The NYSPHSAA Executive Committee met on Wednesday, February 1st in Saratoga Springs.

The members discussed upcoming action items and voted on proposals brought forward by the membership.

The following are the approved items from the Executive Committee meeting:

Passed (A) Consider approval of removing the NYSPHSAA Note under the Mixed Competition portion of the NYSPHSAA Handbook.

Passed (A) Consider approval to change mouthguard requirement for soccer goalies to a recommendation.

Passed (A) Consider approval to increase the maximum number of events for Modified Track & Field to 4, providing one of the 4 is a relay and eliminate the distance restrictions in the Modified Track and Field regulation.

Passed (A) Consider the league placement of Tapestry Charter School and Global Concepts Charter School to Erie County Interscholastic Conference (ECIC) and Health Sciences Charter School to Buffalo Public Schools (BPS).

Passed (A) Consider approval of an amendment to the Combined Practice Guidelines for 11-Man Football.

Passed (A) Consider approval of SPORTIME, Schenectady as the host of the 2024-2026 NYSPHSAA Girls Tennis Individual Championships.

Passed (A) Consider approval of Arlington High School as the host of the 2024-2026 NYSPHSAA Field Hockey Championships.

Passed (A) Consider approval to follow the NFHS 1.5% weight loss plan, beginning in the 2023-2024 season.

Passed (A) Consider approval to eliminate the NYSPHSAA wrestling honor weigh-in beginning in the 2023-2024 season.

Passed (A) Consider approval to use the NFHS wrestling weight classes plus a NYSPHSAA lower weight, beginning in the 2023-2024 season.

Passed (A) Consider approval of Boys Wrestling becoming a variation sport with Division cut-off numbers being 600 and above for Division 1 and 599 and below being Division 2.

Passed (A) Consider approval of Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex as the 2024-2026 NYSPHSAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Passed (A) Consider approval of high school sports standards for Girls Flag Football.

Passed (A) Consider approval of NFHS Football playing rules along with the NYSPHSAA Girls Flag Football Rules.

Passed (A) Consider approval of NYSPHSAA offering a State Championship in the sport of Girls Flag Football starting in the Spring of 2024.

Passed (A) Consider approval of Binghamton (various sites) as the host of the 2024-2026 NYSPHSAA Baseball Championships.

The following items will come back to the Executive Committee for vote at the May 3rd meeting:

(D) Consider approval to add a Spectator Sportsmanship Regulation to the NYSPHSAA Sportsmanship Rule.

(D) Consider approval to provide digital participation certificates for Regional and State Tournaments via email or accessible on the NYSPHSAA website.

(D) Consider approval to revise the timeline for NYSPHSAA Executive and Central Committee meetings.

-Following discussion, this topic will be a Group Meeting discussion at the NYSPHSAA Central Committee meeting in late July.

(D) Consider approval of Boys/Girls Tennis becoming a variation sport and keeping the classification cut-off numbers at 600 and above for D1 and 599 and below for D2.

(D) Consider approval of revising Game Day Cheerleading State Championship to the Sunday of Week #18 starting in 2023.

(D) Consider approval of revising the first line in the NYSPHSAA Handbook under Football 10.08 #4 to read, “The first two (2) days of practice must be noncontact, without the use of personal protective equipment and mechanical blocking devices.”

(D) Consider approval of starting on Saturday of Week #7 for all sections that participate in the sport of football.

(D) Consider approval to change the NYSPHSAA Handbook to allow the use of cell phones as distance measuring devices (DMDs) during the Boys Golf State Championship.

(D) Consider approval to cap the scoring at three times par for each hole at the NYSPHSAA Girls Golf State Championship for a two-year experiment. Each section/league can set their own maximum at their own Sectional Championship.

(D) Consider approval of Outdoor Track & Field becoming a variation sport and keeping the classification cut-off numbers at 600 and above for D1 and 599 and below for D2.

(D) Consider approval of removing hand timed Track & Field standards for the second qualifier to the NYSPHSAA State Championship and only using FAT time as the standard.

