Keep football at Hopewell Valley CHS in 2003, advisory group says

A key fact in the recommendation to keep football is that 30 of the 46 freshman and sophomores on Hopewell Valley’s 2002 gridiron unit had never played an interscholastic sport before.

By John Tredrea
   Interscholastic football should continue at Hopewell Valley Central High School in 2003, an advisory committee has told the school board Monday.
   A written report of the 12-member committee was summarized by several of its members, including Athletic Director Kiki Enderle and high school Principal John Bach, during Monday night’s session.
   The advisory committee was created last summer, shortly after Hopewell Valley’s first interscholastic high school football team since 1932 held its first practice.
   Speaking to the board, Ms. Enderle, Mr. Bach and advisory committee members Jon Butler and Aida Valcarcel said a key fact in the recommendation to keep football is that 30 of the 46 freshman and sophomores on Hopewell Valley’s 2002 gridiron unit had never played an interscholastic sport before. Those sports are played at Timberlane Middle School as well as at the high school.
   "The committee was ecstatic" that so many of the football players were newcomers to school athletics, the advisory committee’s written report stated. It added: "From this novice group, 17 athletes were from the freshman class and 13 from the sophomore class." The report noted that educational research has long held that participation in extracurricular activities correlates positively with success in the classroom and in life after leaving school.
   "The data is very, very heartening," said Mr. Bach, adding that "every research study I’ve seen shows that grade point averages are higher for students in extracurricular activities than for students who are not." The principal added: "Football did not alter our school’s culture in a negative way. It added to it. For a first-year athletic program, it was a very successful startup. The coach, David Caldwell, did a commendable job under a great deal of public scrutiny and distraction. The team represented us well."
   The high school student body as a whole reacted positively to the addition of football, Mr. Bach said. "The students gave the football team a very warm reception during our fall pep rally," the principal said.
   In addition to the team of 46 players, the football program involved other students in related activities, including 15 cheerleaders, two statisticians, three camera operators and two water boys, who were from Timberlane.
   If football is continued in 2003 as the report recommends, there will be two teams, Superintendent Robert Sopko said: a freshman team and junior varsity unit. If the program is continued in 2004, a third team, playing at the varsity level, is expected to be added.
   Key needs that will have to addressed if the football program continues, the advisory committee report said, are a marching band program, playing fields (the team practiced and played its 2002 games on a field at the Hopewell Township municipal complex, to which the team had to be bused), professional development for coaches, a scoreboard, storage space and athletic training supplies.
   In addition to student participation in the high school’s 2002 football program, the report addressed academic performance of football players, their disciplinary record at school, and injuries.
   • Academic performance: The grade-point average for the football team as a whole was 83.5 percent during the first marking period. For all fall athletes during the first-marking period, it was 89.2 percent. For Central High School as a whole, the first-marking period GPA was 84.5, Mr. Bach said.
   "This data concludes that student-athletes at Hopewell Valley have a strong commitment to extracurricular activities and academic achievement," the report said.
   • Disciplinary occurrences: The advisory committee researched the number of major disciplinary infractions by freshmen in all fall athletic programs. In football, eight of 22 freshmen, or 36 percent, were cited for major infractions during the fall season. One of the infractions was for theft. The other seven were for fighting.
   None were for alcohol or drug violations, the other two types of disciplinary infractions considered "major." By comparison, cross-country had three of 11 students with major disciplinary infractions. Boys soccer had six boys out of 28 with major infractions.
   The 36 percent figure for football bothered township resident Anthony Arnone, who said during the public comment period: "Thirty-six percent just seems too high to me. It just seems out of scale."
   In response, Mr. Bach said: "Clearly ours is a school that’s well-behaved. I suspect that, overall, athletes are better behaved than nonathletes, and I believe future data will show that."
   • Injuries: Advisory committee members and school officials agree that work needs to be done to reduce the level of injuries in football at Hopewell Valley. During the 2002 season, the team had 11 injuries that kept the injured players out of action two weeks or more. The girls soccer team had the second highest rate, with three injuries that kept the injured players out two weeks or more.
   One of the members of the advisory committee, Dr. William Gomez, is an orthopedic surgeon. The report states that, in Dr. Gomez’s professional experience, football causes more injuries than other fall sports. "He does concur," the report continues, "that the rate of injuries experienced this season could be attributed to the number of novice players that participated. These novice players certainly did not have the proper skill development or conditioning program, which therefore led to improper mechanics."
   Proactive steps need to be taken to train players in ways that will minimize risk of injury, the advisory committee says.
   Addressing the board and the public, David Caldwell, coach of HoVal’s football team, said players on that unit "learned many things, not all of which will show up in a survey. We came together as a unit and a family and strived to achieve common goals. Our success was shown not only by a winning record, but by an increase in self-confidence and self-esteem in many of our players. Thirty kids, who were doing nothing in the way of sports before this fall, joined us. I think that’s important to remember."
   The report also addressed student and community interest in football. A school survey posed questions in writing to students in grades nine-11. A key finding, Ms. Enderle said, was that only 85 students out of 485 surveyed said they would change to football from another fall sport. Asked if they thought football would help promote the overall athletic program, 311 students said "yes" to 189 who said "no." Asked if they attended a 2002 HoVal football game, 193 said "yes" to 304 who said "no." Asked if they had attended any sporting event this year, 368 said "yes" to 138 who said "no." Asked if football would help bring the community together, 249 said "yes" to 243 who said "no."
   Great support from community at large was shown to the football team, the advisory committee report said. Businesses purchased advertisements in the team’s program. The team’s five home games drew about 3,025 spectators, including 1,200 to the first game and 800 to the second game.
   The members of the advisory committee are: Kate Megna, a senior at Central High School and also the schools representative on the school board; high school faculty members William O’Brien and Anthony Suozzo, parents Aida Valcracel and Ona Rose (who is a member of the high school Booster Club), Kris Kley of HIKE, Judy Manley, Nancy Ross, a member of the Pennington Borough Council; Warren C. Lewis, longtime athletic officer for Hopewell Valley American Legion Post 339; Dr. William Gomez, an orthopedic surgeon; Michael Kincaid and Jon Butler.
   If football stays for 2003, it will be evaluated again by the advisory committee. The findings of that group will be a key factor, school officials say, in deciding whether to keep the sport for a third year, which would be the first year the school district would pay any football costs. HIKE, a local nonprofit, is paying all costs the first two years.