The NYSPHSAA Executive Committee will meet on Thursday, October 10 at the Embassy Suites in Saratoga.

There are important action items on the meeting agenda, including:

To see the complete meeting agenda click here

The most recent changes and additions to the NYSPHSAA handbook have been updated. This includes changes to the Girls Tennis practice rule, minimum practice requirements and changes to modified sports.

The NYSPHSAA handbook can always be found here.

School is back in session!

Get great tips for packing a winning lunch for student athletes from American Dairy North East sports nutrition advisory panelist  Heather Mangieri Nutrition.

Give your athletes a boost a protein with these 5 protein packed recipes from expert nutritionist Felicia Stoler.

Thank you to everyone that participated in the first ever NYSPHSAA Officials Appreciation day.

Wednesday, October 2nd was Officials Sppreciation day across the state to honor and thank officials for their service to interscholastic athletics.

We asked everyone to participate on social media using the #NYSPHSAAOfficialsDay

Officials Appreciation Day in 2020 will be Wednesday, September 30th.

The fall Scholar-Athlete submission period opens on Monday, October 28th.

Click here to submit your Scholar-Athletes for the fall of 2019

Deadline to submit is Monday, December 9th.

Currently, NYSPHSAA is accepting bids to host future state championships.

If you know of a site that would be interested in hosting one of these state championships, please use the link here and submit a Championship RFP.

Are you considering playing tennis in college?

Attend the 2019 USTA Eastern College Showcase Day to meet college tennis coaches, collect information and learn about the NCAA process. The event is open to high school sophomores, juniors and seniors of all levels! The showcase will be held on November 10, 2019 at the Saw Mill Club in Mt. Kisco, N.Y.

Click here to learn more

The deadline to nominate for the 2020 NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame is January 29, 2020.

Submit deserving nominees by using this form

The NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame has categories for Athlete, Coach, Official, Administrator and Contributor.

All candidates will be judged on their significant and /or long term contributions to interscholastic athletics.

The fall Community Service Challenge is now open. This is an opportunity to reward and honor the great work your student-athletes are doing in their communities.

Nominate for the Community Service Challenge three times a year, in the fall, winter and spring seasons thanks to out partners at Team Up 4 Community.

Deadline to apply for the fall Community Service Challenge is Monday, November 11.

Click here to apply.

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.

The Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS) was recently awarded a grant by the New York State Health Foundation to provide educators throughout New York State with Return to Learn training for when they are working with concussed students. BIANYS is a statewide, non-profit membership organization that advocates on behalf of people with brain injuries and their families. BIANYS provides education, advocacy and community support services that lead to improved outcomes for individuals and families impacted by brain injury.

These presentations are completely free for all participants and can be done at any teacher training day, staff meeting, etc., during the 2019-2020 school year. The presentation has been created by Dr. Brian Rieger and Dr. Andrew Hess, BIANYS Concussion Initiative Co-chairs, and by Michelle Kellen, M.Ed., a former Teacher, Coach, Associate Principal and Athletic Director, who also gives the presentation.

For a training that requires an overnight stay, the presenter will be available to do a free presentation for parents and students about Concussions and Concussion Management during an evening program. 

Each training is 75-90 minutes long. BIANYS is a New York State approved CTLE provider. Please contact Michelle Kellen at 518-459-7911 or [email protected] to schedule a training. The schedule will fill up fast, so please reach out today!

Access to financial aid is a key factor in whether low-income students – including many of New York’s student athletes – have the opportunity to attend college.

Yet across New York, low-income high school students are more likely than their wealthier peers to attend schools with low rates of completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The New York FAFSA Completion Project aims to raise awareness of the importance of completing the FAFSA and provide easily accessible resources to schools so they can help more students through the process, drawing on national research and best practices already being used in New York schools.

Those resources include an interactive data tool that allows users to track the progress of New York high schools, with new FAFSA completion estimates updated weekly and comparisons to similar schools and top performers

.

The “3 Steps Every High School Can Take” resource at NYFAFSAChallenge.org encourages schools to:

1. Help their seniors make a plan to complete the FAFSA;

2. Hold a FAFSA completion event; and

3. Set targets and track the data.

At the end of the school year, Ed Trust–NY’s FAFSA Completion Challenge will recognize schools with high completion rates and that show improvement. Twelve awards will be granted to schools across the state. Each award will consist of $750 granted to the winning high schools for the purpose of providing a scholarship to one of its students.

Explore the data, read more about FAFSA completion strategies being used at New York schools, and find additional resources at NYFAFSAChallenge.org.