Q&A.D. with NJSIAA executive director Colleen Maguire

Colleen Maguire has been the executive director of the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) since April 2021. She owns the distinction as the first woman to hold that title in the association’s 103-year history. 

Maguire became the association’s chief operating officer (COO) in June 2020. She originally joined the association in 2014, and before being named COO had served as the director of finance and administration.

Maguire spoke with Coach & Athletic Director about her career, what’s happening in the NJSIAA, and advice for young athletic administrators. Below is a portion of that conversation. 

Coach & A.D.: What are your key priorities and goals for the NJSIAA in the coming years? What steps are you taking to achieve them?

Colleen Maguire: NJSIAA’s priorities are always to ensure equitable opportunities for student-athletes to participate in interscholastic sports of their interest, and to ensure the health and safety of those student-athletes. NJSIAA proudly hosts 33 sanctioned state tournament events and is always eager to look for new opportunities to engage more student-athletes. We also need to continually review our rules and regulations to make sure we are staying current with an evolving landscape — both in education and interscholastic athletics.

Have you added any athletic offerings during your tenure? If so, which ones? Do you plan to add any in the future?

Yes, in the last five years, NJSIAA has adopted girls’ wrestling and girl’s ice hockey as sanctioned sports. We currently have schools piloting girls’ flag football, and we are monitoring its growth and enthusiasm. I anticipate we will be going to our membership with a request to sanction girls’ flag football in the next 2-3 years. I am very proud that NJSIAA currently hosts 17 sanctioned sports for girls and 16 sanctioned sports for boys.

What emerging trends and future challenges do you foresee for high school athletics? How is the NJSIAA preparing to address them?

Today’s student-athletes are continually pressured to specialize and focus on club sports. In addition, today’s student-athletes have opportunities to promote themselves on social media in large-scale ways that previous generations did not have. This can all be very distracting and overwhelming. NJSIAA and its member schools continue to message the value of education-based athletics and the importance of being a well-rounded student-athlete. In addition, NJSIAA has updated its amateur rules to allow student-athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness in a personal capacity — our rules prohibit any affiliation with or involvement of, a member school. Lastly, we are focused on continuing recruitment and retention of qualified officials — we are just starting to reverse a declining trend among active officials but need to keep up our efforts.

What are you most proud of during your tenure as NJSIAA executive director? 

In addition to growing sport opportunities for our female student-athletes, I am very proud of the Association’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. While our seasons during the 2020-2021 school year did not look the same, every student-athlete across every sanctioned sport had the opportunity to participate — this was very important to the social and emotional well-being of our student-athletes during very difficult times.

Can you elaborate on the NJSIAA’s efforts to crack down on illegal recruitment for basketball and football? How have these new rules been received by coaches and teams? 

NJSIAA staff, with the support of its Executive Committee, continue to define and communicate what actions may or may not be indicative of recruiting. Our rules have been updated to prohibit recruiting once a student-athlete enters Grade 9 or starts fall sports practice, whichever comes first. Our rules are well supported by member schools and coaches, and we have seen an increase in cooperation from member schools when trying to investigate allegations of recruiting. No system or rule is perfect, but NJSIAA staff has made recruiting a priority and is committed to prohibiting the recruitment of student-athletes at other member schools.

I read that the NJSIAA is studying the placement of charter and choice school teams in postseason tournaments. What went into that decision and has there been any advancement of that idea? 

NJSIAA is reviewing its classifications to ensure its state tournaments are competitively balanced. A committee is soliciting feedback to help identify what policies may lead to unfair advantages that may disrupt a level playing field. Schools that have an opportunity to enroll students beyond a defined geographic area continue to be a concern as enrollment policies are changing across many types of schools. I am looking at models that other state associations have adopted to help address these concerns. The committee will continue to meet and discuss stakeholder feedback and I do think there will be some proposals on the table during the upcoming school year.

What advice do you have for young athletic administrators entering the industry? 

Build positive relationships with your colleagues, communicate efficiently, identify mentors, and leverage their experiences and knowledge. Lastly, be sure to continue to remind yourself of who you serve — spend as much time as possible around your student-athletes, they will always make you smile.

» ALSO SEE: Practical programming for young strength coaches

Many schools have noted a deterioration of conduct by spectators over the last few years. I read this topic came up a few times during NJSIAA executive committee meetings recently. What steps have been taken to ensure a safe and supportive environment for student-athletes, coaches, and officials? 

The increasing trend in unsportsmanlike behavior is one of my greatest concerns for the future of education-based athletics. I am especially concerned when unsportsmanlike behavior by spectators interferes with an interscholastic event — we have had instances when games were terminated early due to spectators or games being paused while spectators were cleared from the facility. The NJSIAA Executive Committee recently approved a proposal that requires every member school to adopt a Spectator Code of Conduct Policy during the upcoming school year — the policy must identify unsportsmanlike behavior and must list the consequences for unsportsmanlike behavior — which requires a suspension and educational component. Every member school has the autonomy to adopt their own policy but it must be in accordance with the minimum standards set by NJSIAA.

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