Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

5/19/2009 - Tri-County Tourney Great Idea

When the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association dropped its R-Bomb (realignment) late last summer, the aftershocks were felt from High Point to Hoboken and back across Route 78 to Phillipsburg.

The state’s new plan in the name of competitive balance basically eliminated all the existing athletic conferences and leagues in North Jersey in one fell swoop. Starting next fall, all the schools affected will be members of “super conferences” including our very own Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference which will house the members of the soon to be departed Sussex County Interscholastic League along with the majority of Morris County schools.

Besides the leagues, one of the other casualties in the “War on Athletic Advantage” was the SCIL Festival, a tradition that dates back close to 30 years in basketball and swimming, and even more in track and cross country.

The realignment plan, which is still not settled in Hudson and Bergen counties, has brought more questions than answers and one of the major questions for SCIL sports fans was the future of the SCIL Festival.

The Festival was different than traditional county tournaments in that Jefferson, which is located in Morris County, was a member of the SCIL and played in its tourneys. The Falcons also participated in Morris County Tournaments in certain sports, like softball, baseball, soccer, swimming and wrestling.

Now that the SCIL has been busted up, Jefferson stated that it will only compete in the MCT from now on and would not be party to any Sussex-related tournament even though the Falcons are in Division C of the NJAC along with the small schools from the former SCIL and Hackettstown.

The schools in Morris County also let it be known that they would not include Sussex in its tourneys leaving the remaining 10 Sussex County schools (including Sussex Tech which was an associate member of the SCIL) without a tournament in some sports.

Until now.

Led by Kurt Walton, Newton’s athletic director, the Sussex County schools recently met with the 10 schools that make up the neighboring Hunterdon-Warren Athletic Association which runs the very popular and successful Hunterdon-Warren Tournaments in 20 sports.

The meeting held in Phillipsburg was a long one, but very productive, according to Walton, and the end result was the newly-formed Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Athletic Association, which will govern 21 tournaments involving the three counties’ combined 20 schools starting next school year.

The schools making up the HWS Association are Belvidere, Hackettstown, Hunterdon Central, Kittatinny, North Hunterdon, Delaware Valley, High Point, Hopatcong, Lenape Valley, Newton, North Warren, Pope John, South Hunterdon, Vernon, Wallkill Valley, Phillipsburg, Sparta, Sussex Tech, Voorhees and Warren Hills.

The HWS will host tourneys in boys/girls soccer, field hockey, boys/girls cross country, girls tennis, girls volleyball and cheerleading in the fall. In the winter, schools will compete in boys/girls basketball and swimming and wrestling (I will get to that later).

In the spring, schools will do battle in golf, boys/girls track, baseball, softball, boys/girls lacrosse and boys tennis.

The NJAC will hold tourneys in seven sports (golf, cross country, winter track, spring track, swimming, bowling and skiing) so there will be some overlapping with some sports having two tournaments.

“It has been a lot of work,” said Walton, who has served as an AD at three SCIL schools during his 20-plus years in the county. “I think the HWS is outstanding. It offers everything we’ve wanted for Sussex County for years.

“It allows us to expand our festivals and tournaments against out of county schools so we don’t have to play each other all the time,” he added. “It has been well received by most schools. The Hunterdon-Warren Tournament has great schools and great tradition and so do we (SCIL). It will offer great competition and exposure for the schools and it is a win-win for the student-athletes. It is great.”

I certainly agree. Now, it has been well documented in this blog that I was not for a major realignment of all the sports, just football. But for at least two years, we have to live with it, and if the HWS is a byproduct of the new plan, than I will take that as a positive.

There has been a faction of SCIL coaches and ADs that have been beating the drum for some sort of West Jersey tournament for years and their time has finally come, and not a minute too soon. As big as a SCIL fan I am, maybe the SCIL Festivals have run their course, so to speak.

According to Walton, 80 percent of the festival champs over the last 10 years or so have been either Pope John or the Group 3 schools, Sparta and High Point or Group 4 Vernon. The feeling is an expanded 20-team tourney will breathe some fresh air into both tourneys as the H-W has become a showcase for Group 4 monster Hunterdon Central.

The Red Devils have brought home 12 H-W trophies so far this year and have a chance for a 13th if they win the girls lacrosse tournament. North Hunterdon and Voorhees have won three crowns apiece this school year.

Pope John, a member of Non-Public A, has won seven SCIL Festivals this season (girls soccer, boys/girls cross country, boys/girls swimming, boys/girls track), while Sparta has captured three (boys/girls tennis, boys soccer). The Sussex County Baseball Coaches Association Tournament is not a recognized Festival to my knowledge.

Now after reading the last two paragraphs, you must be thinking that it will be more of the same with the big schools dominating the HWS, and there is a good chance it will be, but according to Walton, it will be seeded in a way that teams will have the opportunity to win early-round clashes before seeing the big dogs.

Here is how it is going to work: The 10 teams from Hunterdon-Warren will be seeded 1-10 as will the Sussex schools by a seeding committee. And similar to the region wrestling tourneys, the first round will be set up as follows: The No. 10 team from Sussex will face the No. 7 team from H-W and the No. 10 team from H-W will face the No. 7 team from Sussex. The same formula goes for the 8-9 seeds and so on as the No. 1 and 2 seeds will get a bye.

So, according to Walton, schools from the same county won’t see each other unless there is an upset, which is a definite possibility. This is another great idea. Coaches have complained for a long time having to see the same schools three, and maybe four times a year, so this should reduce that chance somewhat.

All of the details, like playing dates, sites and times have not been ironed yet, but will be during a meeting in June, according North Hunterdon AD Bob Hopek and president of the Hunterdon-Warren Athletic Association.

But a quick look at the preliminary schedule includes baseball quarterfinals, semifinals and final being played at Skylands Park and softball being contested at HealthQuest Field in Flemington.

Hunterdon Central’s huge campus and facilities will play host to several events as will Centenary College for the boys and girls hoops semis and finals. Vernon will host track, the Sussex County Fairgrounds cross country, Farmstead Golf and Country Club the golf tourney and Sussex Tech will host swimming.

Now the entire tourney should be very intriguing, but the wrestling tournament really piques my interest. The H-W dropped wrestling this year but it will be revived in its new format on Jan. 30 in an all-day event at Hunterdon Central.

For wrestling nuts, and you know who you are, this will be one great day of wrestling. In my opinion it will be the best tournament, regions included, in the state prior to everyone heading to Atlantic City. Some coaches may hate the logistics of it, but from a fan’s point of view, it will be wrestling nirvana.

So, in a nutshell, I can’t wait for the tourneys to get under way next fall. They should bring a new air of excitement and will allow SCIL schools in field hockey and softball the opportunity to play in a tourney before states for the first time ever which will only be a bonus.

Sometimes change isn’t always good, but in the case of HWS Association, it is great.

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

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

5/19/2009 - Tri-County Tourney Great Idea