Jackson hockey players desperately hunt for co-op team days before season starts

JACKSON — Robert Tignini has played hockey since he was 5 years old, but now at 16 years old, his dreams of continuing to play in high school are on thin ice.

His hockey team was defunded by cash-strapped Jackson School District this year and dropped from its cooperative partnership with the hockey team at Point Pleasant School District.

Now Jackson's high school hockey players are scrambling to find another district willing to partner with its team, as the start of the winter season looms just days away.

"We all expected for us to be playing the high school season," Tignini, a junior, said. "I just love getting on the ice… I love it more than anything."

Jackson's hockey player parents said hockey co-ops between schools are typical around the Jersey Shore, where one school may not have the 20 or so players need to fill out a team. Jackson's team is now just about 10 players from both of the township's high schools: Jackson Liberty and Jackson Memorial.

But despite its small size, the players remain passionate about the sport. Many have played hockey for years before they joined the high school team.

Danny Daluise, a senior at Jackson Liberty High School, worries about missing his final hockey season if the team does not find a partner in time.

"The last year of high school hockey… it means a lot," he said. "I've been playing hockey for basically my whole life. And I love it. And I want to finish the last year of high school (hockey)."

Earlier this year, the Jackson School District cut funding for coaches for both hockey and gymnastics due to a combination of low student interest and an increasingly difficult fiscal situation, according to Superintendent Nicole Pormilli.

"After losing $18.1 million in (state) funding over the past six years and enduring cost increases in every area, we were forced to make a series of difficult decisions in order to balance our 2023-2024 budget," she said in an emailed statement.

In addition to cutting hockey and gymnastics, the school district cut 64 positions this year, increased class sizes, postponed infrastructure investments, reduced technology upgrades, eliminated some extracurricular activities and reduced assistant coach positions, Pormilli said.

Over the past six years, the district has cut 214 positions to stay within budget as a result of state aid cuts, she said. At the same time state, school officials are limited in their ability to raise local school taxes quickly, because of a state-mandated 2% cap on annual tax levy increases.

"Even with these reductions, it was necessary for us to seek a $10 million loan from the State of New Jersey to balance our budget," Pormilli said.

Earlier this month, Jackson taxpayers also rejected a $4 million proposal that would have hired more teachers, staff for non-English speaking students and student counselors.

The Jackson superintendent said cutting funding to hockey and gymnastics from both high schools was a difficult decision.

"We feel for every student who has lost the ability to be part of a school team," she said. "We have always believed in supporting a strong athletic program as part of a comprehensive school experience, however, in the face of these impossible budget challenges, every area of this district had to be impacted."

Jackson hockey families are left hunting for a partner team and said they plan to try and self-fund their winter season.

"My son hasn't gotten the chance to play high school hockey yet," said Todd Porter, whose son Peter Chau is a freshman player. "It's really been the one thing that he's really wanted to do since he was seven years old, is play hockey. He's not gonna be in the NHL (National Hockey League)… Most kids, when you look at numbers, they don't make it to the pros in any sport.

He added: "The one thing you have to look forward to is playing for your school."

Kevin Butch, a parent of a Toms River High School North hockey player, says his son's team is technically a stand-alone team, with seven or eight players, but many are inexperienced. Partnering with Jackson hockey players would help his son's team, if the school district would consider the pairing, he said.

"You can't put seven or eight kids on the ice (for the whole game). They're going to be exhausted," Butch said.

Hockey teams typically have around 20 players, with five on the ice at a time, in order to give team members needed breaks from physically intense sport, he said.

So far, Toms River school officials have not approved the partnership, according to parents of both teams' members.

Mike Kenny, a spokesperson for Toms River Regional Schools, said High School North's team has 13 players, enough to compete. School officials are not considering co-op teams outside the district's schools, he said. Kenny said High School South and High School East have successfully partnered hockey teams.

In Jackson, Leo Tignini, Robert's father, continues to hunt for potential co-op teams.

"There's only one time in your life that you could play high school hockey," said Leo Tignini. "He (Robert) is down to… what, two years left? And this year doesn't look very good. And next year, who knows what's going to happen?"

For now, Robert walks the halls of his high school wearing a varsity jacket for a hockey team that does not exist.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 15 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jackson hockey players desperate for co-op team before season starts