Leading off today: We're at the point of the football season where it is still entirely plausible that programs will have to call off the remainder of the season due to a lack of players.
Given a thousand tries, I would have never guessed that this morning's big news in New York high school sports is that a boys basketball team with a recent history of great success has already called off the 2025-26 varsity season due to a lack of players.
Unfortunately, that's exactly the day's big headline out of Section 2.
According to WRGB-TV, Catholic Central administrators have determined the Loudonville school will be unable to field a team this winter due to graduation losses last spring and transfer-driven setbacks.
The station reported that fewer than 10 current students have expressed an interest in playing varsity or JV ball. That reflects a drop in its BEDS enrollment figure from 250 in 2016 to just 54 now.
Playing several classes above its enrollment figure, Catholic Central has enjoyed considerable success in Section 2 basketball. The squad bowed out in the Class A final against Glens Falls the past two seasons after winning Class B in 2022 and '23 and reaching the 2023 NYSPHSAA title game.
A big, round number for Queensbury
Queensbury rolled past South Glens Falls 25-23, 25-22, 25-20 on Tuesday in a Foothills Council girls volleyball match for the
600th victory in program history.
On the move
Social media posts on Wednesday saw Byram Hills bidding farewell and offering best wishes to boys basketball coach Ted Repa, who built the program into a top contender, including consecutive Section 1 titles the past two years and three trips to NYSPHSAA final fours.
Kevin Devaney Jr. posted that Repa is heading to Iona Prep in a role as an assistant coach.
Policy change in Pennsylvania
Students will be allowed to play for their hometown public school district's teams if their parochial school doesn't offer that sport, following the
ruling in a lawsuit alleging that Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association bylaws violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
A federal court ruled that public school districts in the state must accept parochial students into extracurricular and co-curricular activities.
According to WHTM-TV, the PIAA is currently working on changing its Bylaws to comply with the court order.
Status change forthcoming for athletic trainers
A bill passed by Albany legislators and signed into law by the governor in 2023 finally takes effect at the end of this year to change the status of many athletic trainers in New York from "certified" to "licensed."
Existing certified trainers will be grandfathered into licensed status per the New York State Education Department on Dec. 22.
Trainers will need to take on additional mandatory continuing education beginning in 2028, but the upgrade to licensed status should open the door to greater reciprocity when it comes to seeking authorization to work in other states.
