By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North will not field a varsity football team this season because of a lack of players, according to West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District officials.
The varsity football program at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South will continue but players from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North will not be allowed to play for that team.
Players from the shutdown varsity team, including seniors, are eligible to play for West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s junior varsity team.
West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s varsity team will play its first game at Ewing High School on Sept. 8.
School district officials became aware of the shortage of West Windsor-Plainsboro North football players and attempted to work out a solution. The team, which is classified in Group 4, would have been able to field only a total of nine juniors and seniors for a varsity team.
Football teams in New Jersey are placed in five classifications due to enrollment, with Group 5 the largest and Group 1 the smallest.
The school district sought permission to allow the nine juniors and seniors to join the football team at West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
But the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), the West Jersey Football League and the state Department of Education rejected the request, wrote Superintendent of Schools David Aderhold.
"We are significantly disappointed that the individuals and agencies that are supposed to both protect our students and provide opportunity and access [have chosen] to honor archaic rules versus finding a workable solution to allow students to safely participate in a sport that they love," Aderhold wrote in an Aug. 1 letter.
"The West Jersey Football League and the NJSIAA should be ashamed of themselves," Aderhold wrote. "Therefore, due to no other alternatives, the school district will suspend its West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North varsity season for the fall 2017 season."
West Windsor-Plainsboro North ended the 2016 season with a 3-7 record. The team would have been in the Central Jersey, Group 4 section this fall.
