New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
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The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), founded in 1918, is a voluntary, non-profit organization made up of 425 accredited public, private and parochial high schools in New Jersey. The daily administration is carried out by the Executive Director, Mr. Boyd A. Sands. NJSIAA headquarters, is located on U.S. Route 130 in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The New Jersey Association, together with other State Associations, constitutes the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
The NJSIAA is headed by a governing body known as the Executive Committee. Individuals serving on this committee represent public, parochial and private secondary institutions, the Education Committee of the New Jersey Legislature, the New Jersey School Boards Association, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, the New Jersey Association of Secondary School Principals, the New Jersey Council of Catholic Diocesan Superintendents, the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association, the New Jersey State Officials, the Directors of Athletics Association of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools.
The Association, through the Executive Committee, establishes the rules and regulations governing high school athletics in order to equalize competition for member schools. The NJSIAA conducts tournaments, and crowns champions in thirty one sports, the most of any other state association in the nation. Championship competition for girls is sponsored in basketball, bowling, cross country, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track-outdoor, track-winter, and volleyball. Boys Championships are determined in baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, fencing, football, golf, New Jersey High School Hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track-outdoor, track-winter, volleyball and wrestling.
The NJSIAA classifies each school by the total number of sophomores, juniors, and seniors in each school. Based on student population, public schools are split up into four groupings, and non-public schools are split into two groupings. Each group is set in different regions across the state for the public schools: North Jersey is split into two sections, Central Jersey and South Jersey. Non-Public schools are separated by north and south.
[edit] State championships
In order for schools to move on to the state championship, they must achieve a winning percentage of .500 or greater by a preset date. Football and wrestling are the only sports where you may have a .500 record and not move on. For the two sports, the best eight schools in each section move on. This is determine by power points, where wins you earn are points determined by the score of the game and the size of the school you defeated. But that is not the case for the rest of the sports. However, winning percentage is not enough. If a school has too many disqualifications, then they're disqualified from the state championship.
When teams win their sectional championship, they are awarded a blue trophy indicating the section that they won and the sport in which they won it in. For public schools, the two North Jersey winners face off against each other, while the South and Central teams plays as well. Finally, the two teams play each other for the Group championship. For non-public schools, the section winner moves on to the state championship. The state champions receives a gold trophy with the group they are in and the appropriate sport they won the trophy in.
For some sports, each group champion play each other in the Tournament of Champions for the state championship and the #1 state ranking. For Boys, the tournament is offered in basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, tennis, track-indoor, and track-outdoor. For girls, the sports are basketball, cross country, field hockey, tennis, track-outdoor, track-winter, and volleyball.
For some sports, there are no group championships. All schools, public and non-public, compete for the state championship. For boys, its bowling, fencing, golf, and volleyball. For girls, its bowling, fencing, golf, and gymnastics.
Student-Athletes may be state champions as well. The sports that offer individual state championships are: Boys and Girls Cross Country, Gymnastics, Boys and Girls Tennis (Singles and Doubles), Boys and Girls Bowling, Boys and Girls Fencing, Boys and Girls Swimming, Boys and Girls Diving, Wrestling, Boys and Girls Track-winter, Boys and Girls Golf, and Boys and Girls Track-outdoor.
