CREATE Charter School in Jersey City is going to institute football for the first time this coming fall, and they have hired controversial Coach Bill Sullivan, who was the coach of the football program at St. Anthony in Jersey City this past fall before he allegedly used an ineligible player, a kid believed to be an eighth grader.
CREATE Charter had its own problems with ineligilibity last year, when they had to relinquish the HCIAA Seglio Division basketball title they won last February because the Crushers allegedly used an illegible player.
Create Charter School Director Steve Lipski said yesterday that he realizes he’s taking a gamble in hiring Sullivan as the program’s new head coach.
“Was I aware of what happened at St. Antho ny? Sure, I read the papers,” Lipski said. “I knew of the situation and sure, it does raise a red flag, especially after what happened to us last year. But I sat with Coach Sullivan on several occasions and realized it was a mutual fit.”
Lipski said that he did not call St. Anthony administration to ask why Sullivan left the school, but he said that Sullivan presented a resignation letter. “He said he was not fired,” Lipski said.
Lipski said his staff called other schools Sullivan had worked at and received nothing but glowing remarks.
“The issues that surrounded Coach Sullivan in the past could not happen at CREATE,” Lipski said. “We have a five-tier check system now when it comes to eligibility. Coach Sullivan has been made aware of that check system when it comes to recruiting and eligibility. Eligibility is the No. 1 issue in the school and we’re dealing with it accordingly.”
The CREATE program will be junior varsity to start in the fall of 2009 and would become a varsity program in 2010.
“It’s not going to be easy and I realize it’s a huge gamble,” said Lipski, who is also the Jersey City councilman representing the Heights. “But sometimes, you have to take risks and this was a risk we felt we had to take.”
Lipski said that the decision to institute football at his school had been in the works for a few years.
“We had been discussing it for years,” Lipski said. “The kids have always voiced an interest to have a football program and they’ve been eager to play. I met with a number of people and discussed the possibility. I can raise the money for the school to support the program, to get it off the ground. We want to provide our students with every opportunity to excel and playing football is a key component. If playing football was something they were dreaming of, it’s now becoming a reality.”
For more on this story, see Jim Hague’s sports column starting this Sunday!