For many years, the Garden State Games served as basically New Jersey’s version of the Olympics. Thousands of athletes from all over the state competed in a variety of sports, from archery to gymnastics, from bowling to basketball, at venues throughout the state, especially the facilities on the campus of Rutgers University.
But then, the state-provided funding allotted for the Garden State Games had run dry. The Garden State Games appeared headed toward extinction.
However, when Mike Garamella became the executive director of the Garden State Games a year ago, he made every effort to keep the games alive, even without funding from the state government.
It was Garamella’s quest to turn the Garden State Games into more of a locally based event, looking to local municipalities to serve as hosts for the assorted competitions.
Two months ago, Garamella contacted James Adams, the former track and field coach at both William Paterson and New Jersey City University, who is currently a grant writer for The Funding Group, which provides most of the grant work for Hudson County.
"Mike talked to me about the Garden State Games, how they had a lack of quality facilities," Adams said. "I asked him if it was possible to take some of the games to Hudson County. It has never been held in the county and we have some great facilities, especially for track and field and tennis, in Lincoln Park in Jersey City."
Adams then approached Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise about the possibility of hosting the Garden State Games for both track and field and tennis.
"I thought it was a terrific idea," DeGise said. "We have such nice venues in Lincoln Park and we want to welcome people to the area while highlighting the facility. We want people to feel welcome coming to Hudson County."
So the Garden State Games will come to Hudson County next weekend, with the track and field events scheduled for Lincoln Park July 19 and 20 and the tennis to be held at the newly refurbished courts in Lincoln Park on July 19.
"Tom DeGise has always been concerned about sports, as long as I’ve known him," Adams said. "He was extremely supportive of the idea and wanted to see it happen."
Hudson County Parks Director Thomas McCann was equally eager to see the Garden State Games come to Lincoln Park.
Once the GSG were officially headed to Hudson County, with the track and field venue being held for the first time since 2000, Adams had to secure quality people to help run the events.
One of the first people that Adams reached out for was long-time friend Keith Davis, who was a standout performer during his days at Lincoln High School and later Adelphi University. Davis, who was one of the founders of the famed Heart N’ Soul Track Club in the 1970s, will be one of the meet directors, along with Tony Allen, who was Adams’ assistant coach at William Paterson and NJCU.
"To run an event like this, you need to have quality people," Adams said.
When it came to running the tennis event, Adams made one call to the United States Tennis Association, where representative Janet Roberts was glad to be of assistance.
"The USTA has been running tennis clinics at Lincoln Park, so when I called, they were more than willing to help," Adams said.
Since the state no longer provides financial assistance to the Garden State Games, Adams had to reach out to the business community to help fund the events. Some of the businesses that have pledged either funding or in-kind contributions include Provident Bank, Hyatt Regency Waterfront of Jersey City, Royal Printing, the Jersey City Education Association, Hamilton Park Ale House, J&J Printing, Associated Printing,
Sports Clinics USA, Majestic Theatre Condominiums, Char Broil of Montclair, Fleet Bank, Public Service Electric & Gas, New Jersey Forum, Fox Marketing, Elizabethtown Water Company, Schering Berlin Company, DC Image Photography and Nasal Guard.
The track and field event is open to athletes from ages eight and older, all the way through the Masters (50-and-older) division. The Open Division (ages 18 through 40) will also feature javelin, high jump and shot put events. The younger divisions will strictly be running events (100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 meters) as well as the long jump.
The younger age divisions are broken up by sub-bantam (age 8), bantam (9-10), midget (11-12), youth (13-14) and high school (14 and up).
"The entries have been very modest," Adams said. "We just got involved six weeks ago, so the word has been getting passed throughout the community. We sent out mailings to several track clubs and been trying to get the word out to the rest of the state."
Adams said that they will be taking entries right up to the day of the event.
The cost to enter the GSG track is $6, with the cost of the tennis tournament placed at $25, but that includes a T-shirt.
"I know that the tennis community is very excited to have the event at the Lincoln Park courts," DeGise said. "It’s a chance for us to give great recognition to the number of athletes who will participate. It’s great to have such a prestigious event coming to Hudson County. I just hope they get great weather. As a kid growing up, I remember the great track events that were held in the Armory or at Pershing Field, where I was from. They sort of went by the wayside. I think this is our way of helping to bring it back."
Both Adams and DeGise admitted that the track and tennis venues could possibly be only the start of extended Garden State Games in Hudson County in the future.
"We might like to branch out for more events next year," DeGise said. "We’d like to become a permanent part of the Garden State Games."
"We’re really happy with the potential of the event," Adams said. "We’ll have more time to promote it in the future. We’d like to have a good number of participants this year, but there probably will not be a large number this year. This is part of the rebirth. If things go well, we can hope to make Hudson County a permanent home."
If anyone is interested in participating in the Garden States Games’ track and field events, you can call (732) 512-1857 for more information. For more information on the tennis venue, please contact (914) 698-0414, ext. 12.
Pictured: From left are: assistant division chief for Hudson County Parks Ken Jennings, Garden State Games Executive Director Mike Garamella, State Senator Joseph Charles, Track Meet Director Tony Allen, Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, United States Tennis Association representative Janet Roberts, The Funding Group’s James Adams and Hudson County Parks Director Thomas McCann.