From the 10 consecutive state titles in girls lacrosse to the perfect 12–0 dream season the football team put together in 2007, the Moorestown High School athletic department has been a stable model of excellence over the past decade.
At the center of the machine has been one of the only constants of the entire decade — athletic director Neil Rosa.
With approximately 155 league titles, 86 sectional titles and 36 state titles since the beginning of the millennium, it was not easy for Rosa to cover all of the success the school has endured over his career as the athletic director.
Going into his 14th year in the position, Rosa still gets excited for the new surprises each season brings.
“As successful as all of the programs have been, you hate to say that one trumps another,” Rosa said. “Each new season brings new faces and new kids and new challenges that are exciting in themselves.”
When Rosa left Kingsway High School in 2002 to become the MHS athletic director, he was very excited to take the new opportunity, and he hasn’t looked back since.
“All that time ago, when I heard that the position was open, what intrigued me was the three pillars of excellence that the school had established — academics, athletics and art,” Rosa said.
The district believes athletics play a large role in the education of a child, and that proved to be significant for Rosa.
“I’ve seen a number of superintendents and principals come and go, but the foundation has never changed from a beliefs standpoint,” Rosa said.
He also acknowledged the community playing a large role in the success of the program.
Rosa described the community as rock solid overall and paid homage to the fruitful youth program that has helped a great deal with the future of the high school program always being bright.
He could not say enough about the support system the high school athletic program has developed throughout his years as the AD.
“It’s been wonderful,” Rosa said. “I have tremendous coaches who root for each other and are incredibly supportive.”
He credited his support playing a key role in the numerous personal awards he has received over the years.
“I’ve been given some outstanding personal accolades, and I couldn’t have done it without the staff behind me. Those awards are a product of having the support of the administration, the board, the principal and the community,” Rosa said.
His most recent accolade came just a year ago when he received the DAANJ Athletic Director of the Year for 2014. Rosa was honored at the State Conference at the annual awards banquet in Atlantic City.
However, Rosa’s favorite honors are those of the program, not those of his own.
His favorite awards Moorestown has brought home during his career with the school have been the ShopRite cups. The school has already racked up three in the 10 years the program has been around.
Six ShopRite cups (one per group) are awarded each year at the conclusion of competition for fall, winter and spring based on most points earned during state championship competition.
The point system heavily values the importance of sportsmanship, docking points from teams that have players or coaches disqualified at any time during the season.
“These awards speak to more than just our athletic success, but also to doing it the right way,” Rosa said.
Rosa went on and on about his coaches setting this precedent over the years.
“It would be impossible to put one coach over another, they’ve all been great. You can’t argue with the success that Deanna Knobloch has had in her historic run with the girls lacrosse program,” Rosa said. “From a coaching standpoint, you have to begin with Bill Kingston, not only the winningest boys tennis coach in the nation but a phenomenal cornerstone of our department and a town historian.”
He went on to commend other coaches who tend not to get recognized as much on a national level.
“People tend to overlook the coaches of the cross country program, John Denning and Lorenzo Eagles. Scott Atkinson built the volleyball program from scratch, and with his help, we’ve been able to put together a brand new high school volleyball league called the West Jersey Volleyball League; that’s just a testament to his success as a coach. Another off-the-radar coach that comes to mind is Charlotte Heenan and what she has done with the girls golf program. She’s really pulled it together and turned out some phenomenal women golfers. They are constantly knocking on the door of being league champions.”
The Quakers also have a strong team foundation, having a good relationship with alumni as many former players come back to visit.
In fact, Vince Giordano, who coaches the freshman boys lacrosse team, and Courtney Legath, who has been the junior varsity girls lacrosse coach for quite some time now, are both former players in their respective programs.
Laying the foundation for a program that has blossomed into one as respected as Moorestown athletics takes contributions from everyone in the school.
Rosa has really anchored the leadership of this unit by taking the reigns of two roles that can both be considered full-time jobs in themselves. He is in charge of a large group in the athletic department and is also the supervisor of the health and physical education department.
As the years go by, the redundancies of a job such as this can become tedious, but Rosa likes to keep it fresh, approaching each year as a new opportunity.
Moorestown hosts seven large tournaments at its facilities annually, and the scheduling begins and ends with the athletic director.
“I enjoying the scheduling aspect. I enjoy piecing together the puzzle and making it all work,” Rosa said. “But the best part is working with the coaches and watching the players compete.”
