November/December 2024 - 44

"
In the last five years, the NJSIAA has adopted girls' wrestling and girls' ice
hockey as sanctioned sports. ... I am very proud that the NJSIAA currently
hosts 17 sanctioned sports for girls and 16 for boys.
"
proudly hosts 33 sanctioned state tournament events and
is always eager to look for new opportunities to engage
more student-athletes. We also need to continually review
our rules and regulations to make sure we are staying
current with an evolving landscape - both in education
and interscholastic athletics.
Have you added any athletic offerings during your
tenure? If so, which ones? Do you plan to add any
in the future?
Yes, in the last five years, NJSIAA has adopted girls'
wrestling and girl's ice hockey as sanctioned sports. We
currently have schools piloting girls' flag football, and we
are monitoring its growth and enthusiasm. I anticipate we
will be going to our membership with a request to sanction
girls' flag football in the next 2-3 years. I am very proud
that NJSIAA currently hosts 17 sanctioned sports for girls
and 16 sanctioned sports for boys.
What emerging trends and future challenges do
you foresee for high school athletics? How is the
NJSIAA preparing to address them?
Today's student-athletes are continually pressured to
specialize and focus on club sports. In addition, today's
student-athletes have opportunities to promote
themselves on social media in large-scale ways that
previous generations did not have. This can all be very
distracting and overwhelming. NJSIAA and its member
schools continue to message the value of educationbased
athletics and the importance of being a wellrounded
student-athlete. In addition, NJSIAA has updated
its amateur rules to allow student-athletes to monetize
their name, image, and likeness in a personal capacity
- our rules prohibit any affiliation with or involvement of,
a member school. Lastly, we are focused on continuing
recruitment and retention of qualified officials - we are
just starting to reverse a declining trend among active
officials but need to keep up our efforts.
What are you most proud of during your tenure
as NJSIAA executive director?
In addition to growing sport opportunities for our
female student-athletes, I am very proud of the
Association's efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While our seasons during the 2020-2021 school year did
not look the same, every student-athlete across every
sanctioned sport had the opportunity to participate -
this was very important to the social and emotional
well-being of our student-athletes during very difficult
times.
Can you elaborate on the NJSIAA's efforts to
crack down on illegal recruitment for basketball
and football? How have these new rules
been received by coaches and teams?
NJSIAA staff, with the support of its
Executive Committee, continue to define and
communicate what actions may or may not be
indicative of recruiting. Our rules have been
updated to prohibit recruiting once a student-athlete
enters Grade 9 or starts fall sports practice, whichever
comes first. Our rules are well supported by member
schools and coaches, and we have seen an increase in
cooperation from member schools when trying to
investigate allegations of recruiting. No system or rule is
perfect, but NJSIAA staff has made recruiting a priority
44 COACH & A.D. | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024
November/December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2024
