North Jersey Interscholastic Conference

The North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, or NJIC, is a high school athletic conference located in New Jersey. It is one of the so-called "super conferences" created by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) as a part of a realignment of high school sports leagues in North and Central New Jersey announced in 2009.

A total of 36 public and private high schools are part of the NJIC. Most of the schools are located in Bergen County (27), with the rest in Passaic County (6) and Hudson County (3).

Formation of the NJIC

Increasing conflict over competitive imbalance in New Jersey high school sports leagues led to the formation of a committee to study the issue in 2008. The group proposed to disband the 11 athletic conferences in the northern part of the state and create six larger "super conferences".^[1]

After a lengthy series of meetings and revisions, final implementation of the plan took place with the start of the 2010-11 school year. In the northeast corner of New Jersey, two super conferences emerged: the Big North Conference for larger schools and the NJIC for smaller schools.^[2]

All NJIC schools were previously associated with four previous conferences: The Bergen County Scholastic League National / Olympic, the Bergen County Scholastic League / American, the Bergen-Passaic Scholastic League, and the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League. All of the BCSL National/Olympic and B-PSL members joined the NJIC. Rutherford HS was the only BCSL American Division School to enter the NJIC. Pascack Hills was the only NBIAL school to enter the NJIC.^[3]Paterson Catholic High School(a member of the B-PSL) closed in the spring of 2010 and therefore never joined the NJIC.^[4]

Pascack Hills High School was a member of the BCSL National/Olympic for football only; it was part of the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League for all other sports and was the only NBIAL school to join the NJIC. The school petitioned the NJIC to join the Big North for the 2011-12school year, was granted permission by the NJIC, and this conference switch was then approved by the Big North and the NJSIAA.

Three other schools--Hawthorne Christian, Mary Help of Christians and Saddle River Day--had been independent prior to the start of the realignment process. Hawthorne Christian and Saddle River Day were placed in the BCSL National/Olympic and Mary Help of Christians Academy was placed in the B-PSL as a transitional step before the NJIC began play.^[5]

The North Jersey Interscholastic Conference is a registered New Jersey Non-Profit Corporation.

Current Schools of the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference

Bergen County Public Schools School Location Team Name Becton Regional High School East Rutherford Wildcats Bogota High School Bogota Buccaneers Cresskill High School Cresskill Cougars Elmwood Park Memorial High School Elmwood Park Crusaders Emerson High School Emerson Cavaliers Garfield High School Garfield Boilermakers Glen Rock High School Glen Rock Panthers Hasbrouck Heights High School Hasbrouck Heights Aviators Leonia High School Leonia Lions Lodi High School Lodi Rams Lyndhurst High School Lyndhurst Golden Bears Midland Park High School Midland Park Panthers New Milford High School New Milford Knights North Arlington High School North Arlington Vikings Palisades Park High School Palisades Park Tigers Park Ridge High School Park Ridge Owls Ridgefield Memorial High School Ridgefield Royals Rutherford High School Rutherford Bulldogs Saddle Brook High School Saddle Brook Falcons Waldwick High School Waldwick Warriors Wallington High School Wallington Panthers Wood-Ridge High School Wood-Ridge Blue Devils

Bergen County Non-Public Schools School Location Team Name Dwight-Englewood School Englewood Bulldogs Immaculate Conception High School Lodi Blue Wolves Queen of Peace High School North Arlington Golden Griffins Saddle River Day School Saddle River Rebels St. Mary High School Rutherford Gaels Hudson County Public Schools School Location Team Name Harrison High School Harrison Blue Tide Secaucus High School Secaucus Patriots Weehawken High School Weehawken Indians Passaic County Public Schools School Location Team Name Hawthorne High School Hawthorne Bears Manchester Regional High School Haledon Falcons Pompton Lakes High School Pompton Lakes Cardinals Passaic County Non-Public Schools School Location Team Name Eastern Christian High School North Haledon Eagles Hawthorne Christian Academy Hawthorne Defenders Mary Help of Christians Academy North Haledon Blue Jays

Sports Offered

Fall Sports Cross Country Football Soccer Tennis (Girls) Volleyball (Girls)

Winter Sports Basketball Bowling Swimming Track & Field Wrestling

Spring Sports Baseball Golf Softball Tennis (Boys) Track & Field

Conference Divisions

The NJIC is divided into four divisions, largely along geographic and enrollment lines. Divisional alignments are reviewed every 2-year scheduling cycle by the conference. Because not all conference members participate in bowling, cross-country, football, golf, tennis and wrestling, different divisional alignments exist for those sports. Football and wrestling are sports specific and do not fall into the traditional divisional alignments.^[6]

Colonial Division Elmwood Park Garfield Glen Rock Lodi Pascack Hills Rutherford Eastern Christian Hawthorne Manchester Regional Mary Help of Christians Pompton Lakes

Meadowlands Division Becton Hasbrouck Heights Immaculate Conception North Arlington Saddle Brook St. Mary Wallington Weehawken Wood-Ridge

Liberty Division Dwight Englewood Harrison Leonia Lyndhurst New Milford Ridgefield Secaucus Queen of Peace

Patriot Division Bogota Cresskill Emerson Hawthorne Christian Midland Park Palisades Park Park Ridge Saddle River Day Waldwick

References

1. "NJSIAA Proposed Realignment," http://www.njsba.org/sb_notes/20080904/realignment.html, accessed January 25, 2011.
2. "Realignment Architects," http://www.northjersey.com/sports/hs_sports/football/102511419_Architects_behind_realignment.html
3. "Realignment will mean new matchups for teams". NorthJersey.com. 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
4. "Paterson Catholic to close by end of school year". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
5. "Schools are ready to deal with realignment". NorthJersey.com. 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
6. "New football realignment finally agreed upon". NorthJersey.com. 2010-03-18. Retrieved 2011-06-18.

External links

• Conference website NJICathletics.org