Athletics – Shark Teeth and Deer, West Milford Honored

Jan 17, 2017

Shark Teeth and Deer, West Milford Honored by Darren Cooper of The Record

When I get asked one of the best places to watch a high school game in North Jersey, I always answer West Milford. And it doesn’t matter what sport.

 They always have people in the stands. The kids are cheerful. The atmosphere is lively. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad experience up there (it is a drive, but there are ice cream places to stop in).

One of my highlights of my season so far was the speech motivational speaker Gian Paul Gonzalez gave at West Milford at the start of the fall. Shark teeth, baby.

So it’s no surprise that the Directors of Athletics Association of New Jersey recently honored West Milford with the “Athletic Program of Excellence Award.”

This award is meant to recognize a New Jersey high school athletics program that focuses on providing ‘safe and positive experiences for all participants.’ It also emphasizes emphasizing education during the athletic process, and how many coaches talk about how athletics is merely an extension of the classroom?

“I think the award highlights and recognizes that we as an athletic program are concerned about winning off the field just as much, if not more, than being successful on the field,” said West Milford athletic director Joe Trentacosta. “I feel our athletic program is moving in a direction that is very positive and educationally based.”

Trentacosta is quick to deflect praise on to the full coaching staff for helping put the application together for the award. He said the goal now is to keep moving forward.

“You can never rest on your laurels,” said Trentacosta. “Our coaches know that and our student-athletes know that and they know that it takes constant work and effort to do good things. Winning off the field is a lifelong process and that’s the approach we are going to continue to take.”

This is from the DAANJ press release:

The objective of the “Athletic Program of Excellence” is to recognize those New Jersey interscholastic athletic departments who are purposefully educating and supporting the mission of education-based athletics in New Jersey. Defining success based solely upon “wins and losses” or the number of championship trophies a school/team possesses misses the mark of what interscholastic athletic programs should be targeting. The award is designed to honor and celebrate those school athletic departments that are attempting to shift the sport culture toward the genuine purpose of why sports are a part of our school and community culture in America.