Football's First Weekend Falls During Rosh Hashanah ¶
The recreation football league's first week of games was scheduled for Saturday night, Sept. 12, during Rosh Hashanah, which runs sundown Sept. 11 to sundown Sept. 13. Wingfield tried to move the game to the Thursday before the holiday, as the high schools do, but the referee assignor said officials were unavailable because they were working high school games that night. Moving games to Sunday would have forced several other games to be canceled, so the Saturday schedule stayed.[5]
Board Reviews Draft Policy on 'Reclassed' Students in Rec Sports ¶
The board discussed a continuing trend of families "reclassing" children, meaning they repeat a grade at a private school the year after 8th grade, then asking whether they can still play recreation sports in the interim.[6] A first draft policy presented Aug. 17 would bar students who have completed 8th grade from recreation programs that are town-only and include 7th and 8th graders, and from any travel sport, unless an outside league's own rules say otherwise.[7]
Pulis Field Turf May Have Just a Season or Two Left ¶
Safety testing shows the 13-year-old turf at Pulis Field remains within acceptable limits, but the board was told it may have only one or two fall seasons left before it needs replacing. Discussions on replacing the turf layer will begin soon.[8]
Baseball Boosters Donate $10,000 to the Program ¶
The Wyckoff Travel Baseball Boosters donated $10,000 to the Recreation Department for future baseball activities, following the group's Community Day fundraiser, which included a Home Run Derby.[9]
Girls Volleyball Grows to 132 Players After Filling Its Cap ¶
Girls volleyball, the department's fastest-growing program, filled its raised cap of 120 spots and drew another 30 girls onto a wait list. Wingfield reworked the schedule to add a 12-girl team, bringing total registration to 132, a number he told the board is likely the most the program can support without affecting the quality of games and practices.[10]
Recreation Refits and Relocates a Defibrillator to the Tennis Courts ¶
After noting that the nearest defibrillator to the Tennis Court facility was several hundred feet away, at the football locker room, Wingfield had that unit refitted with new parts and moved it to the tennis courts, where several senior players use the facility daily. The Football Boosters agreed to buy a separate, new defibrillator for the football field.[11]
Community
Wyckoff's Field Hockey Girls Spent Two Years Scrimmaging Themselves. This Fall They Got Real Opponents.
Thirty-seven girls signed up for the town's first field hockey season. Thirty made the roster, seven are on a waitlist, and the team has eight games against other towns.
For two years, the only team Wyckoff's girls field hockey players ever faced was their own. They ran clinics, they practiced, they scrimmaged each other, and they never played another town.[2] The season was scheduled to open Sept. 13 against Westwood, but that game was rained out, coach Kristen Marco said. The team's first game against an outside opponent was played Sept. 20, against West Milford.[12]
Demand outran the roster. Registration capped at 30 girls for the fall season, Recreation & Parks Director Andy Wingfield told the Recreation Advisory Board in May.[1] Thirty-seven girls in grades 5 through 8 signed up this spring; 30 made the roster and the other seven are on a waitlist, Wingfield said in a phone interview.[2]
The program traces back to a single meeting. In December 2024, Wingfield sat down with a parent who wanted to start a summer field hockey clinic, the board's minutes for that month record.[3] That parent was Kristen Marco, Wingfield said.[2] Board member Patti DePhillips separately offered to help find Immaculate Heart Academy students to help coach the clinic.[3]
Marco now coaches the team, Wingfield said.[2] The township's recruitment flyer lists her as the program's contact.[4] The girls still scrimmage each other, competitively, at their weekly practice at Memorial Field's turf cage.[4][2] What is new is the rest of the calendar: a game most weeks, from mid-September through early November.[4]
The program is for girls, grades 5 through 8, according to the flyer.[4]
Sept. 21, 2026: This article originally reported that the team's season opened Sept. 13 against Westwood. Recreation & Parks Director Andy Wingfield, who wasn't at that game, told us that date in a Sept. 18 phone interview. Team coach Kristen Marco has since confirmed the Sept. 13 game was rained out, and that the team's first game against an outside opponent was actually played Sept. 20, against West Milford. This article has been corrected.
Every claim in this article is drawn from public Wyckoff records. To dispute a fact, request a fact-check, or ask that personal information be removed, contact the ombudsman.