Bruno looks back on a satisfying year of Brick Memorial athletics

Success in athletics often is measured beyond wins and losses.

Brick Memorial High School Athletic Director Bill Bruno can attest to that idea after being on the receiving end of two commendations recently.

Brick Memorial was named Shore Conference A South Sportsmanship Award recipient. The school will receive a banner from the NJSIAA at the December meeting in Robbinsville.

Bruno also received the Group IV Central Jersey sectional Award of Merit as the section's athletic director of the school year during the 49th annual Director of Athletics Association of New Jersey banquet in Atlantic City in March.

The first honor is "a tribute to the coaches and to the student athletes," Bruno said.

"The big thing is that we were disqualification free for the entire season," he said. "No athlete or coach was removed from a game for inappropriate behavior, and we have some high-profile sports where sometimes the coach or student athlete can lose their cool in the heat of battle. That's quite an accomplishment."

That's especially the case this year, when the football team was NJSIAA section playoff champion; the wrestling team repeated as Group IV champion; the boys basketball team won Shore Conference A South; the girls soccer team repeated as Shore Conference A South champions and won the sectional title in the state tournament; the boys bowling team won the Group IV title while the girls bowling team was state sectional champion, and the hockey team was A South champion.

"Spring may not have been like the fall and winter [in terms of success], but it was overall an unbelievable year," Bruno said.

However, the baseball team captured some excitement this spring in knocking off two higher seeds in the Ocean County Tournament to salvage a .500 season at 13-13, and the girls lacrosse team made the state tournament for the first time. Track and field sprint standout Jihad Howard, a transfer student from Lakewood, also appeared headed to the Meet of Champions this week as a wild card selection in the 100 meters.

And the success was highlighted by the keen sense of organization shown by Bruno and the staff in the Brick Memorial athletic office, where he has worked for the last nine years. He did double duty as athletic director for both Brick Memorial and Brick Township High School, up until the last school year, when Rick Handchen was appointed Brick Township's athletic director.

Added to that success was the overall involvement of the Bruno family in high school athletics around the Jersey Shore. Bruno's wife, Jeanette, is completing her first year as athletic director at Colts Neck High School, after 14 years as a history and psychology teacher. She was also a softball coach the last seven years at Manalapan High School, which was North Jersey champion in the state tournament three of the last four years.

Bill's brother, Pete, served a number of years as director of athletics at Howell High School. The three have many stories as well as advice to share, although Bill said that his wife and brother have more work topics in common to talk about since they work in the same school district.

"Jeanette leans on my brother more with more pertinent things within the district where they both work," Bill said. "I don't offer advice unless asked. I don't say too much." Bill and Jeanette's youngest son, Paul, wrestles for Howell High School, which has competed against Brick Memorial. Older son, C.J., plays hockey at Howell. All that makes for some interesting conversations the few times they can sit down at the dinner table together at a conventional hour.

"My wife's a wrestling fanatic, but I try to remain neutral," Bruno said.

If Bill can add any vital knowledge, it's in track and field, where he has been the chairman of the sport in the Shore Conference.

"The thing is we keep it all in perspective," he said. "We have fun with it."

Bill got the last laugh on his wife during the football season when Colts Neck took a 21-0 lead, only to see Brick Memorial rally for a victory in a pivotal game for both teams.

Although Bill said his wife boasted of the Colts Neck girls basketball team's state title to him, he took it in stride.

"I just pointed out all of the state championships I have on the wall at home," he said, with a laugh.

But Bruno just as proudly reflects on teams that measured success short of championships. The girls basketball team had its most victories ever and made the Shore Conference and state tournaments. The boys soccer team lost in the state sectional semifinals to North Brunswick, 1-0. The girls tennis team won 17 matches and made it all the way to the A South title to the final match of the season before falling short. The boys swimming team won a schoolrecord nine meets and finished second in the keenly competitive A South and was ranked as high as No. 6 in the Shore at one point. The girls volleyball team also did well in its inaugural varsity season.

Bruno is looking to grow the girls volleyball team in the coming years.

"There's a lot of excitement and a lot of girls who can come back to continue that success," he said.