One of New Providence’s inaugural classes, class of 1963, just reached its 60 year milestone. This is the class that was part of the voting group to choose the colors and mascot that still represents New Providence athletics.   At the time they chose the green and white Pioneer, Title IX, the law that required equality with women in athletics,  was still 10 years from being instituted. Needless to say, women’s athletics were drastically different than they are now.

Brigitte Haberkern, a New Providence High School student in 1963 was a council member of the school’s Girls Athletic Association.  She  described some of the traditions regarding school athletics during her high school career.

Haberkern was in the first eighth grade class to be held at New Providence High School after the split from Summit High School. While the school was still new, there was not enough funding to host the amount of teams we have now.

“There was no football team. I think when the school started, there wasn’t enough money to do a football field and uniforms. But there was the soccer and the baseball team. And again, it’s different now. Everybody goes to all these games. I didn’t go to the games though,” she said.

Nowadays, the New Providence Booster Club is able to provide athletic programs enough funding for equipment, officials, and uniforms. With this, our high school has 21 different sports across all three seasons for both boys and girls.

Another large difference between then and now is the level of accountability athletes need to have towards their sport.

Haberkern explained: “They are the same sports. But now I have grandkids and kids that play sports and it’s occupied every minute of their time. Not as much commitment back then.”

Most varsity athletes in 2023 practice 2-2.5 hours a day, not to mention the time of games, warm ups, travel, treatment, film, and bonding. Coaches now expect higher performances, which often results in an unprecedented amount of weekly practice. 

Haberkern also believed that the competitiveness and school spirit of all sports, especially girls sports, has become way more prevalent since she was in high school. Due to this, she wishes she was able to attend high school in today’s age, rather than the 1960s.

“I said over the years I wished I grew up in your era for the sports in schools because I love it. I played basketball, but it wasn’t a basketball team, like the girls have a basketball team at my granddaughter’s school and in New Providence. It is big time! You’re going to all the schools all the time and they’re coming to you and playing. It’s really cool, but wasn’t quite like that. Especially for the girls,” she said.

Haberkern remembers having women’s intramural sports at the high school, but never to the extent that girls do now. Currently, girls sports travel through Conference play, but even more during States when most teams played or either in Central or South Jersey. For example, the NPHS Girls Basketball team made an amazing run through the state tournament this year and were the one seed throughout the entire Sectional rounds. In their last two rounds they had shore teams travel to play, and in the next two rounds they had to travel to the shore. In total, all of those teams travel for well over 10 hours.

Of her most memorable athletic moments, maybe for the wrong reasons, was her short track stint in Summit.

Haberkern said: “I must have been on the track team at one point, not a team, but there was a meetup at Summit High School that I went to with all the school kids. When I got ready to go race, I took a nosedive right at the go. I couldn’t run and they had to pick cinders out of my knees. I remember running and broad jump.”

Compare that to now, when the winter track team just sent five runners to the Meet of Champions at the Ocean Breeze Track and Field facility. Natasha Grandov qualified for high jump, showing the development of how far women athletes have come since Haberkern’s time.