Hail to the Hat: Trible named TD Club of Southern New Jersey president
When the opportunity to lead the Dr. Warren J. McClain Touchdown Club of Southern New Jersey arose, Mark Trible couldn’t help but throw his hat into the ring.
Known for his trademark fedora while working the sidelines, the former Courier-Post reporter has a passion for football and plans to bring that energy to the TD Club, which has highlighted players from the region for the last 54 years.
“The interaction with the kids is really one of the highlights of my life,” said Trible, who began covering high school football for Gannett New Jersey in 2014 and currently writes for GloryDaysonline.com. “South Jersey football is in a really good spot right now and we’re looking forward to continue to honor these great athletes from the area.”
Don’t be fooled by his old-school fashion sense: Trible wants to bring the club’s look into a new era while keeping many of its traditions in place.
“There are values that this club stands for and those things won’t change, it’s about South Jersey kids,” Trible said. “We want to make sure we stay with the traditions of the past like honoring captains, unsung heroes and scholar athletes, and bring those into the future.
“It’s 2022, we need a social media presence. We need a website. To honor these kids, we have to reach them the way they consume news.”
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Trible takes over the top spot in the TD Club from Rich Sharpnack Jr., who led the organization for 13 years before stepping down in the winter. Former Williamstown athletic director Ron Becker was voted in as the club’s vice president.
"Mark has the vision for the future and how to get more coaches and athletes excited about the TD Club and Ron has been around the club for years and will provide insights on club traditions," Sharpnack said.
"I'm excited about the future of growing the club throughout South Jersey, this year we did a great job of getting it started but now it's time to take it to the next level."
In one of his final achievements with the TD Club, Sharpnack helped increase the size of the organization last season, honoring all of the programs of the West Jersey Football League from the seven-county South Jersey area.
“The TD Club made big strides when it was originally started and we feel it’s our job to keep it going,” Becker said. “(Rich) did so much for this organization, which took a big step in encompassing all of South Jersey (last year) and that it would be a positive thing. And it was.
“Mark has done a great job covering high school football for the area. He, just like everyone else on the board, has a strong passion for the sport and the kids who play it.”
Former West Deptford head coach and current TD Club board member Clyde Folsom added, "Rich led this club through some challenging times especially through COVID. We're looking forward to the future, expanding the club to even greater heights."
McClain started the TD Club in 1968 with the idea of getting more exposure for football programs from Gloucester and Salem counties, which at the time had 17 schools. The new version of the club involves over 80 schools from as far north as Bordentown to the southern-most tip in Cape May.
A native of Fauquier County in the foothills of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, Trible grew up a Philadelphia Eagles fan despite being in the middle of Washington’s burgundy-and-white territory.
When he arrived to cover sports in South Jersey almost a decade ago, Trible quickly learned about the football fabric of South Jersey.
“it’s a big deal, they are rabid about high school football,” he said. “There’s an importance in high school football that a lot of places don’t have across the country. And there’s very diverse communities in terms of the difference between Paulsboro and Woodbury, which are right down the street from one another, or Camden being 10 minutes down the road from Haddonfield.”
The club plans to host monthly awards dinners throughout the season and end with its signature season-ending banquet to honor its All-South Jersey teams, small and large schools, in December.
Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Hail to the Hat: Trible named TD Club of Southern New Jersey president
