The NYSPHSAA Executive Committee held its quarterly meeting on Friday, February 1 at the Embassy Suites in Saratoga.

Some of the important items that were approved were:

To see the complete list of items that were voted on click here

The following state championship venues were approved for the 2020-2022 seasons

The next NYSPHSAA Executive Committee meeting will take place on Friday, May 3rd in Saratoga. The meeting agenda will be released prior to that meeting, please check your email or the NYSPHSAA website for that agenda.

The first winter championship of the season took place January 26th with the 2019 Wrestling Dual Meet Championships at the SRC Arena in Syracuse.

In Division 1, Massapequa (Section VIII) took home the championship beating Hilton (Section V) in the finals.

In Division 2, Mount Sinai (Section XI) won their second straight state championship beating Central Valley Academy (Section III) in the finals.

To see complete results from the 2019 Wrestling Dual Meet Championships click here

Take a minute and watch this fantastic video produced by the Saranac Lake School District. It's a great reminder of sportsmanship and how we can all do better when it comes to interscholastic athletics.

In case you missed it, there was a amazing display of sportsmanship at a Section III wrestling tournament last month. The story has gained national attention with CBS News featuring the amazing act by Central Valley Academy wrestler Marek Bush.

The NYSPHSAA Sportsmanship Promotion Survey will be available staring Monday, February 11th.

The Sportsmanship Promotion Survey is designed to assess how schools are promoting positive sportsmanship within their athletic departments. This survey is a tool that can be used by athletic administrators to examine policies and procedures and that can be used to promote positive sportsmanship. The responses range from no policies/procedures/programs at the school (1), to exemplary policies/procedures/programs (5), with (3) being average policies/procedures/programs. The award is presented to schools which have developed proactive approaches in keeping sportsmanship in the forefront with their students, coaches, spectators, and communities.

ALL SCHOOLS THAT COMPLETE THE SURVEY WILL RECEIVE A SPORTSMANSHIP CERTIFICATE. THE SPORTSMANSHIP COMMITTEE WILL THEN CHOOSE SCHOOLS FROM EACH SECTION TO RECEIVE A PLAQUE. THOSE APPLICATIONS WILL THEN BE EVALUATED TO DETERMINE A SPORTSMANSHIP PROMOTION BANNER AWARD WINNER! Deserving schools will be recognized by the NYSPHSAA and honored at the NYSPHSAA Central Committee Meeting.

The deadline to submit is Monday, April 15th.

Our goal is to recognize as many student-athletes, teams, and schools as possible as they work very hard throughout the year and deserved to be recognized for their academic success.

To view instructions, click here.

The deadline for the Winter is Monday, March 11th

Submit your Scholar-Athlete information click here.

If you have any questions regarding the Scholar-Athlete program, contact Assistant Director, Kristen Jadin

*PINS WERE DISTRIBUTED TO ATHLETIC DIRECTORS AT THE MANDATORY AD WORKSHOPS THIS FALL (if the school participated in the Scholar-Athlete program during the previous school year). Certificates will continue to be shipped AFTER the deadline. Delivery approximately 2-3 weeks.*

Tickets are now available for the upcoming 2019 NYSPHSAA winter championships. Skip the line and save $2 by buying in advance at gofan.co/NYSPHSAA.

NYSPHSAA is proud to announce Sports Page Ski and Patio as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 Boys and Girls Skiing State Championships.

The 2019 Skiing State Championships will take place Monday, February 25 and Tuesday, February 26 at Gore Mountain in North Creek.

NYSPHSAA has partnered with "Team Up 4 Community" to provide a FREE platform for students, coaches, teams, administrators, and schools to apply for the NYSPHSAA Community Service Challenge.

A challenge will take place each sports season. A team does not need to be in season to apply. The NYSPHSAA SAAC will determine a winner after each season’s submission deadline.

Winter submissions for the Community Service Challenge are now being accepted. The deadline to submit is Monday, March 4.

Click here to submit a nomination

For the 2018-19 school year, NYSPHSAA is proud to offer all its member schools a free hazing prevention course.

The course is presented by Hazing Prevention.org and AliveTek, in conjunction with NYSPHSAA.

For more information on the course, or to register click here

Check out the officials page on nysphsaa.org. It has important information for current officials and information on signing up if you are interested in becoming an official.

Click here to visit the officials page

Did you know the NFHS offers free on-line educational courses on a variety of topics?

The latest course is focused on Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. For a complete list of the courses available click here.

Don't forget to tell us #MyReasonWhy on social media. Tell us why you participate in sports, after school activities, coaching, officiating or other ways athletics have made a difference in your life.