Over the last 25 years as mayor of the township of Weehawken, Richard Turner has honored his fair share of athletes and recognized athletic achievement when it comes to the residents of the township. Champions have been regularly honored with proclamations. Even professional athletes who reside in the township have been recognized.
But last week, Turner and his Township Council did something different. They honored a 10-year-old resident of the township who recently won a national championship in fencing.
Lola Possick, who won the national championship in her age group in the saber weapon, received a formal proclamation from Turner and the Township Council before the regularly scheduled July meeting at Town Hall.
“We never had a national champion in fencing before, so this is a first,” Turner said in presenting the young lady with the award. “It’s great that we have a 10-year-old resident who has achieved so much. We love to do things like this. We want to encourage our young people to pursue their dreams. Anything that keeps young people busy is great and it doesn’t hurt when we have a winner.”
Possick brought her national championship trophy so the council could see it as well.
“This is so cool,” Possick said. “I’ve never been here before and never met the mayor, but they’ve made me feel so good. It’s a really nice feeling to receive this.”
Possick is now off to the Pan American Games in Peru later this month…
What started as just a way for old friends to talk about the good times they shared playing basketball has turned into something much more.
On Saturday, Aug. 15, there will be an old-timers basketball game at the site known unofficially as “Baby Rutgers,” but is officially known as Dr. Lena Edwards Park in Jersey City (Johnston and Pacific Avenues), featuring some of the best basketball players to ever come from Jersey City.
Robert Glover, who was a standout at the now-defunct St. Mary’s of downtown Jersey City and played college basketball at the University of New Haven, started a page on Facebook that is called “For the Love of the Game.”
“I did it just to get guys I played with and against talking about basketball again,” Glover said. “I remembered that a few years ago, there used to be an Old-Timers game in Jersey City and that was fun to watch. So I threw out some ideas to see if we could do it.”
Last year, several Jersey City greats got together to honor the late Jason Bush, the former Ferris standout who died tragically a few years ago.
“I’m friends with his brother, Billy Bush, and I’m close with his family,” Glover said. “Honoring Jason got us all back out there together again. I know his mother really appreciated it. Since there were so many people from the community who came out and brought their kids, we decided to keep doing it.”
This year, because of the interest, there are four teams of the Jersey City Legends playing in the day-long basketball fest.
“We expanded it to four teams and I still have guys calling me, wanting to play,” Glover said. “I’ve had to turn some people away.”
Some of the top players committed to play include former St. Anthony standout Roshown McLeod, who went on to play for Duke and later the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers; Roy “Pooh” Hairston, who was a standout at Snyder and later Purdue University and pro ball overseas; Rahkiim Burgess, who was an All-State player at Snyder and led the Tigers to the NJSIAA Group III state title in 1990; Justin Maples, who was a star at McNair Academic and later Niagara University; Jamar Curry, who went from St. Anthony to the University of Oregon, and Jason Roberts, the former St. Mary standout who had a fine career at Wagner College.
Bobbie Morgan, the former St. Aloysius great who is now the head coach at Bergen County Community College, is also involved and designed the uniforms that the players will wear in the game.
“We have guys coming from all over the country,” Glover said. “Roshown McLeod is coming from Atlanta and Roy Hairston is still in Indiana. All these guys want to come home. I’m looking forward to seeing all these guys again.”
Glover is now 41 years old and works in Manhattan for a window washing company that handles skyscrapers.
“I know I’m not young anymore and without practice,” Glover said. “I’m very impressed that all these guys are coming together basically by the word of mouth. It’s amazing.”
The “For the Love of the Game” crew will honor the late Roscoe Harris, the former Marist and Villanova University standout who was tragically murdered a few years ago.
Team Walker, the organization spearheaded by former St. Anthony and Seton Hall great Jerry Walker, has donated hamburgers and hot dogs for the day. The Jersey City Masons are donating water and ice.
“It’s just a way to get all these guys together,” Glover said. “It’s a shame that if you drive around Hudson County, you see all the courts empty and no kids are playing. We should be encouraging kids to play. We already have a date for next year. We’re looking forward to keep it going.”…
Former St. Peter’s College women’s basketball standout Courtney Wicks, who currently resides in West New York, has earned her first coaching job. Wicks has been named as the head coach at Livingston High School. Wicks, who has been coaching travel youth soccer in Hoboken for the last three years, will do a wonderful job at Livingston, which won’t be an easy task. You can be rest assured that former St. Peter’s head coach Mike Granelli has to be beaming that his former player has entered the coaching ranks…
It’s sad to see that the gym at Anna L. Klein School in Guttenberg has been sliced in half to build a library. The basketball program at Klein is legendary and produced so many standout players that moved on to the high school ranks over the years. Klein’s boys’ team once won an astounding 110 games in a row. It was a legendary program and that gym earned legendary status. Now, it’s been limited to just a half court status…
It was great to see that former St. Anthony standout and North Bergen native Kyle Anderson was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Anderson, who will begin his second season with the San Antonio Spurs in the fall, averaged better than 22 points per game in the summer league.
The Spurs gained attention in that league because Becky Hammon was the head coach. The former Hoboken resident, who played for the New York Liberty of the WNBA, became the first female to ever coach a men’s professional team and led them to a championship, thanks to the exploits of Anderson. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.