Good morning everyone. Several months ago, I read an article in the Home News-Tribune (January 21, 2009) that indicated Franklin Township and Wardlaw-Hartridge were applying to become members of the Greater Middlesex Conference. Today, I decided to look around the internet to find out more information on the status of their pending membership.
Franklin’s application to join the GMC was in response to the changes that were occurring in the state. However, it was done for several reasons. First, many of Franklin’s opponents in the Skyland Conference, which it is currently in, are very far away. To play schools such as Phillipsburg and Warren Hills, all of the Warrior teams have to travel an hour or so. This hampers academic performance. On the other hand, Franklin, which borders on Middlesex County, and GMC schools such as New Brunswick, Piscataway, North Brunswick, and South Brunswick, would only have to take a 30 minute drive in some cases to play the 29 current members of the GMC.
Another reason is because the school population at Franklin is the most diverse in the Skyland, and is a better fit for the Greater Middlesex Conference. There are a number of GMC schools within a short driving distance of FHS that have similar student populations. As a matter of fact, many of the kids at Franklin, Piscataway, South Brunswick, New Brunswick, and North Brunswick all know each other. Finally, Franklin’s female athletic programs have struggled against the tough competition of the Skyland, and would be more competitive against those in the GMC. Earlier in the decade, when the proposed idea of the Super Conference fell through, Franklin made an attempt to join the GMC. After seeming to have enough votes, the Warriors application to join was rejected.
Back in February though, the Warriors were let in this time by the GMC. Franklin was welcomed as a great fit for a conference, which has served along with the Shore Conference as a fine model of what high school athletic leagues in New Jersey should be. However, a short time after being accepted by the Greater Middlesex Conference, Franklin’s request to leave the Skyland Conference was rejected by a vote of 12-11 according to another article in the Home News-Tribune. The Warriors needed to have a two-thirds or 15 vote majority to have its request accepted.
Franklin will now appeal to the NJSIAA’s ten member executive committee. No date had been set for that to take place, but three members of that committee are athletic directors from the Greater Middlesex Conference: Bishop Ahr’s Mike Wolfthal, J.F. Kennedy’s Mike Cliento, and Perth Amboy’s Gregg Ficarra. They all would have to recuse themselves from from a vote on this case due to their association with the conference. Franklin would be a great fit for the league. They have had a long standing Thanksgiving Day rivalry in football with Piscataway, and have played them almost every year in basketball since GMC Hoops began coverage in the 2000-2001 season. In addition, Franklin, being a former member of the Skyland Conference’s predecessor, the Mid-State Conference, also would be rejoined with South Plainfield, a former member of the old conference itself before joining the GMC for its inaugural season in 1986.
Imagine what the GMC would look like if say Franklin joined the GMC White for basketball. Here would be a possible scenario:
Red Division
- East Brunswick
- Edison
- J.P. Stevens
- Old Bridge
- Perth Amboy
- Piscataway
- South Brunswick
- St. Joseph’s
- Woodbridge
White Division
- Cardinal McCarrick
- Carteret
- Colonia
- Franklin
- Monroe
- New Brunswick
- North Brunswick
- Sayreville
- South Plainfield
Blue Division
- Bishop Ahr
- Highland Park
- J.F. Kennedy
- Metuchen
- Middlesex
- South River
- Spotswood
Gold Division
- Dunellen
- East Brunswick Tech
- Perth Amboy Tech
- Piscataway Tech
- South Amboy
- Timothy Christian
- Wardlaw-Hartridge
You thought the White Division was tough now, think of it with Franklin in the mix. Better yet, think of the Warriors playing New Brunswick twice a year, or if Franklin was placed in the Red, imagine it playing Piscataway twice a season. Franklin recently built a new school with a fine Gymnasium that I happened to visit when I saw Metuchen lose to Bordentown in the Central Jersey Group I Championship and Monroe lose to Hamilton in the Central Jersey Group III Championship back in early March 2006. I was very impressed by the new basketball facility.
In addition to Franklin, you noticed that I slipped in Wardlaw for the GMC Gold. A long standing member of the Patriot Conference, and a Prep School, Wardlaw-Hartridge is nestled on Inman Avenue in North Edison just minutes away from nearby GMC schools such as J.P. Stevens, Bishop Ahr, St. Joseph’s, and Metuchen. Moreover, it has a fellow Patriot Conference member in Timothy Christian that has already applied to join the conference in 2010. The Rams have played teams in the GMC such as J.P. Stevens, Bishop Ahr, East Brunswick Tech, Highland Park, J.F. Kennedy, South Amboy, Dunellen, and Piscataway Tech. So, like the Tigers of TCS, Wardlaw would be an excellent fit. Current members of the GMC agreed. In February’s vote at Spotswood High School, Wardlaw received more votes than Franklin by getting approval from 26 of 27 of the GMC’s Athletic Directors.
The addition of Wardlaw along with Timothy Christian to the league would greatly helped the Gold Division, particularly in basketball, where it has been depleted in recent years following the rise through the ranks of Cardinal McCarrick, and the closing of St. Peter’s. Wardlaw has joined such Prep schools as Pingry, Montclair Kimberley, and Newark Academy that have signed on to non-prep conferences such as the Colonial Hills Conference. Like with Timothy Christian, GMC Hoops is looking forward to heading out to Wardlaw to take in a contest there. The last time the web site was out there was for the opening weekend of the 2006-07 season when it saw J.P. Stevens defeat the Rams. Despite going through some recent tough times as a program, Wardlaw has had a fine academic tradition along with former GMC coaches such as St. Joseph’s Bill Kuchar giving the Rams their last great deal of success during the 1990s.
GMC Hoops also hopes that Franklin will be able to leave the Skyland Conference, and join the GMC so that it will be able to head down to Elizabeth Avenue in Somerset to take in another game at their fine gym.