Alcohol-free zones

Salem CC wants its fans to have an enjoyable college football experience, but will not be promoting tailgating as they’ll be playing on high school campuses 

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

With the countdown clock reading 28 days before camp opens and 54 days before the inaugural game, Salem Community College officials are fine-tuning the details for the first season of football. 

Everyone involved with the start-up want all who come to their four home games this inaugural season to have an enjoyable college football experience, but due in part to the nature of their scheduling the Mighty Oaks will not be promoting one of the more spirited elements of its traditions.

Because all their home games will be played on various high school campuses around the county that are alcohol- and tobacco-free, the college will not be promoting tailgating.

“We can’t do tailgating,” said SCC assistant athletics director Angel Rodriguez, who duties include overseeing game-day operations. “It’s a high school field and it’s a high school complex, ‘tailgating,’ that word, because it’s not an actually college venue, we can’t advertise for tailgating. We’re working through the fan experience so we do have ideas … about what’s going to actually be able to happen, but as far as the word ‘tailgating,’ we’re not promoting tailgating.

“We’re not advertising anything along those lines right now, just because it’s not our full-staff function. If it were an on-campus location, we could be flexible with a lot of that. Because it’s off-site and we’re utilizing a lot of the game-day staff already for each venue, it’s not something that we’re promoting. Plus, we’re on school grounds, so school grounds prohibit drinking and alcohol and all those … things.”

That’s not to say fans can’t create team spirit in spirit-less ways. Pennsville athletics director Jamy Thomas, whose school hosts the August 29 opener with Hudson Valley CC and the Oct. 17 game against Sussex CC, said he encourages grilling and other tailgating activities in the parking lots before the game, but alcohol is out. Police will have a presence in the lots to enforce compliance.

“We going to do things a little differently than we would do at a high school game,” Thomas said. “Obviously, we are alcohol- and tobacco-free, that’ll be something the police will be looking at, but in terms of the environment and cooking out, bringing a grill, we support all those things and we want people to come to Pennsville, come to our campus, have a good time, but do it in a safe way that follows the rules of a high school venue.

“We’re not going to control what happens off campus. Obviously, we don’t want people coming in super intoxicated, things like that, at games, but we realize it’s a little different environment than high school, but we still have to maintain the laws and the requirements we have when you do host an event on our campus.”

SCC athletics department officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday to solidify their game-day details. Thomas is schedule to meet with them Wednesday.

Ticket prices and packages also are among the items to be finalized. They are expected to fall in the $5-$10 range on a per game basis and purchasable through an electronic ticketing system.

In the games at Pennsville, the Mighty Oaks will use the Eagles’ stadium locker room, while the visiting team will use the middle school for pre- and in-game operations and then have access to the high school locker room and showers post-game.

The Mighty Oaks’ other two first-year home games will be played at Schalick Sept 12 and Penns Grove Sept. 19. Those schools’ game-day operations were not immediately known.

The games at Schalick and Penns Grove are scheduled for noon kickoffs. Game times for the two Pennsville games are not set, but are believed to be 1 p.m. (to accommodate Hudson Valley’s travel) and noon, respectively.

Since the school’s announced its plan to start football last fall, the program has received overwhelming support from within the region. Head coach Jay Accorsi and his evolving staff are expected to welcome more than 80 players when camp opens Aug. 3. Thomas, for one, is “very excited” to have the Mighty Oaks football program on his campus.

“I think this is an awesome opportunity for Salem County,” he said. “It’s an awesome opportunity for Pennsville and our community to really show off our great facility that we have here. There are a lot of our student-athletes who will benefit from this program even in this coming year.

“(Lineman) Jacob Hand is one who has already signed on to play, so we’re excited to be able to see Jacob at the next level on his home field again. I think there are going to be a lot of other kids who come through our program that this opportunity is a great opportunity that then provides further opportunities after the community college setting to move on to a D-I, D-II, D-III school and still have eligibility.”