9/22/2010 - Tough Break For Chiefs
There are no banners hanging in the spacious gym at Hopatcong High School reflecting any sort of championship for the school’s field hockey team.
In fact, some people, even in Hopatcong, might not know that the Chiefs had a field hockey team and that is not surprising because when it came to field hockey the sport was pretty much ignored.
The Chiefs played their home games on a pretty rough field at the middle school and only a few diehard parents would attend games, which usually ended with the Chiefs on the losing end.
But a young, energetic coach named Ashley Kratzsch wanted to change the culture around the field hockey program, and with 19 kids in the program last fall, the Chiefs made great strides, even though their won-loss record was dismal once again.
However, Kratzsch, a member of several Sussex County Interscholastic League championship teams for Newton in the early 2000s (it seems funny writing 2000s), had a plan to turn things around.
Well that plan received the ax not too long ago as the entire program was cut due to budgetary reasons and the Chiefs were left out in the cold.
“I was devastated,” Kratzsch told Sandy Seegers of the Daily Record earlier this month. “People mentioned the change in the Hopatcong field hockey program. The team had looked much better last season than in the past.”
She added that her players were “very angry” especially after several of them dedicated themselves to the sport for the first time by playing year round.
The problem was that not enough kids were in the program and the district had no other choice and that is a shame. Once a program is dropped, it usually doesn’t come back, so Kratzsch will most likely not get the chance to get the Chiefs moving in the right direction.
Nobody knows if Kratzsch would have made the Chiefs into winners, but it would have been great to see her get a chance. I also feel for the players who now have nothing to do this fall.
I’ve always been a big promoter of kids of all types of athletic ability playing sports. Athletics play a key role in the development of kids and the lessons learned are kept for a lifetime.
The other problem related to the Chiefs dropping field hockey? Well, now the Freedom Division of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference has just five teams and the division schedule has been pared down to just eight games.
Yes, eight games. Less than most football conferences play to decide a champ. Personally, I thought the original 10-game slate wasn’t enough, but when the ADs in the NJAC tweaked the conference and moved Jefferson into the American Division with fellow Group 3 schools and Group 4 Vernon, it had no choice to go to 10 games.
Unfortunately, no one predicted the massive education cuts made by Gov. Chris Christie and Hopatcong, like many schools across the state, had to cut some athletic programs.
Now I know some of you are thinking, hey, Hopatcong was an automatic win for the big guns in the division so it is no big deal, right?
Wrong. Playing eight games allows no margin for error and the very distinct possibility of co-or tri-champs in a five-team division. How silly would it be if three teams shared the title?
It is not as far-fetched as it might seem when it comes to field hockey in the Freedom Division. The division is so competitive that Newton, Wallkill Valley, Hackettstown and Kittatinny have a legitimate shot of winning the crown and the fifth team, Lenape Valley, is a perennial state tournament qualifier and no pushover.
I know it is too late now to do anything about it, but it sure makes me long for the days of the SCIL when the teams played an 18-game slate. Back then, whichever team won the title proved its worth over a long, competitive season.
I remember when Tom Fox, the former outstanding boys basketball coach at Pope John, used to say that the true champion of the SCIL was the team that survived the regular season, not the team that got hot during the county tournament, and he is right.
Yes, the 18-game schedule was a marathon, but eight is too little. With the addition of Jefferson, the American Division will play 14 games, which is perfect. It allows teams to play a good regular season and the ability to schedule six independents.
I know a lot of schools have not had the chance to make up the two lost games because they found out too late into the season. So when it comes to state tournament and Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex tourney time their seeds could be affected if their schedule was front-loaded with good teams.
Unfortunately, it is what it is at this point and the coaches have accepted it. In fact, the coaches I spoke with are more upset that North Jersey lost a field hockey program. The sport is far from being the most popular in this part of the state so it is another blow for the coaches and players who are trying to keep the sport vibrant in the area.
Other than West Essex and Madison, the sport is dominated by teams from Central and South Jersey.
Hopefully the ADs can address the Freedom Division issue before next season, but in the meantime, the company which produces championship banners maybe very busy come the end of October.
ODDS AND ENDS: If you haven’t heard, High Point is back in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament, which is good news.
The Wildcats had earlier petitioned to drop out and looked like it was done deal, but at the most recent H/W/S meeting the Wildcats came back to the fold for this school year.
I will have more on the Wildcats return in a future blog
On a sad note, former Bergen Record columnist Mike Celizic passed away this week of cancer at the age of 62.
I was always a fan of his writing style and I got to know Mike when he would cross over the border from his home in Warwick, N.Y. to play darts at the Vernon Inn back in the day.
Mike and I would talk sports for hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. Mike was known for wearing a hat all the time, including his column headshot, and true to his word he would wear it when he was off duty.
In fact, that is how I recognized him when I met him at the Inn for the first time. Mike was a good guy and wonderful writer and any Notre Dame football fan, if they haven’t already, should read his terrific book, “The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966.”
Rest in peace, Mike. And my deepest condolences to your wife and children.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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