Leading off today:
I blogged three weeks ago that
this Friday will be a significant date in the NYSPHSAA's latest examination of public vs. private schools.
Well, Section 1 also has April 28 circled on its collective calendar, and what happens on that day could substantially change the scope and tone of the statewide discussion.
On Friday, representatives of the NYSPHSAA's 11 sections will reveal whether they would support abandoning the policy they overwhelmingly approved last fall and possibly instead work on the mechanics of moving non-public and charter schools into their own playoff classifications.
Four days later, the Section 1 Athletic Council will meet to consider authorizing a vote to amend its constitution to make its four non-public member schools ineligible for sectional championship competition against their public-school peers.
Kevin Devaney Jr. was the first to report on that proposal, which would effectively banish Albertus Magnus, Ursuline, Keio, and Lefell from state championship events. These schools would instead be able to compete in a separate non-public championship contest against other Section 1 non-public schools, though the winner would not advance to a NYSPHSAA tournament.
On paper, Section 1's timetable might encourage the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee to start the migration of the non-public and charter schools into their own state classifications for purposes of postseason championships. In practice, however, 10 of the 11 sections rejected the idea last fall and a majority may still be inclined to give the new classification process a chance.
Making a new system work would require considerable work. (I delved into some of the challenges in a February blog.) A scenario in which one or more sections amend their constitutions along the lines of what Section 1 is considering would be messy.
I haven't been engaging with very many people who might have insight into how Friday's NYSPHSAA Zoom call might play out. Nor do I have insight into the behind-the-scenes discussions taking place in Section 1.
However, I will make one prediction: We're heading to State Supreme Court in the not-too-distant future, because someone is going to be unhappy with how this plays out.
Experienced observers weigh in
Besides breaking the news about Section 1's plans, Kevin Devaney Jr. hosted a podcast with guest Mike Dougherty of LoHud.com last week. They're two longtime observers and chroniclers of high school sports in that neck of the woods.
Their back-and-forth was probably the most informative and balanced discussion of this round of public vs. private debate that started in 2024 that I've seen.
The nearly half-hour podcast is worth watching in its entirety, but here are a few excerpts:
• Dougherty: "No matter how this breaks, there's probably going to be legal action that's going to be expensive for somebody if it's pursued. My concern was that you were going to see different factions form around the state. You're seeing it with the football committee that's already looking at ways to get around the private schools in football."
• Devaney recalled interviewing Syracuse CBA football coach Joe Casamento while previewing what would be the epic 2004 state large-school final vs. the Ray Rice-led New Rochelle team.
"He told me this story about how five years before they were in Class C and they got moved up to Class B, and he goes, 'Don't move me up. Don't move me up. You're going to regret it.' And then schools would say, 'Why?'
"He said, 'Well, if you keep moving me up, I'm only going to get better players. ... I can't get kids from the Class AA schools because they don't want to come here. We're Class B, we're Class C. If you move us to Class AA, they're going to come here. They want to play Class AA. They all came and they won."
• Dougherty: "We have superintendents in Section 1 now calling on the Board of Regents of the State Education Department to do more oversight of athletics, which is a really bad idea if anybody remembers how the pandemic was handled."
• Dougherty: "If you look at the major (Section 1) championships that have been contested so far this year, roughly 30 championships, three have been won by (Albertus) Magnus, the private school. So, three out of 30. So, is this a crisis? No, but it keeps happening. And I think that's where the state has failed."
• Devaney: "There are (Upstate) Catholic schools that are basically on islands. At least the schools here have options. What do you do if you're in Binghamton or if you're in Utica or Batavia? What do you do?"
• Devaney: "Albertus and Ursuline and Keio have been nothing but good citizen programs, athletic programs in Section 1. And I know that the people of those schools kind of hear the noise. Albertus could score 150 points on a lot of their opponents and they don't. They could they say, 'OK, you're gonna come at us on social media or you're going to use the crowd (as motivation).' They've never done it. I've never heard it. I've never seen it. I've never heard about accusations."
• Dougherty: "I really think it's time to find Wiley Coyote and his Acme connection and buy the dynamite and the plunger. Because if you're going to do this, then maybe do you go to the CHSAA and say if we do something at the state level and have a separate, non-public school championship, would you be a part of this? Because you can't at the sectional level expect anyone to take you seriously if you say we're going to have sectionals and Ursuline can play Leffel and Keio can play Magnus. I mean that's just ridiculous."
Milestones
Lancaster junior midfielder Claire Buccieri became the Section 6 career goals leader in girls lacrosse when she scored her 289th on April 11 during a 13-11 victory over Our Lady of Mercy. Two games and six days later, she scored goal No. 300 during a 20-0 win over Grand Island.
This shows how seriously NFL teams take flag football
I mentioned awhile ago that the Buffalo Bills are kicking in $10,000 a year to support the NYSPHSAA flag football finals in Section 5 from 2027-29. A recent story out of New Jersey says the New York Jets have kicked in $30,000 to help six schools in a in one of that state's districts get the sport off the ground.
Dave Ryden, the AD at Marlboro in the Freehold Regional District, told Shore Sports Insider that it started with a sales pitch in January 2025 from incoming freshmen Maddie Budveit and Hayley Albert, who wanted to start a flag football program.
The girls came armed with a deeply researched report and a petition with 85 signatures.
"They came in my office dressed to the nines, like they were doing an actual presentation in front of the school," Ryden said. "The kids did all the talking, and their parents just sat there and didn't say a word. Pages of statistics and data, you name it, they had it. It was unreal. I was blown away."
Ryden approached the school board president but was reminded that the Freehold Regional District had a long-standing moratorium on adding sports due to budget constraints.
After uncertainly about could be done, Albert reached out to Brian Friedman, the Jets' COO and a friend of her father. Friedman paved the way for the team to donate $30,000, which was pocket change considering the organization announced a $1 million donation last year to start the flag football league in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.
The NJSIAA will vote next month on whether to add flag football as an official varsity sport with state playoffs beginning in 2027.
