Published, 3/8/16 (inaugural column)

As the Executive Director of Section XI it is my pleasure to add an occasional column to our website and social pages that I hope will not only share some of my thoughts but will give you greater insight into some of the great things happening in Suffolk County athletics.

We are extremely excited about the direction that our website is taking. It is our goal to highlight the accomplishments of the 83,000-plus student-athletes that represent our 62 member school districts. Through our website and social media pages we are able to better bring you news, insights and current events as soon as they happen. I hope you are enjoying our new endeavors and welcome your feedback.

Section XI has embarked on two major projects that will commence this spring and become part of our athletic fabric. One is the highlighting, promotion and implementation of programs that will reinforce our goal of appropriate sportsmanship at all levels in all of our sports. It would be our hope that we remind everyone that athletics is as much a part of the educational experience as is any other subject. Often times I think we let winning get in the way of the basic principles that we hope to have athletics accomplish. Our Sportsmanship Committee will be putting in place a program to better educate our schools about good sportsmanship and identify and reward those districts that have made it a priority. I encourage you to keep your eyes open as we roll these programs out.

The second program is the “Tommy Tough” Football Safety Standards. Working with the Cutinella family and supporting their vision of a safer game of football we will honor Tommy by implementing rules, regulations, programs and policies designed to protect the integrity of this great game. A series of meetings with all of the stakeholders, coaches, athletic directors, officials and parents have already taken place and we are in the process of making the vision a reality. I think this will be a huge step forward for the game of football.

These are merely two examples of some of the exciting things we have going on in Suffolk County athletics. I encourage you all to be a regular visitor to our website so that you too can be a part of the greatest section in New York State.

Don Webster
Executive Director
Section XI