Ivan Torres didn’t know what to do with himself. He knew this past Monday night that the fate of the County Prep basketball program that Torres became a part of last year was hanging in the balance, holding onto life by a thread.
Torres, now 18, has been using basketball as an outlet since he ran afoul of the law a few years ago, ending up in the Hudson County Youth Facility for having possession of a concealed and unlawful firearm.
So while he waited to hear word of what was going to happen to his County Prep basketball team, Torres went out to do what he does best – shoot jumpers at a neighborhood courtyard.
Finally, Torres couldn’t stand the wait any longer. He took his basketball and headed to the meeting at the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders chambers on Pavonia Avenue.
However, when Torres arrived, he was torn as to what he should do.
“I didn’t know if I should come here,” Torres said. “I didn’t know if I could do anything. But I couldn’t sit and do nothing.”
So Torres took his basketball to the meeting and when it became time to tell his tale to the freeholders, hoping that his saga might tug on a few heartstrings and perhaps alter the fate of the athletic programs at Torres’ school, County Prep, as well as High Tech.
When the young man began to speak, it was hard not to be captivated by his story.
“At first, I was able to go to St. Anthony to play basketball,” Torres said. “I’ve been playing basketball all my life. But then I started to make mistakes. I left St. Anthony and got thrown out of Ferris.”
Torres said that he was arrested for carrying an illegal gun.
“I was getting into trouble, hanging out in the streets,” Torres said. “When I was locked up, I didn’t like anything, except being able to play basketball. I made the decision to change my life. I wanted to play basketball. I chose to turn my life around. Basketball was the thing that was going to keep me off the streets.”
Torres has indeed turned his life around, so much so that he has aspirations to attain a college scholarship. He’s playing AAU basketball this summer with an elite team called the Jersey Jayhawks, coming from Bergen County. He is also slated to participate in a talent evaluation tournament in West Virginia next month, with many college recruiters in attendance.
But without an athletic program at County Prep?
“It means I won’t play basketball my senior year of high school,” Torres said. “Because I refuse to transfer back to Ferris.”
Torres wasn’t the only athlete in attendance. Sure, there were a lot of irate parents and there were a handful of coaches and administrators, but the majority of people in attendance at Monday’s meeting were the kids, the ones directly affected by the budget cuts and political volleyball that has taken place.
There were about 40 student/athletes in the audience, some waiting for the chance to state their cases, others just to show some support. Strength in numbers, as they say.
The entire High Tech softball team, the recently crowned Hudson County Tournament champions, was there. They even presented the freeholders with championship T-shirts that proudly proclaimed the team’s accomplishments over the last decade.
The most successful player to ever come out of that program, namely three-time Hudson Reporter Most Valuable Player Erica Colon, was standing in the back, offering her support. Colon’s high school career is over and her future is already etched in stone. She is heading to Central Connecticut State on a softball scholarship in the fall.
She was there for her friends who remain.
“It’s sad to see that it will end for them,” Colon said. “I think everyone getting a chance to say something helps a lot. We’re getting our voices heard. Honestly, the whole thing doesn’t make sense. They shouldn’t take it out on the kids. If it wasn’t for High Tech softball, I wouldn’t have received the opportunity to go to college for free. So if there’s still a chance, then there’s hope.”
County Prep track standout Mohamed Merdan was also an interested spectator. He is expected to be a senior at the school in the fall.
“We’re finally getting to have a competitive team,” Merdan said. “It’s just starting to build up and gain recognition. Hearing all the talk is very frustrating, because we were going for a state championship next year. The longer it goes on, it makes the odds of having teams become very difficult. In the beginning, I thought it was a waste of time, but now, there is hope.”
Or so they thought.
At the end of the nearly four hours of pleas and cries, the Board of Freeholders voted down the resolution, sending everyone out of the chambers in anger. Torres was spotted in the lobby of the building with tears streaming down his face.
In watching this meeting unwind, it was definitely apparent that it was a fait accompli before a word was spoken. These freeholders, sans proponent Bill O’Dea and fellow Jersey City Freeholder Eliu Rivera, had it in their minds before the public hearing that this resolution was not going to pass.
Political done deal
Some people in attendance were told before the meeting that it was a done deal and that the public hearing was a waste of time.
Guess what? It was.
Once again, politics has reared its ugly head in Hudson County. A few people make a stand and then the rest of the elected officials have to follow the company line, whether they agree or disagree with something. Try to dare to offend the political big wigs? It’s almost like a death sentence.
But in this instance, the politicians have lost sight at the real losers in this plight and that’s the kids of Hudson County.
In recent years, we’ve seen too many schools and athletic programs go by the wayside. Storied programs like St. Aloysius in Jersey City and St. Joseph of the Palisades have watched their traditions get wiped away. Even with all its troubles, CREATE Charter’s demise didn’t help athletes.
Now, because of the idiocy of a few people, some 400 or so kids will not have a chance to participate in athletics in the fall. And how insane is that?
We shouldn’t be eliminating opportunities for kids to play sports. We should be encouraging more chances.
And everyone involved has to shelter and share the blame. The mayors who put the plan into place in the first place.
If it wasn’t for this latest indiscretion involved with the recruitment and illegal admission of an ineligible kid into High Tech, chances are that none of this would have ever happened. But because one mayor got wind of that ineligible kid, the plan to eliminate the funding sources exploded like wildfire.
One of the mayors, who requested anonymity, said that even O’Dea knew that his resolution to add money to the budget was not going to pass and that the whole thing was nothing more than a political grandstand. The mayor also said that before the suggestion to eliminate sports was presented, there was a chance for the Schools of Technology to address their financial situation but they failed to handle it properly, throwing it into the lap of the countywide elected officials.
For example, if the Schools of Technology’s administration could have agreed to a pay cut or even a pay raise freeze, and perhaps a deal would have been reached. But no negotiations ever took place.
So in that respect, the Schools of Technology also have to share the blame with the elected officials. If they were given a chance to do some financial finagling in order to save the athletic programs, then they should have done it.
Some of the administrators in the Schools of Technology are receiving hefty six-figure salaries. Well, if they were told to take a pay cut in order to keep the programs alive, then they should have agreed instead of being stubborn and foolish.
Finally, there should have been some sort of congregation of parents, elected officials, and Schools of Technology Board of Education personnel that could have put all political differences and affiliations aside, come together, addressed the financial situation, and seen if they could reach an amicable and sensible agreement. If it meant instituting a “pay-for-play” program, like a student-activity fee, to help defray the costs, then the parents should have been given that option.
But that didn’t happen.
How it really went down
Here’s what did happen: A kid gained illegal admission to High Tech. A mayor got wind and wrote a letter to the other 11 top lawmakers in Hudson County to stop the recruiting and stop the funding for the programs. The Schools of Technology realized that it couldn’t fund athletic programs on their own, so they pulled the plug. Last-ditch efforts went to county elected officials and that effort fell on deaf ears.
And now, 400 high school kids pay the price.
Somehow, that picture just doesn’t look right. It’s almost like going to a Josh Groban concert and getting William Hung instead.
The bottom line is this: There just had to be a better way to handle this situation other than simply pulling the plug and walking away. Because in that respect, everyone forgot about one important aspect – the kids.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.