(D) Consider approval to remove the requirement for the Super Standard Track & Field Qualifier must be in a meet with a minimum of 5 or more teams. The meet must be a formal meet using FAT timing.

NYSPHSAA held the first ever Girls Wrestling Invitational on Friday, January 27th at the SRC Arena in Syracuse.

Over 200 girls from across the state took part in this historic event. The invitational featured 13 weight classes with every section represented in the one day tournament.

2023 Invitational Winners-

Zoey Jewett 94 lbs. General Brown

Gabriella Barone 100 lbs. Niagara-Wheatfield

Sara Pauls 107 lbs. Minisink Valley

Yianna Foufas 114 lbs. Mepham

Ashley Diaz 120 lbs. Seaford

Alexandra Viera 126 lbs.  Rocky Point

Emily Sindoni 132 lbs Tioga

Zoey Lints 138 lbs. Duanesburg-Schoharie

Madison Westerberg 145 lbs. Waterloo

Isabella Gretzinger 152 lbs. Shenendehowa

Renne Kinikin 165 lbs. Mexico

Sophie Pollack 185 lbs. Canandaigua

Mackenzie Laforest 235 lbs. Waverly

The Wrestling Dual Meet Championships were held on Saturday, January 28th at the SRC Arena in Syracuse.

The event saw 24 of the best teams in the state battle for the Division 1 and Division 2 state championships. In the end Starpoint won the large school title while Tioga won their second straight small school title.

More information on the Wrestling Dual Meet Championships can be found below.

The winter championship season is just getting started. Over the next six weeks NYSPSHAA will host 11 state championship events and one regional championship.

For a complete list of the upcoming championship events, please us the link below.

Submissions are now being accepted for the Winter Community Service Challenge.

Show us what your school or team is doing in your community! Lets highlight all the great work being done by our teams across the state.

Use the link below to submit your project. Deadline to submit 3/6/23

Our partner DICK’S Sporting Goods is offering all member schools, coaches, student-athletes, and their families an exclusive discount of 20% off throughout the store!

Be sure to grab all the things you'll need for Spring Sports as well as the other items that you have had your eyes on!

Please share this offer as widely as possible with your student-athletes, families, and coaches.

To access this exclusive offer, click the link below and print the attached coupon. The coupon is valid in-store next weekend from Friday, February 17 to Monday, February 20, and must be shown at the register during checkout.

NYSPHSAA Spring Shop Days – February 17 – February 20

NYSPHSAA would like to thank DICK’S Sporting Goods for its support. 

The NYSPHSAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is seeking new members for the 2023-24 school year.

The NYSPHSAA SAAC is comprised of 22 members, 2 members from each of the 11 sections (1 male & 1 female). Selected SAAC members will come from a diverse pool of rising high school juniors and seniors (only) who meet the following criteria:

• Meet all eligibility standards as outlined in the NYSPHSAA Handbook
• Possess leadership characteristics
• Excellent Academic Standing
• Viewed as positive role models in school and community
• Capable of working with students from a variety of social groups

The NYSPHSAA Office Staff will meet to review/evaluate the applications and determine the new SAAC members. 

The SAAC was developed to give student-athletes a voice within the NYSPHSAA. The committee will discuss topics relevant to high school student-athletes and develop ways to maintain a positive athletic experience.

Each committee member is expected to exemplify leadership while providing feedback on and promote all NYSPHSAA Special Programs, including but not limited to, Scholar-Athlete, Sportsmanship, Life of an Athlete, Student Leadership, and Community Service.

Available positions for the 2023-24 school year can be found below.

The window to submit your winter Scholar-Athlete teams and individuals is now open.

Lets honor the best student-athletes in the state for the great work they do in the classroom.

The window to submit your winter Scholar-Athletes will close on March 13th.

The annual sportsmanship promotion survey is now open.

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.

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 winner.

One of the longest-running and most utilized online education courses in the NFHS Learning Center has been updated with an urgent call for better behavior and conduct by everyone at high school games and contests.

The free “Sportsmanship” course, which debuted on the NFHS Learning Center in 2011, has been delivered to more than 920,000 individuals in the past 11 years, and is among the top five most popular courses offered through the NFHS’ online education center.

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