After giving the decision to leave the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association strong consideration, the administration at Hudson Catholic has decided to rescind its desires to leave the conference and has officially re-applied for admission back into the league as soon as possible.
The school made the decision to re-apply known at the latest HCIAA meeting last week. The league’s executive director, Michael Venutolo, told Hudson Catholic administrators that the HCIAA would form a special committee to consider the application and that committee, formed of league members, would decide whether to accept the application and reinstate Hudson Catholic.
Brother Tim Ahern, the school’s principal, admitted that he made a hasty decision in March, when he decided that Hudson Catholic should leave the HCIAA and try to compete as an independent.
“In thinking it through, I thought I acted too hastily,” Ahern said. “I was judging it more with emotion than a clean thought process. After sitting down and speaking with new athletic director and football coach Rob Stern, he alerted me to the practical reasons why we should remain in the league. I guess I started to realize that there are so many practical implications. I’m following his lead.”
Hudson Catholic decided to leave the HCIAA after a brawl-filled basketball game between Hudson Catholic and Bayonne was ruled as a victory for Bayonne.
“I’ve been giving it some thought for a couple of years,” Ahern said in March. “I wanted to see if we could broaden our horizons on the athletic field. I thought it was time for a change. I’ll be the first to admit that [the ruling in March] had a lot to do with the decision. The decision went against us and I felt we were being punished for something we had no control over. I felt that it made my decision easier.”
However, once Stern came into the picture, he tried to convince Ahern that leaving the HCIAA would not be a good thing for the entire athletic picture, especially trying to find a competitive independent football schedule, transportation to and from games and finding suitable sub-varsity opponents in all sports.
“After careful consideration and taking into account our long history of involvement in the league, we’ve officially applied for re-admittance to the HCIAA,” Stern said in a statement.
“It’s important for us to remain in the league, in terms of our reputation, in terms of competition,” Ahern said. “I never said that I couldn’t change my mind if I wanted. I now know that it’s best for the kids to remain in the league.”
Terry Matthews, the school’s public relations director and former athletic director, agreed.
“I know that Brother Tim thought it was in the best interest of everyone,” Matthews said. “We’ve had relationships and rivalries in the league that have gone on for a long time. We have a long history in the league. I think looking at the logistics, it made more sense. I think there was a genuine desire on our part that we maintain a connection to Hudson County. We’ve been a part of Hudson County for a long time and in the big picture, this really made sense.”
When Hudson Catholic made the decision to leave in March, Venutolo was hopeful that Ahern would have a change of heart.
“It’s unfortunate,” Venutolo said. “I have a lot of respect for the people at Hudson Catholic. They’ve been part of our organization for a long time. We weren’t looking for conflict. We were actually looking to avoid it. Maybe after things calm down, [Ahern] might change his mind. I think it’s a bad move for them. He’s reacting to one incident.”
Well, it might have taken seven months and a new athletic director, but it’s apparent that Ahern has indeed changed his mind.
While one may think that the HCIAA would act like a considerate parent and welcome the prodigal son home back with open arms, it may not be that simple. Some administrators have expressed concern that if Hudson Catholic pulled out of the league once, the school may want to do it again, so the other league administrators might want some sort of contingency plan in place before they agree to allow Hudson Catholic back in.
In any case, it is a move that makes total sense for Hudson Catholic and would also make sense for the HCIAA to welcome Hudson Catholic back into the league it has called home since 1967.
—Jim Hague