FAQ: New to HS sports in North Jersey? Here's everything you need to know

You made it. Your child is now a member of a varsity high school sports team. This is a big deal. Congratulations! The next two or three, or maybe even four, years will be filled with thrills and excitement.

Now, you probably have questions.

New Jersey offers 34 sanctioned high school sports, meaning there’s a true state or group championship tournament run by the NJSIAA (we’ll explain more below). Other sports, such as crew, cheerleading and flag football are ‘club’ sports and are run differently. The champions in those sports aren’t technically true state champions.

Permit us, the Varsity Aces, to answer some frequently-asked questions you may have before and during your child’s high school sports career.

What league does my team play in?

Teams in North Jersey (Bergen and Passaic counties), for the most part, belong to one of two different conferences or leagues (those words are interchangeable).

There's the Big North Conference, which has 44 schools ranging from large to small, spread across seven different divisions.

There's also the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference (NJIC), made up almost exclusively of small schools. The NJIC has 36 members and its geographic footprint is a bit larger - it has one schools in Morris County (Butler) and three in Hudson County (Secaucus, Weehawken and Harrison). Depending on the sport, the NJIC either has teams in as many as six divisions (like boys soccer) or as few as three (boys tennis and golf).

For the most part, geography and school size are the main components determining which division your school plays in. Competitive balance is a factor too, but a small one.

It's important to know the difference between your conference/league (NJIC and Big North) and your division.

Also know that football looks totally different.

Why is football different?

North Jersey schools that compete in the Big North belong to the Super Football Conference, a grouping of more than 110 schools scattered across eight counties.

The NJIC has four divisions for football, with 25 teams (not every member school has a football team).

The best way to explain why football is different is because competitive balance takes on an enhanced role in deciding which division your team plays in. It's not just about geography and school size.

The NJIC uses its small size to its advantage, putting the winners of all four divisions into a playoff and crowning a conference champion the last week of the football regular season in a conference championship game.

Who is in charge? What is the NJSIAA?

In the broadest sense, high school sports in New Jersey are run by the the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).

Colleen Maguire is the NJSIAA executive director. She oversees an administrative staff with each individual assigned different sports for each of the three seasons. There is also an executive committee, a grouping of approximately 40 past/present athletic administrators and political officials who oversee the rules and bylaws established by the NJSIAA.

These rules and bylaws change frequently to adapt to the evolving world of New Jersey high school athletics.

At the local level, the athletic director at your high school is in charge of your school’s teams, and handles the hiring of new coaches. Public-school coaches must be approved by their district's board of education.

What are sections and groups?

The NJSIAA sponsors state tournaments for every sport it runs, including both individual and team competitions. Teams are seeded based on power points, a computer metric that evaluates overall performance and strength of schedule.

Public-school teams are placed into four groups for most sports based on enrollment figures disclosed by the NJ Department of Education. Think of it this way: the top 25 percent of schools by enrollment play in Group 4, the next 25 percent play in Group 3, and so on.

Each group is divvied into four sections − North 1, North 2, Central and South − based on geography. A couple examples: Ridgewood, a large school in northern Bergen County, plays in North 1, Group 4. North Arlington, a small school in southern Bergen County, plays in North 2, Group 1.

(Football and wrestling public-school teams are split into five groups, and a handful of sports have fewer than four groups.)

Sometimes, teams will play in a section with many of the same teams in their division. It's possible two teams could play twice during the regular season, once again in a county tournament and one more time in a sectional tournament.

What’s the difference between state and sectional championships?

For the bulk of the state tournaments, 16 teams reach the playoffs in each section. The teams that win those playoff tournaments are sectional championship − not state champions.

The four sectional champions in each group advance to the group semifinals, with the semifinal winers advancing to the group final. The teams that win the group finals are true state champions.

In most sports, New Jersey crowns four public state champions, one in each group. The non-public schools are usually separated into two groups, A and B, based on enrollment.

So for a sport like soccer, basketball or baseball, there are six state champions: four public-school champions and two non-public champions. (For football, there are seven state champions: five public-school champions and two non-public champions.)

What ever happened to the Tournament of Champions?

New Jersey used to be one of the rare states that went the extra step of holding a Tournament of Champions for several sports, when all of the state group champions would compete against each other with one team being crowned the overall New Jersey champion.

The NJSIAA voted to end all Tournaments of Champions in 2021, citing the additional length of each season and some of the redundancy of seeing the same teams playing in the finals year after year.

Where do referees and officials come from?

They’re volunteers. Many are former athletes in the area, or former coaches who want to stay connected to the game.

They have to go through a lengthy training process to learn the rules of each sport before being assigned to any actual high school events. New referees usually start out on the freshman or JV level before moving up to varsity events.

How much are referees and officials paid?

It varies from sport to sport, but here is the fee schedule for 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Fall sports - Cross-country: $80; Field hockey: varsity $95, sub-varsity $66; Gymnastics: varsity $100; sub-varsity $68; Soccer: varsity $100; sub-varsity $66; Volleyball: varsity $85, sub-varsity $56, line judge $60; Football: varsity $120, sub-varsity $67, clock $80.

