11/21/2007 - Time for Change in NJ High School Sports
Calls for comprehensive reform. Bitter debates over residency status. Long simmering feuds that are ready to boil over if the issue isn’t addressed soon.
No, I’m not talking about the national debate on immigration reform, but an issue that has been a hot topic for almost as long in the world of scholastic sports here in the Garden State—the tension between Public and Non-Public schools when it comes to competitive balance in high school athletics.
In the big picture, it is not earth-shattering, but nonetheless, it is an issue near-and-dear to the hearts of many here in Sussex County and Judgment Day is looming.
On Monday, a special committee set up by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association charged with examining the competitive balance between Non-Public and Public schools, announced four major recommendations:
1. Form a committee to realign and merge leagues based on school size, geography and strength of schedule.
2. Require athletes who transfer without a valid change of address to sit out one calendar year as opposed to the current 30-day rule.
3. Hire an investigator to probe recruiting and transfer violations.
4. Put the burden of proof on the student as to whether the transfer is for athletic advantage or not.
The 12-person committee, which was spilt evenly between Public and Non-Public schools, will present the changes to the NJSIAA’s Executive Committee Dec. 5, two days after the governing body’s annual membership meeting Dec. 3 at the Pines Manor in Edison. If the Executive Committee adopts the changes, they could be implemented as early as September of 2008 without the vote of the membership, said Mike Herbert, the attorney for the NJSIAA, in an interview with The Record of Hackensack Tuesday.
The Executive Committee will take into consideration the results of a vote of the full membership on two proposals separate from the special committee’s recommendations involving realignment. One of the proposals was crafted by Mike Van Zile, Wallkill Valley’s outstanding AD, almost a decade ago. Van Zile’s original plan was overwhelmingly turned down by the membership in 2000 and the idea seemed dead.
But the plan has gained a new life and it is now sponsored by the Sussex County Interscholastic League. The gist of the football-only plan is that all schools would be lumped into districts based on size and location and it would do away with power points and leagues. The top four teams in each district would make the state tournament based on won-loss record and the plan allows for the crowning of a group champion, something only the Non-Public schools do now in football.
The other plan, sponsored by the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League, one of the most powerful conferences in the state, would separate the Non-Publics and Publics in all sports. The 20-school league houses state Non-Public powers Don Bosco Prep, Bergen Catholic, St. Joseph’s of Montvale, along with Group 4 Public schools like Clifton, Hackensack and Montclair, to name a few.
So what will happen? Well, my guess is as good as yours. One thing is for certain, if one or both of the plans pass, the Non-Publics will most likely appeal and it could drag on and the debate will continue. But my question is, what took the NJSIAA so long to take action? It is not like this issue just came about last year. In fact, Bergen Catholic had to sue to gain entrance into the NNJIL back in the early 1980s. And as for the SCIL, people have been screaming about Pope John for years.
My opinion, like many others on the realignment subject, has changed since Van Zile hatched his plan. Back in 2000 when I was writing for the local newspaper, my view was it was sour grapes on Wallkill’s part. My feeling was get better. Don Smolyn had built a powerhouse at Lenape Valley, and for the most part, the Pats have been a Group 2 school with a few ventures into Group 3-land.
After all, wasn’t Wallkill coming off a section title in 1994 and an appearance in the final in 1995? Was that just a fluke? C’mon guys, quit whining and get better, was how I felt at the time. The Rangers left the SCIL for two years and went .500, but still didn’t make the playoffs.
But I have come around and I feel now it is time for a change and the schools should vote, “Yes” to the SCIL plan and, “No” to the NNJIL proposal. Football is a different animal and, like it or not, should be treated as such. If it passes, Van Zile will go down as one of the most influential people in the history of New Jersey High School sports.
As for the other recommendations, I think they were way overdue and a no-brainer. Years ago, I was speaking with an official from the NJSIAA about the recruiting issue and I was told it was not the job of the association to police its member schools. What? I was told it didn’t have the resources to investigate every claim. But thankfully, it has revisited the idea and the hiring of a full-time investigator is a great one.
Now with an investigator, schools will not be so quick to bend the rules on the issue like they have in the past. It will be a definite deterrent. And putting the onus on the athlete for athletic advantage might seem a little un-American, (guilty until proven innocent), but the world of high school sports is not a democracy, so deal with it.
Just look at the situation at Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington. The school started a wrestling program this year and hired Scot Weaver, the very successful coach at St. Mary’s of Rutherford to run the program. The only problem was that 10 wrestlers from the Gaels’ Non-Public B state championship squad transferred to Queen of Peace, which raised more red flags than a May Day Parade in the old Soviet Union.
The state rightfully placed Queen of Peace on two years probation and disqualified the Golden Griffins from the team state tournament. But individual grapplers are still eligible for postseason state tournament, starting with the districts. Maybe this doesn’t happen if schools know there is an investigator on the case.
As for the 30-day rule, it has been thorn in the side of every school since it was implemented way back when. The rule was put in place to stop athletes from urban areas from “school shopping” for each sport they play. For example, it would not be too much of a travel hardship for a kid to play football at St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, and then transfer to St. Anthony in J.C. for hoops before playing baseball at Marist in Bayonne. Athletes were transferring after each season, causing a furor.
But as everyone now knows, the transfer issue is statewide and it must be addressed. The rule as it stands states that any athlete who earns a varsity letter in a particular sport must sit out the first 30 days of the next season after transferring. The 30-day period is in effect for every sport the athlete lettered. The only exception is if the athlete has a valid change of address and is living in the district he or she has transferred.
The new rule will severely cut the down the rate athletes transfer from Public to Non-Public schools and visa-versa. It is almost akin to the NCAA Division I transfer rules where athletes must sit out a year.
For once, I agree with the NJSIAA and here is hoping the rule changes will be implemented in September of 2008. We have waited long enough.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Usually this time of the year brings the obligatory “Thanksgiving Column” from sports writers all over the country. Some are serious, some try to be funny. But here is what Mugs Media fans should be thankful for—that I didn’t write one!! You will thank me later. It is almost as bad as “Trick or Treat” headlines for football games played on Halloween. Yeech…
While on the subject of competitive balance, if you trek down to Giants Stadium next week to watch Don Bosco play St. Peter’s in the Non-Public Group 4 final, keep an eye out for Dillon Romaine, one of Bosco’s outstanding running backs. The junior is a Vernon resident. Add the fact that Bergen Catholic’s outstanding middle linebacker Dom Gaston also lives in Vernon, you now know why Vernon coach Chuck Tepper is all for realignment. Put those two in Viking uniforms this year and Vernon, which finished the season 7-3, makes the states with no problem…
Congrats to the New Jersey Youth Football League 2007 champs. Vernon White won the Super Pee-Wee crown, while Sparta took home the trophy in the Midgets and Pee-Wee (Sparta White)…Now that River Dell has run roughshod through the best the SCIL has to offer, the Golden Hawks will win their first North 1, Group 2 crown since 1987 when they squeak past Pascack Valley 14-13 at Giants Stadium…
And on a final note, for all you winter athletes, don’t eat too much turkey Thursday because practice begins Friday. No one wants to see what you had for dinner the next day, if you know what I mean.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines and have a great holiday!!!
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