Get ready, New Jersey — a high school “super team” could soon be coming to a district near you.
A pair of companion bills that critics say could dramatically alter the landscape of high school sports in the Garden State are on the brink of final passage by the state legislature this week and next.
The bill would allow public high schools in the same district facing low participation numbers, financial constraints or safety concerns — regardless of sport or enrollment size — to merge teams at the varsity level without any oversight or review by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
The change would instantly give multi-school districts a potential advantage over single-school districts, and potentially shift the balance of power by providing the chance for multi-school districts to build “super teams” comprised of athletes from multiple schools.
Supporters of the bill say it’s a necessary change during a time when some sports are facing declining participation numbers and districts are facing greater financial constraints.
NJSIAA member schools typically vote on significant rule changes, but the current movement in the legislature is believed to be the first time lawmakers have attempted to pass to a bill that directly impacts NJSIAA bylaws.
“For a hundred years the member schools have written the rules,” NJSIAA assistant director Kim DeGraw-Cole said Wednesday. “This would be the first time — unprecedented — where the legislature would actually change those rules, alter those rules and then we’d be left to deal with them without any input or conversation.”
As currently constituted by the NJSIAA, cooperative sports programs — combined teams from different schools — are prohibited in basketball, baseball, softball and outdoor track. New Jersey currently has 116 schools that are involved in a co-op program, with some even being tri-ops, according to NJSIAA officials.
“We have had co-ops and have had them for 30 years,” DeGraw-Cole said. “We have tri-ops in ice hockey. So, it’s an evolution that have met the needs. Why do we need to have basically someone else tell our member schools how to write the rules and regulations when we’re already expanding opportunities for kids?”
The bills, already passed 30-0 by the Senate committee and 11-0 by the Assembly committee, are expected to be placed before a vote of the full Assembly and full Senate this week and could potentially be signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie before Jan. 16. The bills were sponsored by Daniel R. Benson and Annette Quijano in the Assembly, and Shirley Turner and Linda Greenstein in the Senate.
"The NJSIAA set the timeline by their initial refusal to address the underlying issues our bill fixed," Benson said Wednesday. "These reforms are reasonable and takes in the concerns of all stakeholders."
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More than 20 school districts in New Jersey have more than a single high school, with Newark having 12 high schools, NJSIAA officials said. One other clause in one of the proposed bills would allow student-athletes who attend non-public schools to compete at the public school in the district in which they live if their sport is not offered.
The creation of the bill can be traced to last year, when several voting bodies denied a request from the West Windsor-Plainsboro district to merge its two high school football programs due to low participation numbers. Group 4 West Windsor-Plainsboro North High ended up playing a junior varsity schedule, while neighboring Group 4 West Windsor-Plainsboro South High finished with a 1-8 varsity record.
NJSIAA officials believed the issue was resolved last month when member schools approved a proposal from West Windsor-Plainsboro that allows larger schools to enter co-op programs in football under specified conditions. DeGraw-Cole and NJSIAA project manager Mike Zapicchi were critical of the legislature for pushing a state law without more discussion with the association or member schools.
“Any member school could propose this exact legislation and then it would be debated, examined and voted on and it could pass in the same fashion,” Zapicchi said. “This way, it takes the decision making of the member schools completely out of the situation. What they’re saying is, they know best.”
Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) — a past critic of the NJSIAA — said the legislation was necessary after the West Windsor-Plainsboro situation “didn’t get resolved fast enough through their process.”
“There’s a growing sense of frustration of members of both chambers with the NJSIAA and these kinds of issues that keep rising up from time to time,” Burzichelli said. “The state legislature is about to act. That’s what happens when lawmakers get involved. It becomes a different process.”
The NJSIAA issued a press release recently expressing fear over the impact the new law could have on the state’s sports scene.
“Fewer teams means fewer opportunities for students to experience education-based athletics,” incoming NJSIAA Executive Director Larry White said. “Removing any oversight or review will give districts the green light to create all-star teams from a combined school district talent pool.
“Every student, parent, administrator and coach should be very, very concerned.”
Benson, however, disagrees with the NJSIAA's stance on the matter, particularly regarding the association's belief that this will lead to "super teams" being created.
"The NJSIAA's delusional focus on this creating 'super teams' just shows how out of touch they are and desperate to retain the status quo," Benson said. "Instead of wanting student-athletes to have more access to sports programs, their actions would have the impact of denying meaningful participation."
Meanwhile, the bill is receiving mixed reviews from across the state. Many athletic officials agree that it is doubtful so-called “super teams” would ever come to fruition, though this bill will give districts the avenue to do so. West Windsor-Plainsboro superintendent Dave Aderhold said he doesn’t believe districts will ever merge sports programs simply for competitive advantage should the new bill pass.
The NJSIAA is “just spewing nonsense to try and cloud the conversation,” Aderhold said. “Super teams will not happen at big schools. You think a big school in a big district will stand up to the community and say, even with three teams, three quarterbacks, 15 linemen, that we’re going to make one team now because we want a state title? No way. What will happen is when there’s a budgetary crisis that maybe schools will consolidate. When the reality is a lack of enrollment and there are safety concerns is when teams will go co-op.”
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Demarest athletic director Greg Butler operates in a multi-school district in Northern Valley with Old Tappan -- a state champion football team in 2017 -- and agrees that districts will be wary of purposely creating a super team due to the reaction it would generate in the community.
“Any district looking to combine teams simply for a competitive edge would get backlash from parents,” said Butler, whose ice hockey team already does co-op with Old Tappan due to low participation numbers at Demarest. “No one wants to lose a program or the identity associated with a program. That said, with our ice hockey, there weren’t enough participants for our athletes to compete, so co-oping with Old Tappan was a no-brainer. Now we have Northern Valley ice hockey. At least it gives those kids an opportunity to play.”
Still, NJSIAA officials see potential trouble looming down the road should these bills be turned into law.
“Successful programs [in multi-school districts] will continue to flourish, but what’s to say the program or two where the sports aren’t flourishing, ‘You know what? We can save a little money here or there and let’s just have one softball team because we haven’t been successful, it’s not a big sport here,’” DeGraw-Cole said. “And again, your freshman, your JV at both schools — all of that wanes and goes by the wayside. The biggest key is it gets an unfair advantage because now those single-school districts don’t have the opportunities that these multiple school districts have.”
Aderhold, however, still disagrees with the NJSIAA’s belief that the newly proposed bills are bad for high school sports.
“You have an athletic association saying they are trying to save sports… by restricting students from participating in sports,” Aderhold said. “They are absolutely blind to the fact that this is already being allowed in other districts. Look at Elizabeth. How many high schools do they have? Six. How many football teams do they have? One. That’s 5,400 students, and that’s allowed under the academy concept. Tell me anywhere in code how that is defined.
“The hypocrisy is they turn a blind eye when it’s convenient for them, but when a district is trying to keep a program alive, they shut down and turn a blind eye. This is their own doing. … We went to them asking for consideration under their own rules for exemption and they said no, and they’re surprised at the movement that took place to change the rules. … Now they’re scrambling and sending out press releases all in this effort to ‘save sports.’ But what was the reason it even started? Because they excluded kids. They brought this upon themselves."
JJ Conrad may be reached at jconrad@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jj_conrad. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.
NJ Advance Media's Matthew Stanmyre contributed to this report.