Winter sports - Basketball: varsity $100, sub-varsity $66; Fencing: varsity $95, sub-varsity $60; Ice hockey: varsity $110, sub-varsity $78; Swimming: single-gender dual $90, dual-gender dual $100; Wrestling: varsity $100, sub-varsity $59.

Spring sports - Baseball: varsity $105, sub-varsity $68; Lacrosse: varsity $100, sub-varsity $68; Track: Four teams or fewer $95, five or more $110; Softball: varsity $95, sub-varsity $66; Volleyball: varsity $85, sub-varsity $56, line judge $60.

By the way, if you think you can do better, local officiating chapters are always accepting applications.

Why don’t games always start on time?

While the leagues try to place nearby schools in the same grouping, it’s not always easy.

One famous story was that it was easier for schools in Wayne to take 287 all the way up through New York to get to road games in the Northern Valley (Demarest and Old Tappan). And playing a game at Fort Lee basically means drive to the George Washington Bridge and then turn at the last possible opportunity.

Buses for sporting events are usually on their second route of the afternoon and can get delayed, players can get delayed, and there is traffic. So that 4 p.m. or 4:15 p.m. start time is usually more of a suggestion.

How does my team make a county tournament?

It varies.

The majority of tournaments are seeded at a meeting of all the coaches in the county. There definitely can be some conflict with a coach vouching for his or her team over another.

For the Bergen Jamboree (the boys basketball county tournament), a small, independent committee attends games and evaluates teams to place in the tournament.

Why does my public school team play a non-public school team?

Although rare, it does happen that a public school plays a non-public school during the regular season. This is done to flesh out a team’s non-league schedule, or could happen in a county tournament.

But in the state tournaments run by the NJSIAA, public and non-public schools compete separately.

Don’t non-public schools recruit?

Yes, non-public schools are known for recruiting prospective athletes to their campus to play sports there. It is not a secret. It is also not against the current NJSIAA rules.

The current rules state that schools have the ability to recruit prospective eighth graders to come play, but once a student enrolls in a high school and starts practice with them, the communication and enticement must stop.

Whether or not that really happens is up for debate.

What is the transfer rule?

Like college sports, transfers have become a major part of the New Jersey high school sports industry.

The NJSIAA oversees its own “transfer portal” and has a similar model to the NCAA, allowing kids one “free transfer” before senior year, meaning they can transfer to a new school and not sit out any period of time before being eligible.

The second time a student-athlete transfers, he or she incurs a sit period. Students classified as seniors are also subject to a short sit period before they are eligible at their new school.

How does my kid make an All-County or All-League team?

The process varies from sport to sport. In both Bergen and Passaic counties, the All-League and All-County teams are decided on by a committee of coaches.

For All-League, every coach in the league meets at/or near the end of the season and goes over the candidates, and they make the selections.

For All-County, it’s a bit of a different process. Typically, the winning coach of each division in the proper leagues is a representative. They gather and decide who should be on the All-County team.

In Bergen County, the process is overseen by the Bergen County Coaches Association for the boys teams, and the Bergen County Women Coaches Association for girls teams. Both organizations sponsor dinners for the winners after each season.

The Passaic County Coaches Association oversees the All-County selection process for that county. They have one big dinner in June at the end of the scholastic sports season for the honorees.

What's the difference between All-County and All-North Jersey?

All-County is chosen by the coaches. All-North Jersey refers to the selections of the best players in their respective sports by the Varsity Aces, members of the NorthJersey.com high school sports staff.

All-North Jersey combines players from Bergen and Passaic counties into one sort of a regional team, if you will.

Who picks the All-New Jersey teams for football?

NorthJersey.com partners with other media organizations throughout the Garden State in its coverage of high school football.

At the end of each season, media representatives gather to discusses the merits of the top players in their area and select the All-New Jersey teams.

What is the criteria for making an All-North Jersey or All-New Jersey team?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but running for 1,000 yards as a running back or hitting 10 home runs is not a guarantee of any postseason accolade.

There is no set criteria for any of these honors, because to do so would omit players who get injured or face tougher competition, or play in a harder league.

Decisions are made based on the experience, insights and perspectives of the coaches and media members.

How does NorthJersey.com gather high school box scores?

Coaches are responsible for reporting their box scores by emailing localsports@northjersey.com .

To learn more about the process, click here .

How does NorthJersey.com select Athletes of the Week?

Coaches are responsible for nominating their athletes for Athlete of the Week. The full process is outlined here .

Every Saturday night, the Varsity Aces vote from the list of nominees to determine the winners.

Do you have an app?

Yes, we do!

Our Varsity Aces app includes all of our coverage right at your fingertips, and can send alerts to keep you up-do-date in real time.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: FAQ: New to HS sports in North Jersey? Here's everything you need to know