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Anastasia: Proposed Colonial-WJFL merger a positive

Change isn't always a good thing. But it's not always a bad thing, either. Opponents of a Colonial Conference merger with the West Jersey Football League likely are fearing a loss of tradition and identity. They would be loathe to lose the grand old league's longtime links with the past.

Overbrook's Tommy Wyatt.
Overbrook's Tommy Wyatt.Read moreAKIRA SUWA / For The Inquirer

Change isn't always a good thing.

But it's not always a bad thing, either.

Opponents of a Colonial Conference merger with the West Jersey Football League likely are fearing a loss of tradition and identity. They would be loathe to lose the grand old league's longtime links with the past.

It's understandable. It's natural for some folks to think of Colonial Conference football amid black-and-white images of those concrete stadiums at Collingswood, Haddonfield, Woodbury, and Audubon - still-standing monuments of another time - and the one-sided setup at Haddon Heights, with the field nestled in a neighborhood between black iron fences along Second and First Avenues.

Colonial Conference football sometimes seems as if it's played against a faint soundtrack of another era, of metal cleats and Saturday afternoon games and soda fountains and whistles from coaches such as Skeets Irvine and Cap Baker and Russ Spicer.

But the reality is that the Colonial Conference has changed with the times through the years, the same as every other league.

West Deptford and Gateway used to be members of the Olympic Conference. Same goes for Overbrook, which also spent time in the Tri-County.

Sterling and Haddon Township opened in the 1960s. Lindenwold didn't exist before the turn of the 21st century.

The Colonial Conference has evolved when it made sense for the greater good. And that's the case with the proposed merger with the West Jersey Football League.

The best thing about this scenario, which would bring every football-playing school in South Jersey into one super conference, is that it's a positive on so many levels.

For one, the Colonial Conference teams would keep their traditional rivalries. The teams likely would enter in their current format, so the Liberty Division and Patriot Division would remain intact under the WJFL umbrella.

That would mean five division games against familiar opponents, and likely a pair of crossover games against existing foes. Thanksgiving Day rivalries such as the annual backyard clash between Haddonfield and Haddon Heights, which dates to 1902, would be preserved.

Also, the merger would benefit every team in the league, the more powerful programs as well as the weaker. The better squads would get a chance to play a couple of crossover games against programs of similar strength - good for the competitive challenge, good for the availability of additional playoff power points - while teams in rebuilding stages would be able to play crossover games against teams in similar situations.

Finally, the merger would open the door for some fascinating crossover games. If history is so important, how about bringing back Collingswood vs. Camden - the old battle of Haddon Avenue - as well as Paulsboro vs. Glassboro?

There are countless other games - such as Audubon vs. Gloucester City, West Deptford vs. Deptford, Haddonfield vs. Bishop Eustace, Sterling vs. Cinnaminson, Overbrook vs. Delran, Haddon Township vs. Maple Shade, Haddon Heights vs. Palmyra, among so many other possibilities - that could infuse new blood into schedules and invigorate players, coaches, and fans with new rivalries.

And the best thing about WJFL schedules is that they change every two years, with the league placing a heavy emphasis on creating equitable opportunities for every program.

With 95 schools, the flexibility would be there to address the concerns of every team.

With 12 schools - and the Colonial Conference's understandable struggles with this are reflected in those occasional lopsided scores - there's little wiggle room to avoid mismatches that don't benefit either side.

The Colonial Conference has great tradition. That's indisputable.

But guess what? The Burlington County Scholastic League, Olympic Conference, and Tri-County Conference have great tradition, too.

Those leagues have found that merging into the WJFL has been beneficial for every team, not just the powerhouse programs.

That's why the Cape-Atlantic League - another league with a rich history - plans to join the WJFL in 2016.

That's why the Colonial Conference should sign up as well.

panastasia@phillynews.com

@PhilAnastasia

www.philly.com/jerseysidesports