Petition for NJ's HS Track and Field Athletes

Thank you for the thoughtful response.

From the conversations I've had with coaches and athletes, they seem in favor of having meets mid-week, at night, if that meant a better, more accommodating facility. After all, many of their county, relay, and league championship meets are on weeknights at the Armory of Ocean Breeze.

So, to that point, I don't think this would mean shortening the season - just shifting it a bit.

In terms of cost, we host a meet at Ocean Breeze every year. It is a NY state park constructed with public taxes, so the costs are quite reasonable.

And couldn't agree more about Rutgers. They host the basketball and football state championships here in NJ. Would be a perfect spot for the indoor and outdoor track state championships, as well.

A few things worth sharing:

1- Imagine if you had a child whose primary events were the LJ and/or TJ. How would you feel if these events were contested all indoor season - but not at the sectional and state meet? There have been hundreds of kids put in this position over the years in NJ, and our point is that this isn't fair to them.

2- We host a meet at Ocean Breeze every year, and since it's a NY state park with fixed rates, it's actually reasonably priced.

3- Javelin, discus, and the 400h are outdoor events only. The LJ and TJ are indoor events, so as such, they should be contested at the indoor state championships.

4- Our purpose here isn't to build an indoor track. Our purpose is to be a voice for the coaches and athletes who care so deeply about this issue but haven't a safe or effective platform to express their collective voice.

NJ has not had the LJ or TJ at a sectional or state meet in its history and I believe the 200 as well. It's possible the 200 was in state meet decades ago but I'm not sure. This is not a change or a last minute move. It's been like this for decades. There is no coach in NJ that assumed these events would be in sectionals or states.

I don't disagree that we need a new venue. Unfortunately it does not exist. Our Meet of Champions is at OB and has those 3 events and the 4x800. It's incredibly costly for teams to travel to OB and some schools all but ban their schools from going there. Coaches and athletes need and want certain things but we are unwilling to change and adapt. Sectionals, 24 of them, and state meets, 6 of them, are long, upwards of 6-7 hours. They cannot be longer. What is there to do? Get rid of sectionals? Use time qualifiers? Nobody will ever ask or agree to that.

Chuck - you do a lot of great things for this sport but there's always something off or disingenuous about how you do things.

This isn't a good petition. The situation sucks for jumpers and 200 runners, sure, I definitely have sympathy for them. But you have no real leg to stand on when you ask to move a meet to the other side of the state, much further to Southern NJ, in another state! To me, the meet being moved from its central-ish location to a northern one with bad traffic is arguably a bigger inequality, because that would affect many schools, and all athletes/budgets from those southern schools.

Until a better more central venue is found, those jumpers and 200 runners will just have to know that indoor and outdoor track are different, and they have to wait for their state championship...just like the jav/disc throwers and 400 hurdlers already know.

Thank you for the thoughtful response.

To be sure, our purpose here is to begin a discussion and be an agent of change around important issues for NJ track and field.

So yes, NJ hasn't hosted these events in a long time. But does that make it right? New York offers five more events than NJ in their state tournament: TJ, LJ, 4x200, 4x800, and weight throw. In addition, they offer one extra running event: 55, 300, 600, 1000, 1600, 3200.

You are certainly spot-on that this is a complex issue involving many moving pieces, and we certainly don't intend to be reductionist in how we approach the subject. That said, if other states have figured it out, and if our coaches and kids want this change, it's surely worth pursuing.

I agree on the lengthy sectional meets. However, I've also not seen many best practices employed with meet management. Ie, publishing tight meet schedules and sticking to them, running two heats of the 400 at once, establishing soft standards for events (to prevent a 16:30 3200m runner), etc.

Overall, from the conversations I've had with folks which inspired this petition, the overarching sentiment seems to be, "There is room for growth and change, so let's have a real conversation about that."

Chuck -

As the director of Garden State Track Club, you have the opportunity to use revenue from YOUR OWN ORGANIZATION to help the situation. Instead of offering a single dollar, you file a horrible petition and accuse the NJSIAA of racism for not including the LJ, TJ, and 200.

In your original post, you said you just learned of this. It's been this way for decades. How does the director of Garden State TC not know that already?

The NJ has the MOC at Ocean Breeze and contests those events. So those athletes do have opportunities.

Are you willing to be a man and apologize for your false accusations of racism?

Signed! Chuck I’m in full support of your petition and will spread the word. As a mother of a North Jersey top middle distance runner who went on to a renown D1 college program I understand how important this situation is especially at the high school and State level. Imagine Keturah Orji who competed in NJ those same years not have the opportunity to compete in long jump on the state level.

Orji won New Balance INDOOR Nationals in the triple jump twice and long jump once, I don't think she cares about not being a sectional champion in the indoor triple jump.

Having to focus mainly on sprints indoors helped develop her speed enough to be so good at the jumps.

Hello,

This is not a financial issue or a racial issue, and we've never stated that it was.

This is an issue of equity. As a sport, we should be striving to provide similar resources and opportunities to all athletes in all event areas.

And again, just because it's "been like this for decades" doesn't mean we shouldn't have a thoughtful discussion on reform.

everyone has to start somewhere. And sorry but have no idea what she or anyone with her potential now are thinking.

Bro, it’s New Jersey.

Good luck trying to find enough availability in the Ocean Breeze calendar to accommodate all of those sectional and group meets…

Like someone previously stated, adding LJ TJ 200 will make these lengthy sectional meets even longer. Keep in mind a school like salem, they would have to travel 2.5 hrs back home following a 6 hour meet. With a 4pm start and a 6-7 hour meet, they could potentially be arriving back home at approximately 1am

I think the current leadership of the NJSIAA is an absolute joke, and so is this discussion and petion. I am glad someone called out that Chuck just realized something in 2024 that has been in place since probably 2007! The Bubble is a horrible facility and when built put the LJ/TJ runway in lane 1 of the track ensuring it could not be contested during a meet. There is no where else, so unless Chuck wants to build one, or work with an entity that has the means, than his petition is self serving. Also, he mentions taking the petition to a meeting on 3/12. I assume he is talking about the NJSIAA post season meeting, which if he is not an NJSIAA coach, he has no right to attend. I will also say even if he was, he might not be invited anyway, it's a bad organization. He provides no solution to the problems, and no constructive one will ever be considered under current njsiaa leadership. The kids in NJ will sadly continue to suffer

Stop throwing around woke buzzwords like "equity" because this has nothing to do with inequity. You clearly implied racism, you are despicable.

NJSIAA offers as many events as their available tracks can accommodate, and everyone has the opportunity to try each and every one of those events.

Indoors has always had less events, and different events. For example, world Athletics doesn't offer the 200m, 5000m, or weight throw at the World Indoor Championships.

It apparently is a financial issue because nobody can afford to build a track that meets the needs of the NJSIAA. You are unwilling to foot any of the bill for a new track, or to relocate these meets, from your organization. This makes me think somehow your club would PROFIT off of this move and thus your interests are your own gain, not that of the athletes.