Salem AD named NJSIAA president

Salem athletic director Dave Suiter yesterday was named president of the NJSIAA, which governs high school sports in the state.

Suiter, who had been first vice president, will serve a one-year term.

James Sarruda, the Northern Burlington superintendent, was named first vice president at yesterday's monthly NJSIAA meeting in Robbinsville.

Suiter, 48, will serve as chairman of several NJSIAA committees and will coordinate the state's league-alignment plans - perhaps the most pressing issue of his term.

"That's certainly going to be the issue that's at the forefront - hopefully not for the full year, but it's something that needs to be finalized," Suiter said. "The committee will be working all summer on it and hopefully we'll discuss it in September."

The league and conference committee is composed of more than 30 administrators who are deciding whether to revamp leagues from around the state. There is a possibility that the leagues will be composed of teams with the same group sizes.

Suiter hinted that the committee will try to preserve long-standing rivalries, but added it was also concerned with "competitive balance."

"They're looking at a variety of options and addressing the perceived imbalances around the state," Suiter said. "I think the committee would be more than happy if the conferences could resolve their differences by themselves, but in the event the conferences can't work things out, the committee will be making strong recommendations."

In other business yesterday, the executive committee approved the NJSIAA's budget of about $5.2 million.

Also, a rule was approved that will enable ice hockey teams to play overtime in holiday and other in-season tournaments.

Steve Timko, the NJSIAA's executive director, said the classification of schools' groups in 2008-09 cannot be determined until the athletic association receives enrollment figures from the Department of Education.

"We expected to get them a month ago, but we're still waiting," Timko said, "so we'll get them later this summer."