Sometimes, it pays to be persistent and fight for what you believe in.
Just ask the athletic departments at Secaucus and Weehawken High Schools, whose appeals to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association were heard and accepted, when it comes to the massive realignment plan the NJSIAA has in store for next year.
When the plan was first introduced, it called for the dismantling of the Bergen County Scholastic League, where Secaucus and Weehawken have called home for more than 25 years. The plan would have placed both schools in a division of smaller enrollment schools inside Hudson County.
But after the two schools made appeals to the NJSIAA, stating that the original realignment plan didn’t benefit either school, the state’s realignment committee agreed to keep the BCSL National basically intact and not move the two local schools into a division with the other Hudson County smaller schools.
“Our point was there was no reason to disband a league that was already enrollment based,” Secaucus athletic director Stan Fryczynski said. “We didn’t understand why the state wanted to do that. We compared all the points that the state was looking at, in terms of enrollment, in terms of geography, and we already had that in the BCSL. I’m grateful that the points were received and we will remain intact. They listened to our pleas and recorded all the facts. They obviously looked at all the facts and adhered to what we had to say and it’s very appreciated.”
Added Fryczynski, “I’m just happy they listened to what we had to say. I know it was a very difficult situation.”…
What in the world is going on in local football? St. Peter’s Prep is 0-2. So is Hoboken and North Bergen. Union City, in its first season, is also 0-2. Not to mention Hudson Catholic.
All of the county’s perennial favorites have begun the 2008 campaign with two straight losses. It’s unheard of. In 27 years of covering high school football in my home area – and then another 12 or so before that as simply a fan – there has never been a debacle like this to open a season.
There are only two local teams who have 2-0 records right now – Ferris and surprise of surprises, St. Anthony, who under the guidance of head coach Bill Sullivan, has won their first two varsity football games. St. Anthony smacked Memorial, 40-12, last Friday night, in a result that sent shockwaves throughout the county. We’ll have more on the Friars next week…
Jersey City officials are assuring that the new FieldTurf facility at Caven Point’s Cochrane Stadium will be ready for action next weekend and will be unveiled sometime this week. It’s good news for the schools who have been road warriors for the first few weeks of the season… — Jim Hague