagine someone telling you your season isn’t going to happen, but it’s ‘Game On’ for a laundry list of high schools close to home.

The possibility exists for student-athletes across the state to leave their school districts and transfer elsewhere for a variety of reasons due to circumstances associated with the coronavirus outbreak. But while the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has relaxed its transfer rules due to the pandemic, its policies regarding athletic advantage have not changed.

In a Zoom meeting with reporters Thursday, NJSIAA Chief Operating Officer Colleen Maguire reiterated that transferring for athletic advantage was not part of the waiver passed by the Executive Committee to allow student-athletes to transfer without penalty and without a bonafide change of address.

“Athletic advantage is still in play. It’s up to the school to contact us and check that box, as we always say, for athletic advantage,” Maguire said, referring literally to a box on the NJSIAA transfer form where the school an athlete is transferring from can dispute the circumstances of the transfer.

”We have to trust our schools to manage this situation and wait for them to notify us,” Maguire added. “Then we proceed from there as we would under normal circumstances.”

As of Thursday, nine high schools have canceled their fall sports season – Carteret, Dover, Leonia, Medford Tech, Piscataway, Teaneck, Westampton Tech and West Windsor-Plainsboro North and South. Should their student-athletes be forced to suffer without fall sports through no fault of their own?

That’s where checking the box for athletic advantage becomes a delicate dilemma.

Carteret athletic director Grace Cunha has already had kids transfer. Cunha says she wouldn’t check the box if pressed to make a choice.

“It’s not their fault that we canceled sports,” Cunha said. “I don’t know how I could prevent a kid from playing when we’re not offering their sport. We’re not giving them the opportunity to play.

“I’ve discussed it with my principal, who is a big sports guy, too, and we pretty much agree. Is it really fair to say it’s athletic advantage when we don’t have the sport? I think many (other ADs) would think the same thing.”

Under a series of amendments to its bylaws, the NJSIAA voted to allow student-athletes to transfer schools and be immediately eligible if done by Sept. 1 (for fall sports), dispensing with the need for a bonafide change of address and the normal 30-day waiting period before the athlete is eligible to play. The date was extended to Nov. 1 for winter sports, while there is no deadline for spring sports since that season did not take place last school year.

The rule does not apply to student-athletes who transferred before Gov. Phil Murphy closed schools back on March 16.

If a student-athlete transfers after each deadline without a bonafide change of address, they will have to sit for 30 days or half of the maximum number of games, whichever is less.

And if a student-athlete decides to transfer back to their original district after using the free transfer, they would be subject to the NJSIAA’s traditional regulations.

A student-athlete would have no issues with eligibility if their family moved to a different district or moved in with a parent who already has a residence in another district.

It is still unclear what the status would be for any potential out-of-state transfers. Delaware voted to push back its fall sports season until after Jan. 1, while the Philadelphia Public League canceled its fall season and the Philadelphia Catholic League pushed back its start date.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association announced Friday it would start fall sports sports on Monday, Aug 24.

Maguire said the transfer rule was altered for a number of reasons, including financial issues, family living situations and health factors due to the pandemic.

“There’s a lot into it,” she said. “We didn’t want any student-athlete to have to suffer from potentially starting their season. With that said, we can’t carve out this rule specific to types of transfers.”

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Kevin Minnick may be reached at kminnick@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @kminnicksports.