Phil Anastasia: South Jersey title games in Mercer County?
Playing South Jersey championship games at neutral sites is not a bad idea. Playing South Jersey championship games at the College of New Jersey is a bad idea.
Playing South Jersey championship games at neutral sites is not a bad idea.
Playing South Jersey championship games at the College of New Jersey is a bad idea.
I get the NJSIAA's reasoning for moving sectional title games to a neutral site and away from the home field of the higher-seed team. And no, it's not a big money grab.
Title games in every sport should be at neutral sites. It adds to the allure. It makes the game more of an event. It also levels the playing field.
It was a bad idea to move basketball sectional finals from neutral sites to the home gym of the higher seed, although the NJSIAA insisted that recent change was forced because of a shortage of schools willing to host games.
Imagine if Cinnaminson, which had a top boys' basketball team, had hosted the South Jersey Group 2 title game last season in its 400-seat (maybe) gymnasium. That would have been great for the Pirates and the fans who got there early - say, 3 p.m. for a 7 p.m. start - but bad for everybody else and bad for the sport.
NJSIAA commissioner Steve Timko thinks similar things can conspire to take some of the luster off sectional title games in football. He also notes that title games in every other sectional - North I, North II, and Central - have been played at neutral sites for years.
Timko can't understand why so many South Jersey people are in an uproar about the NJSIAA's decision to move South title games in Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 to a neutral site.
"We would be remiss if we didn't have these games at the best possible facility," Timko said. "Quite frankly, we've had some complaints about the conditions of the fields for some championship games. We know the field will be in great condition, and that's best for the student-athletes."
Timko also notes that having a tripleheader at TCNJ on Saturday, Dec. 3 (after a single game is played Friday night, Dec. 2) will afford players a better opportunity to be seen by college recruiters.
That's a valid point. And it's also true that fans of the sport will be able to stick around and see all three games for the price of one admission, which is likely to be $8 for adults and $2 for students, children, and senior citizens.
The money is not the issue, although New Jersey Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D., Gloucester) insists the move to a neutral site is an "end-around" by his least favorite sports organization to gouge the public. In this case, I disagree.
The location is the issue. The College of New Jersey is a nice place and all, but it's not in South Jersey. It's in Ewing. It's in Mercer County. And it makes no sense to play South Jersey sectional title games at neutral sites anywhere but in South Jersey.
If a turf field is the goal, why not hold the Group 1 game at Shawnee, the Group 2 game at Cherokee, the Group 3 game at Paul VI, and the Group 4 game at St. Augustine Prep?
Offer host schools an incentive - maybe 5 percent of the gate - and encourage them to get their booster clubs mobilized to make a killing on the snack stand.
But there might be an even better place: Rowan University. The school in Glassboro is centrally located from a South Jersey standpoint, has greatly improved its facilities in recent years, and has already begun to make a push in this direction by hosting the South Non-Public A title game in baseball in June.
Rowan associate athletic director Dan Gilmore isn't sure of the logistics of hosting four football games, or whether there might be conflicts with other events booked for that weekend. But from a philosophical standpoint, Rowan's athletic department is all-in when it comes to serving as a site for high school championship games.
"Any time you have potential students on your campus and using your facilities for that kind of event, it's beneficial to the athletic department," Gilmore said.
Timko said the NJSIAA "looks forward to the potential" of working more with Rowan as a possible site for championship events, in several sports, in the future. It could be a win-win-win situation.
A win for the Rowan athletic program. A win for football teams that reach the sectional title games. And a win for fans who have to travel to see the event.