Early last week, the NJSIAA announced it has created another proposal that might change the landscape of high school football in the state of New Jersey.
The proposal would create separate conferences for public and non-public schools.
In short, all of the non-public schools in New Jersey would operate in one conference just for football.
This means that many popular, long standing rivalries will end if the deal is approved by the general membership in December.
The proposal, if approved, would take effect with the 2016 season. There are 431 members of the NJSIAA and the vote needs to be majority in order for the proposal to pass.
Should the proposal pass, public schools would still be able to play non-public schools, but it would be more difficult to schedule such games due to logistics and the fact that a second, separate conference will be created.
For Cinnaminson, this means that the Pirates would lose long-time rival Holy Cross from their schedule.
Pirates head coach Mario Patrizi had the following to say about the proposal and how it would affect the division and the potential loss of a rival:
“There is a part of me that feels that the non-publics should be in one league for the fact that they can draw from all over the area, whereas the publics only have a certain area. Obviously, if that would happen, then our Holy Cross game would no longer be played. That’s the downside for not just Cinnaminson, but for Holy Cross. We both like playing each other. It’s a great rivalry that always draws great interest. This is a proposal that has been discussed for a long time. I would be surprised if it ever would happen.”
One possible benefit of this proposal, if passed, would be the opportunity for public schools to play schools from out-of-state in what are described as showcase games.
Patrizi liked this idea, saying, “I would love for our program to play an out-of-state Group 2 team. It definitely would create a lot of excitement. Just to play at a different venue or have a team that your program has never played before coming into Cinnaminson would be a nice change.”
The next step in the proposal process is to present the idea in the fall to the NJSIAA member schools at five sectional meetings. Then, the general membership would vote on the proposal at a meeting in December. We will keep you up-to-date with any news related to this potential change in the coming months.
Image credit: NJ MileSplit
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