Delaware officials paint troubling picture of state takeover of high school sports

Matthew Stanmyre and Jackie Friedman

Now that a scathing investigation and a fanatical state legislator have taken significant steps toward leveling New Jersey's governing body for high school sports, it's not hard to see the future for New Jersey's 270,000 athletes.

Just go to Delaware.

New Jersey's neighbor to the south is the only state to have its independent athletic association dissolved and then placed under state control. Eight other states have been investigated, but each avoided the type of death penalty the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association seems destined for now that Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) has introduced legislation to move control to the New Jersey School Boards Association.

In interviews last week and throughout the summer, key players in Delaware who now work for the Department of Education say the move was a mistake.

"It's hard to be responsive," Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association executive director Kevin Charles said. "There are several layers of bureaucracy above you, and you have to go through those layers to get things accomplished. In a government setting, that is not necessarily a bad thing. But in a business setting, it can slow things down."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 4, 2010 3:50 AM
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