The purpose of the WTAAA Hall of Fame is to identify and honor individual athletes, outstanding coaches and championship teams for their athletic excellence and to provide subsequent positive publicity and recognition for representing Woodbridge Township. It is the hope of the WTAAA that honorees will serve as an inspiration for current Woodbridge Township student athletes.
We are a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) volunteer organization that is solely dependent on fundraisers and your support. Your donation is tax-deductible when using our tax ID #45-0160240. If you would like to remain anonymous and/or donate only to the Student Scholarship Fund, please contact us when making your donation. Click here to donate now.
As a 501(c)(3), we support senior athletes with two scholarships per high school (total six) at the Senior Awards Programs. We also support another local foundation, namely The Marisa Tufaro Foundation for Middlesex County Children in Need.
During the late 1980’s, a group of athletic oriented people encouraged Township officials to start an athletic hall of fame to honor and recognize the achievements of outstanding athletes and coaches from Woodbridge Township High Schools namely Colonia, JFK Memorial, and Woodbridge. The very first president was Dave Peterson.
The first induction dinner was held at Schirber Hall, Edison, N.J. on Sunday, March 19, 1989. Charter member inductees included athletes and coaches from 1925- 1968. There were five inductees from Colonia, five inductees from JFK Memorial, and twenty –two inductees from Woodbridge High since the Barron program went back to the 1920’s. The officers included James Russo, president, Mike Baraniak, first vice –president, Greg Ficarra, second vice –president, Vince Capraro, corresponding secretary, Steve Szylinski, treasurer, Randy Adleman, recording secretary, and Mickey Karnas, trustee 1989. The first HoF selection committee included Greg Ficarra, Vincent Gioffre, Cliff Handerhahn, Harold Handerhahn, Steve Markulin, Robert Peters, Dave Peterson, Jim Russo, and Nick Sardone.
The second HoF induction dinner was held in 1990 at Schirber Hall. There were four inductees from Colonia High, five inductees from JFK Memorial High, and sixteen from Woodbridge High since the Barron list of nominations went back to the 1930’s.
The third HoF induction dinner was held in 1991 at Schirber Hall. The chairman was Vince Capraro.There were two inductees from Colonia High, six inductees from JFK Memorial, and sixteen inductees from Woodbridge High since the Barron nominations went back to the 1930’s and 1940’s.
The fourth HoF induction dinner was held in 1992. There were five inductees from Colonia High, seven inductees from JFK Memorial High, and fifteen inductees from Woodbridge High since the list of nominations included athletes from 1930’s – 1970’s with many from the 1950’s. The location was The Pines Manor in Edison.
The fifth HoF induction dinner was held in March 1993. There were five inductees from Colonia High, five inductees from JFK Memorial High, and fourteen inductees from Woodbridge High since many nominations came from the 1940’s and 1950’s. Also, the fifth HoF class included a new group. The HoF committee created the “Legends”. This was a group of athletes that the committee felt were missed from primarily the 1920’s – 1940’s by the earlier committees. The concept was similar to the MLB and NFL veterans committees to make sure these excellent athletes were not missed forever. Many, unfortunately, were recognized posthumously.
The sixth HoF induction dinner was held on March 20, 1994. Again, the president that year was Greg Ficarra. There were six inductees from Colonia High, six inductees from JFK Memorial High, and twelve inductees from Woodbridge High.
You can read more about the Induction Classes of 1995-2000, Induction Classes of 2015-2018, Induction Class of 2019 and Induction Class of 2022 under the HoF Inductions pages.
Following the twelfth induction dinner in 2000, the WTAAA went into a fourteen year “retirement” until the current committee revived the association in 2015. Today, we are proud to say that we are stronger than ever and optimistic about our future. We hope that you enjoy our website as you read about the proud history of Woodbridge Township athletics. Feedback is welcome.
Our supporters should know that our website contains full biographies of the individual inductees and championship teams from the sixteen previous Hall of Fame induction dinner booklets. You may locate a family member or friend by name, by induction year, by sport, or by high school.