Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

9/25/2008 - NJSIAA Lacks Direction

After months of meetings and discussions, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s proposal to realign the high schools in North Jersey still has more questions than answers, and that is never a good thing.

Now, I’m not going to rehash the merits or faults of the plan, which has been made over more times than a guest on a daytime talk show since its initial presentation last month. No, the problem I see is the lack of direction and leadership the NJSIAA has provided during one of the most critical times in the association’s long history.

Just to recap. The member schools narrowly voted down a plan that would have separated public and non-public schools in all sports last December. In response, the state charged the League and Conferences Realignment Committee (LCRC) to come up with a plan that would level the playing field and could be implemented by September of 2009.

The committee met for several months and released a proposal in August that was based strictly on geography and size of school and did not directly deal with the non-public-public issue.

And there is a reason, which I have stated here before: If the schools were separated, the non-public schools would sue in a heartbeat, opening a can of legal worms the state just can’t stomach to fight right now, knowing that the non-publics would probably win.

So, the committee put its head in the sand and kept the non-publics in, but also busted up 13 of the state’s 21 conferences which reside north of Mercer County and the Shore Conference. The plan went to the NJSIAA’s executive committee earlier this month and the panel heard comments from representatives from close to 50 schools who voiced their opinion on the plan as it was structured.

The committee tabled its vote on the proposal until Oct. 8 and told the members of the four new “super conferences” that were created under the plan to form committees to realign the proposed divisions.

Still with me?

Okay. So the first plan broke up the Sussex County Interscholastic League and placed the 10 schools in Conference 4 in two divisions. Vernon, High Point, Sparta and Pope John were placed in Division A along with fellow Group 3 and 4 schools Randolph, Roxbury, Morris Knolls and Morristown from Morris County.

The rest of the SCIL schools, Wallkill Valley, Jefferson, Kittatinny, Newton, Lenape Valley and Hopatcong were placed in Division D with Dover and Morris Catholic.

But there was quite an uproar on how the schools were grouped in Bergen County, and in Sussex County, High Point was the lone, but very vocal, public dissenter. So the state said the conferences will not change, but told the member schools to figure out a way to divide the schools.

Since that first hearing, there have been many different plans tossed around with local athletic directors seeing several different proposals a day. I was able to get a copy of the latest Conference 4 plan, and it has definitely changed, and in my opinion, for the better, although as I have said in the past, I feel that only football should be realigned.

The new Division A would house the same four SCIL schools and they would be joined by Montville, Mount Olive and West Morris. The former D Division is now called Division C and it would be made up of the rest of the SCIL schools plus Morris Hills. The plan cut the size of the conference from 42 schools to 37 as the plan shifted all of the Essex County schools out and added Sussex Tech to Division D, which was a good move for Sussex Tech.

The Mustangs are looking for associate membership in swimming, bowling, girls tennis and golf. Tech is already a member of the North Jersey Technical Interscholastic League in boys soccer, baseball, softball, boys and girls basketball and cross country.

The Mustangs are independent in football and girls soccer. The only question is what about swimming? Tech and Wallkill Valley are a cooperative program, so which conference would they be a member in? Yet again, another question that needs to be answered. What about cooperative programs?

Anyway, the recommendations from each of the realignment committees from the four conferences will only be considered if the executive committee passes the LCRC realignment plan next week. If it passes, then the 37 schools in Conference 4 will have to get together to form an executive committee, set by-laws and start the tough task of setting up schedules for next fall.

Which brings me back to my main point (I know, it took an awfully long time to get there) that the NJSIAA has washed its hands of the situation by telling the schools to figure out the realignment themselves. If only the state did that in first place, then we wouldn’t have such a mess. If the state was going to step in, then go all the way and assign schools.

My point on all of this from the get-go was that an complete overhaul of the conferences was not necessary and that each league, like the Shore Conference, should solve its own problems on a case-by-case basis. And if there was no resolution, then the state should step in.

As far as the SCIL is concerned, the six Group 2 schools are happy with the realignment, while only Group 3 High Point has been public with its displeasure. But I have spoken to many coaches, other than football, at the bigger schools and they have told me anonymously they hate the plan. They are not pleased that football, in their opinion, is the driving force of high school athletics in the state.

Dr. John Hannum, the superintendent of High Point Regional High School, told me that he is willing to fight to the very end to slow down the process. Saying that how the state has handled this issue is “absolutely wrong” and that he was extremely disappointed with the “me-first attitude” displayed by some of the schools in the county.

“We are working to delay this for at least another year and stopping it,”’ said Dr. Hannum. “We’re not ready to give up.”

Dr. Hannum has stated the process has been veiled in secrecy and did not provide an opposition voice from Sussex County. Although he said he was pleased that the state is giving schools an opportunity to comment on plan before it is voted on, which has resulted in the new division alignment.

“I’m pleased with the fact that we are able to affect some changes and get in the middle of the process,” he said. “They had blinders on before, so we are making progress.”

Dr. Hannum does not want to break up the SCIL for several reasons, including travel issues and the tradition the league has developed over the last 30 years.

The fact is, some sort of realignment is going to happen on Oct. 8 and it is going to start next fall. But the problem is how the state has handled this. There are still ADs and school administrators that are in the dark about the whole process and that is not right.

When I know more about the plan through my sources than the schools involved speaks volumes on how the NJSIAA has communicated with the schools on this issue. Confusion has reigned the last month and it just fuels the animosity some schools already have against the NJSIAA.

So what is going to happen? Well, my best guess is that some schools, mainly from Bergen County, are going to make good on their threat to leave the NJSIAA and try to go independent. But in the end, and I hope I’m wrong on this, it is going to end up in the courts like so many issues do in the state of New Jersey.

It would be a crying shame if state Supreme Court justices have to decide the fate of high school athletics instead of the association formed to govern it or the member schools that comprise it. But doesn’t that seem to be the way we do things in New Jersey these days? Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

9/25/2008 - NJSIAA Lacks Direction