The Latest Headlines from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association
January 2017
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Executive Committee Meets on January 27th

At the upcoming January 27th Executive Committee Meeting, there will be many important topics voted on including:

  • Consider approval for venues to host Girls Tennis Championships, East and West Semifinal Football, Girls Soccer Championships, Field Hockey Championships and Wrestling Team Dual Championships.

  • Consider one year approval for Binghamton to host 2018 State Baseball Championships

  • Consider approal of the use of video replay for Safety and Deduction points at the NYSPHSAA Cheerleading Championships.

  • Consider approval of pitch count regulation in Baseball for the Spring of 2017
There will be other items up for discussion and vote at the January 27th Executive Committee Meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn in Troy.
Championship DVDS Available
You can now order DVDS of all the 2016 NYSPHSAA Fall Championships that were broadcast by Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

This year Time Warner televised the Field Hockey State Championship games in class A, B and C at Maine-Endwell High School

In Girls Soccer classes A, B and C state title matches were broadcast at SUNY Cortland. Boys Soccer games that are available are the class B, C and D finals that were played at Middletown High School.

Time Warner Cable SportsChannel offers 25 high school football games from the Regional round all the way to the State Championship games. 

For a complete list of the DVDS available to purchase please use the links below.

Hazing Prevention Course Available for FREE Starting Mid-January to June 1st

We are excited to introduce a new course option for our members, Hazing Prevention: It’s Everyone’s Responsibility High School Training Kit. This Spring the course will be offered for FREE to our member schools as a beta test for the program with the ability to provide feedback on the course. Beginning in the Fall 2017, the course will cost $100 for an annual license for up to 40 facilitators.

This training kit includes a Facilitator's Guide, multimedia presentation and a certificate of completion. This educational offering is designed as a guided/facilitated course for high school teams or groups. The 20-minute presentation uses examples specific to student-athletes to help prevent hazing activity in high school.  Resources also include discussion topics and optional assessments.

A link to the course will available on the NYSPHSAA website by mid-January.

The Best and the Brightest

Congratulations to all of the teams and student-athletes who achieved Scholar-Athlete status for the Fall season!  

Over 2,900 teams were awarded certificates and over 42,600 student-athletes were awarded pins, as they reached the Individual Scholar-Athlete status, achieving an individual GPA of 90.00 or above. The full list of Scholar-Athlete Teams for the 2016 Fall season can be found on the NYSPHSAA website.


NYSED Athletic Eligibility Regulation Proposals

The NYSED Board of Regents will take action upon two proposed NYSED regulation changes pertaining to athletic eligibility on February 13-14, 2017 at the next NYSED Board of Regents meeting.

A public comment period was open until December 27, 2016.  Section leadership and school administrators were strongly encouraged to provide public comments.  The proposed regulation changes are:  

Duration of Competition:

The proposed revisions require school administrators to make individual assessments to determine whether a fifth year student’s participation will result in an unfair advantage in competition and whether the safety of the pupil or others is not at risk. It would be challenging to determine how a Superintendent could make competitive unfairness and safety determinations without an undue burden.  

The current Duration of Competition standard allows a student an extension of eligibility where there is evidence a student was unable to participate during a season because of an accident or illness and that accident or illness caused the student to attend an additional year of school. The proposed regulation revisions would revert back to wording the Board of Regents actually changed in January 2015; the Duration of Competition standard “previously” allowed a student an extension of eligibility where the student was physically unable to play because of an accident or illness or “other similar circumstance”.   

Athletic Placement Process:

Although K-8 school districts represent a small portion of districts throughout New York State, the NYSPHSAA fears if K-8 students are granted the ability to go through the Athletic Placement Process to participate at a school in which they are not a bona fide student, this will ultimately lead to other students (non-public, etc.) requesting similar privileges. 

The proposed regulation is being presented to provide K-8 students with the same “opportunity” to participate at the high school level as students in K-12 school districts.  NYSPHSAA fears this could lead to other students requesting similar privileges if their school district does not offer opportunities they wish to receive (i.e. swimming program for a lack of a natatorium, football team for a lack of interest, baseball for a lack of field, etc.).

Know the Rules
Rules Question from an Athletic Director:

Q:  Can a company make a donation to a school for every homerun hit during a softball or baseball season?

A: No; NYSPHSAA Definition for Conducting a Contest states: “Donations may not be made based on the outcome of student performance.”

Something to Think About
"If there is one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that the happiest and most fulfilled people I’ve known are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self interest."

-John Glenn

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