Phillipsburg
football schedule still in play in Trenton
debate
Friday, September 30, 2005 • BY
MIKE FRASSINELLI • Star-Ledger
Staff
The state's acting education commissioner
has thrown an illegal procedure flag at the New Jersey State
Interscholastic Athletic Association for the way it denied
Phillipsburg School District's request to play a sports
schedule predominantly against nearby Pennsylvania teams and
still qualify for New Jersey state championships.
But Phillipsburg is still deep in its own
territory, as acting Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy
upheld key NJSIAA arguments.
Davy punted the case back to the NJSIAA,
saying that the association's executive committee relied on
surprise evidence not shared in advance with
Phillipsburg.
Both the NJSIAA and Phillipsburg saw the
decision as a victory.
NJSIAA officials put out a news release
stressing that Davy upheld the "70 percent rule," which
calls for New Jersey teams to play at least 70 percent of
their games against in-state opponents to qualify for the
state championships.
NJSIAA Executive Director Boyd Sands said
in a statement that he was "pleased with the commissioner's
decision and the recognition that the 70 percent rule is a
sound and legitimate measure."
However, he thought Davy erred in
"remanding the matter on hyper-technical
grounds."
Phillipsburg's lawyer put out a news
release saying that Davy "reversed" the NJSIAA decision for
"procedural errors."
"We're back in the huddle, and about to
call our next play," attorney David B. Rubin of Metuchen
said yesterday. "Going into this next round of these
proceedings, we're armed with a lot more information from
the other side than when we went in."
Rubin said there will likely be another
hearing before the NJSIAA.
He hopes it goes better than the last
one. In a 32-0 vote, the NJSIAA's executive committee on
Jan. 12 denied Phillipsburg's appeal of the 70 percent
rule.
Phillipsburg, runners-up for a New Jersey
state football championship last year and the winningest
team in state history, want to revive rivalries with schools
in Pennsylvania's nearby Lehigh Valley and still compete for
a New Jersey state title.
The Stateliners play in the Skyland
Conference, made up of teams from Somerset, Hunterdon and
Warren counties.
Rubin said Phillipsburg's location near
the Pennsylvania border and the longer trips its teams have
to make in New Jersey have created a "hardship" for
student-athletes.
He said the 70 percent rule was written
to rein in New Jersey schools that were playing a powerhouse
national schedule and using the trips as recruiting tools.
He said it would be ironic if a rule intended to penalize
teams for traveling far away would be used to penalize teams
that want to play close to home.
Mike Frassinelli covers Warren County. He may be reached
at mfras sinelli@starledger.com or (908) 475-1218.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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