Leading off today: Given the school's success in several sports over the years, it's easy to forget that Jamesville-DeWitt is not huge by Central New York standards. It's BEDS figure for the upcoming school year is only 596, which puts it 21st in size in Section 3.
With that as the impetus, the Red Rams are leaving the Salt City Athletic Conference that they helped form in 2017 and returning to the Onondaga High School League for the 2026-27 season.
After finding itself as the smallest SCAC member, J-D will now be the largest OHSL school, well ahead of No. 2 Mexico (486). It finds itself in a league alongside competitive private and charter schools that were left behind when eight members of the OHSL and eight from the now-defunct Central New York Counties League formed the SCAC.
"Our enrollment keeps going down and down and down," AD Fred Wheeler told Syracuse.com. "I was looking at projecting ahead, saying, 'Hey, not sure how long we'll be able to maintain and sustain it.' We do have really good teams, but it's also not just about varsity teams. It's modified teams and JV teams as well."
J-D might have been able to hold the line awhile longer if not for an upcoming change in the way the SCAC will structure its two divisions. Last school year, the Red Rams won a state title in boys volleyball plus sectional championships in girls swimming, boys and girls lacrosse, and boys tennis. But after previously aligning based upon BEDS numbers, the SCAC will form its lineups based on the Bradley-Terry-Mallows system, which factors in record and strength of schedule.
That would have lopped the Red Rams in with much larger schools than they were previously playing.
Rochester league's disintegration continues
If you played a Section 5 boys sport three or four decades ago, you know you were usually in for a rugged contest when lining up against schools from the City-Catholic League. With few exceptions all the members fielded teams at all grade levels and churned out dominant athletes.
As time went on, however, some of the private schools either closed their doors and exited the league at the same time that many of the Rochester City School District programs all but disintegrated. Never mind modified and JV programs, many schools struggled just to field a competitive varsity in much more than basketball.
What remained of the old league rebranded as the Rochester City Athletic Conference, and now even that league is showing cracks. The Democrat and Chronicle reports that its lineup of full baseball membership in 2027 likely will be just East, School of the Arts, and a team formed from the rest of the RCSD high schools.
"It saddens me to see the number of varsity teams in the city down to three but I also recognize that baseball in the city is facing tremendous challenges, not just in Rochester, but across the country," East coach and league baseball chair Kyle Crandall said.
All-time Connetquot great dies
Scott Albert Coppola, remembered as one of the greatest athletes in Connetquot history, died Tuesday after suffering a cardiac event during an adult recreational hockey game, Newsday reported. He was 49.
A standout in football, basketball, and baseball, Coppola was admired not only for his athletic talent but also for his leadership, and character. He led Connetquot to football and baseball championships, earned All-Long Island honors in football, and compiled a 26-2 pitching record, including a perfect senior season.
He later played baseball at Hofstra University, serving as a two-year captain. The school district's top physical education award for sixth-graders entering the junior high is names in Coppola's honor.
"Of all of the students in my career, he was No. 1," retired Connetquot High School AD Mary Lou Jenney Assante said. "He combined skill and character as an athlete. He was a true leader, a prominent player on both of our championship teams in football and baseball."
Wrapping up the school year
The New York State Sportswriters Association's all-state team for NYSPHSAA baseball will be released on Tuesday.
Later next week, we expect to roll out the all-state teams in boys and girls lacrosse as well as the Kerr Cup All-Sport Championship for NYSPHSAA schools.
Section 7 league moves golf to fall season
The Champlain Valley Athletic Conference is moving
boys and girls golf to the fall in a quest for better weather conditions.
"I think the No. 1 concern that the ADs had, and we've had for a while, is that we're running golf in the spring during a season which we run the whole season in about a three-week window," CVAC Executive Secretary Greg Myers said. "It’s very hard to give kids a quality regular-season experience in a three-week window. In the fall, we’re allowed to start practice before school starts, courses are open. Everybody’s been golfing all summer, and we can play right into October."
The 2026 CVAC season opens on Sept. 3.
Golf will become the third CVAC sport to compete outside the officials NYSPHSAA season. CVAC gymnastics is contested in the fall with state championships in the winter, while CVAC girls tennis is played in the spring with state championships in the fall.
Section 7 has worked out plans for determing qualifiers for the NYSPHSAA championships in boys and girls golf, which remain anchored in June.
Coaching news
• Veteran Rush-Henrietta coach Mike De May has relinquished his duties in indoor and outdoor track but will continue leading the Royal Comets' cross country program. He added that he is open to the idea of continuing in track as an assistant coach.
• Bridget Marquardt, one of the most successful girls lacrosse coaches in state history, has resigned at Skaneateles after a 25-year run, five NYSPHSAA championships and five other appearances in finals.
She finishes with 409 victories.
• Nick Weiermiller, who coached Elmira Notre Dame to its first Section boys basketball championship since 2014 earlier this year, has stepped down, citing family reasons.
The shortage of high school sports officials that became a major concern during the COVID-19 pandemic as an estimates 50,000 umpires and referees walked away is showing significant improvement, according to
new NFHS data.
Among 37 states reporting data (New York was not among them) in the newest survey, 26 now have more registered officials than they did before the pandemic. For the 2025-26 school year, registrations increased by 9% compared with 2018-19 and by 2% from the previous year.
