Supt. plans to present report on ice hockey Parents, players have been lobbying for sport's approval BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer On May 19, Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent of Schools James Wasser will present the Board of Education with a report on the feasibility of sanctioning five interscholastic ice hockey teams in the district. The board meeting will take place at 8 p.m. in the FRHSD administrative offices at 11 Pine St., Englishtown. Parents of area ice hockey players who have been lobbying the superintendent and the board for several years to bring this interscholastic sport to the district are expected to be in attendance. They will be hoping Wasser recommends that the sport be sanctioned and that the board accepts his recommendation. Most recently, in February, parents and players once again asked the board to sanction ice hockey as a sport within the district. Among the group that made the request were players from the Region Raiders, which is an independent ice hockey team made up of players who attend FRHSD schools. The players and their parents asked administrators and the board members to allow the athletes to represent their individual schools by sanctioning ice hockey in the district's buildings, just as sports such as football, basketball and baseball have been sanctioned for decades. According to information provided by the district, following that presentation Wasser met with five of the FRHSD's six supervisors of extracurricular activities (there has been no interest generated from Colts Neck High School) and five parent liaisons in order to analyze all as aspects of the sport. The parties discussed insurance, finance, location of practices and games, transportation, uniforms, fundraising and all other pertinent information. According to Wasser, the group is still in a discovery mode. "I am still in the process of putting together a presentation for the board on May 19. There is still research being done," the superintendent said this week. "The parents would like to see ice hockey sanctioned in the upcoming (2008-09) winter season, which is scheduled to begin right after Thanksgiving." Wasser said the board members will eventually make the final decision about ice hockey. He said he wants to make sure all of the board members feel comfortable with the information that has been presented. Finally,Wasser said that if the FRHSD does sanction ice hockey, the sport will be completely funded by parents of participating players and not through the district's operating budget.