Leading off today: OK, here's a scenario that I hadn't considered in this new era of NYSPHSAA championships.
Now that there are at-large berths in some classifications of some sports each season, I'd previously considered the possibility of a team sacrificing its sectional title game in order to take a more advantageous path to a state final by accepting the at-large berth instead.
While I'd put it out there as a question to consider, I also largely dismissed it because (hopefully) the players, the coaches, and the larger school community would have too much pride to put forth anything less than a maximum effort.
However, the Section 2 boys Class AAA soccer championship game on Thursday opened my eyes to another possibility.
(Important note before I proceed: I am absolutely, positively not casting aspersions here. There's not the slightest reason to suggest that anyone involved in that game even contemplated doing anything other than play for the win.)
Guilderland defeated Shenendehowa 9-8 on penalty kicks on a wet, chilly evening at Bethlehem High School. However, both teams had already been declared co-sectional champions by that point -- a soccer rule that I'm not particularly fond of -- so there will be trophies and championship patches for all.
What the penalty kicks decided, however, was who would go into the state tournament as the section's champion.
Previously, this would have been a bigger deal because the season would be over for the loser. As luck would have it, however, this year is Section 2's turn to send an at-large representative to the NYSPHSAA tournament so that there is an even number of teams; one of the benefits of the new Three-Region Rotation is that teams winning a sub-regional don't move on to a regional final against a team that had advanced on a bye.
But here's where it gets interesting, and I had previously spelled out the possibility two months ago.
The Section 2 champion in Class AAA (view the bracket here) is assigned to a four-team region along with reps from Sections 1, 3, and 9 that requires two wins to advance to the NYSPHSAA semifinals in Middletown. However, the at-large representative is already in the quarterfinals and needs only to win once -- on the road against the Section 4 champion -- to earn its trip to the state semifinals.
So, it becomes a question of whether it's better for Shen or Guilderland to play twice (the second game would be on a Section 2 field) or once (requiring a trip to the Southern Tier.) There's plenty to weigh there, not the least of which is assessing the quality of potential opponents.
We're going to see the scenario play out frequently in the current school year, and it's up to the respective sections to determine if its champion should have the option of going into the state tournament through the at-large berth.
It's going to be interesting, that's for sure.
Texas banning foreign exchange students from varsity sports
The governing body for Texas high school sports has passed an amendment
banning foreign exchange students from competing in varsity sports beginning next fall.
The University Interscholastic League cited concerns over fairness and competitive advantage. Observers see the move as the start of a broader examination of open enrollment policies.
Foreign exchange students will still be allowed to participate on JV and freshman teams.
