Leading off today: The New York State Public High School Athletic Association will conduct its first quarterly Executive Committee meeting of the new school year on Thursday in Saratoga Springs.
While there are no blockbuster issues on the agenda, there are several votes scheduled that will wrap up matters previously discussed at the state and sectional levels. Among the more noteworthy votes:
• The addition of a third playoff class for flag football, which has been experiencing explosive growth.
• Setting the school enrollment numbers that will dictate playoff classes for the 2025-26 school year and finalizing the class cutoffs for the state tournaments in football, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, girls lacrosse, and girls volleyball.
• Moving the 2025 cross country championships from Letchworth State Park in Section 5 to Queensbury High in Section 2.
• A new three year contract that will keep the girls volleyball championships at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls through 2027.
• Setting the regional brackets rotations for boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball and girls lacrosse for 2025-29 and flag football and boys lacrosse for 2025-30.
The four representatives from each of the 11 NYSPHSAA sections will also get updates on a variety of other matters, including:
• Progress on developing the so-called "three-region concept" that would develop consistent geographic pairings to reduce regional playoff travel. The NYSPHSAA Championship Philosophy Committee voted to support additional study, and the Executive Committee could see a proposal to bring back to the sections early next year.
• Executive Director Robert Zayas will give updates on potential changes to mixed competition rules, a topic that the State Board of Regents tabled last month but could return after the election next month, as well as transgender student participation guidelines.
• Progress on setting "super" and at-large qualifying standards for the outdoor track and field championships.
Money likely makes this wishful thinking
Veteran Newsday reporter Gregg Sarra has seen it all during his time covering scholastic sports, so his opinions come with credibility. Still,
the idea he floated this week probably qualifies as wishful thinking at best.
Sarra wrote glowingly of the vibe in the air Saturday night at Sayville High for the homecoming weekend football matchup of unbeatens with Half Hollow Hills West, played before more than 5,000 fans.
He observed that this crispness in the air was a reminder that the regular season is winding down, which means "home" games for schools will be dwindling down to near zero in short order as sectionals begin. That got him thinking:
"What really struck me was how we've lost that connection to the hometown fans by taking away the very games that should be played at the higher seed and not at a neutral site in the playoffs.
"Save the bigger venue for the four Long Island Championship games. Leave the rest for the hometown folks to enjoy. Make it a home game for someone to earn the right to play in front of their fans. Give the first and second place teams a home game. Districts have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into beautiful venues, play there."
Like Sarra, I'd like to see more games on school campuses. But money is a factor if not
the factor. Not all high school facilities are created equal. College facilities cost more to rent but can also accommodate larger crowds than some schools can handle. Add in the college staffs' experience handling big events and the ability to play doubleheaders and the equation begins to even out a little bit more.
Having said that, let me say this ...
More on Executive Committee matters
I don't anticipate any additional news on the subject to come out of Thursday's NYSPHSAA meeting, but the question of venues for future state individual championships in boys and girls wrestling is real after only MVP Arena in Albany submitted a bid to host for 2026-28.
Though the arena has been the tournament host since 2009, the most recent bid came with a significantly higher projected cost. As such, the NYSPHSAA has reopened bidding. There are only so many facilities that can accommodate eight mats on the floor, and splitting the tournament into two sites is somewhere between impractical and impossible.
That being said, Albany's price has long been out of whack with what it costs the NYSPHSAA to conduct other championships, even the football finals in the dome in Syreacuse. The fact that last winter's wrestling tournament lost money despite gate receipts of $131,426 rightfully has administrators concerned.
Weekend leftovers
• Maryvale QB Jaxsyn Moritz tied a Section 6 record with seven touchdown passes in a 49-7 victory over Dunkirk. He completed 15 of 17 passes for 246 yards.
• Ichabod Crane senior striker Brandon Da Costa has registered hat tricks in seven of his last nine games (all victories), bringing his total to 38 goals this fall for the Raiders (11-5). He was a 40-goal scorer with 19 assists as a junior as the school won the Section 2 Class A title.
