The Section XI boys tennis tournament kicks off on May 6.

CLICK HERE for the full team bracket!

Below you will find all tournament and championship info.

*Division Individual Tournaments: Division III at Mt. Sinai HS

• 5/6 – 9 am
• 5/8 – 10 am
• 5/12 – 12 pm

  *5/12, 13, 15: Division Individual Tournaments, Division IV at William Floyd HS, 5/12 & 13 9am, 5/15 3pm

• Division I at HH Hills West HS   
• Division II at East Islip HS                       

Section Individual Tournament at William Floyd HS
5/19 – 9 am
5/20 – 9 am
5/22 – 12 pm

6/2-4 – NYSPHSAA Championships at National Tennis Center (Indoor Facility), Flushing

We’re proud to announce that two from Suffolk County will be inducted to the NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame this year.

Riverhead native and former pro football player Ed Danowski, as well as longtime Northport girls basketball coach, Rich Castellano, will be honored at a ceremony in July.

Longtime Nassau County athletic director Pat Pizzarelli will also be inducted.

From NYSPHSAA … 

RICHARD CASTELLANO, Coach: Richard Castellano, who graduated from Deer Park Schools (Section VIII) in 1969, was one of the most successful girls basketball coaches in New York State history. After graduation he earned his Bachelors at St. Johns University and began his career at Northport High School coaching girls varsity basketball in 1979. Over four decades, Castellano racked up 613 wins (top five in NYS), 21 League titles, 10 County Championships, five Long Island Championships, and made the NYSPHSAA State Semifinals three times.  Richard had the honor of being a part of the National Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in 2011-2012 and a member of the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) since 1990.  He was inducted into the BCANY Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame the same year. Additionally, Castellano was named Newsday’s “Coach of the Year” four times, NY Daily News “Coach of the Year” twice, and was honored as “BCANY Section Coach of the Year”. In 1991, Castellano coached the freshman baseball team, then in 2001, he began coaching freshman boys volleyball, and from 2002-2004 he coached girls JV volleyball. Community service also played a huge role in Castellano’s career. He created the Suffolk County Coaches vs. Cancer/Score for a Cure Fundraiser, a program that 95% of all schools in Suffolk County currently participate in.  He also has led the program to raise tens of thousands of dollars since its inception. During Richards’s 22-years as President of SCWBCA, he awarded over $250,000 to basketball players for camps and college scholarships. He has proven a dedication and support of student-athletes during his long career and continues to coach girls basketball and freshman baseball at Northport High School today.

ED DANOWSKI, Athlete: Ed Danowski, a graduate of Riverhead High School (Section XI) and Fordham University, was one of the most successful three-sport athletes in Long Island high school sports history.  From 1927-30 he earned All-County honors while competing in football, basketball and baseball at Riverhead—a rare honor during that era.  He continued a football career at Fordham University where he was team captain his senior year in 1933 and selected as an NCAA All-American in 1932 and 1933.  After graduation, Danowski was drafted by the New York Giants football team as a quarterback and halfback with his career in the NFL lasting seven seasons. In fact, he was the first New York Giants quarterback to win two NFL championships and from 1935-38, he was in the top five in nearly all NFL passing categories for four straight seasons.  He led the NFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns and total offense in 1935. After retirement from the NFL, Danowski enlisted in the US Navy, eventually becoming Lieutenant Commander.  Following his service, he returned to his alma mater as the head football coach at Fordham for nine seasons. Danowski garnered numerous honors to recognize his outstanding athletic career. He was inducted into the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame, Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Long Island Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. In 2007, Ed was selected as Newsday’s “Elite 11” which recognizes the best football players in Long Island history, and in 2011, he was recognized by The Suffolk Times as the greatest athlete in Suffolk County history.

CLICK to read the full release!

The Section XI Cheer Officials New Recruits and Membership meeting will be May 31.

This will take place at the Smithtown Library on Main Street in Smithtown.

The meeting will take place from 6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Resume needs to be submitted prior to ncoascoa@gmail.com.

It is with great pride and anticipation that we announce the inaugural season for Unified Basketball in Section XI.  Teams from Northport, Amityville, William Floyd and Walt Whitman will be the first to compete in this newly formed program.

Unified Basketball is the brainchild of the New York State Special Olympics and is intended to find more opportunities for intellectually challenged students to compete in interscholastic athletics.

This program has the full support and backing of our parent organization, the NYSPHSAA, and currently services teams in six of the state’s 11 sections.

The game itself is truly basketball as we know it.  Rules are consistent with school basketball and there are no exceptions to any existing regulations.  The only difference is that this is a blended team of students with special needs and general education students.

At any time on the court there must be three students with a documented intellectual disability and two general education students.  There is no support personnel permitted on the court at any time and each team may substitute freely as long as the basic requirement is met.

Additionally, there are opportunities for those students that may not respond to a regular game based on their disability.  Those opportunities exist in a halftime competition where passing, dribbling, and shooting skills are showcased.

Each team will play six games beginning on May 8 and continuing for the next three Mondays and Wednesdays ending Thursday, May 25 with a culminating event for all teams at William Floyd High School at 4:30.

For your viewing pleasure, here are two links to great videos:

• Joe Pignatelli’s “My Unified Sports Story”
• Pilot Project recap video

We hope to see you out there for this wonderful athletic experience!

Use this link on the news page of Section XI as an aggregator of the top high school sports news from the region!

APRIL 2017

• Southampton’s Nakia Williams wins high jump at Dennis Walker Classic via Newsday
• Sam Hurtago switches from third to leadoff for Wheatley via Newsday
• Chad & Taylor Pike: Tradition of diamond gems at Southampton via Newsday
• Sachem East’s Cosgrove commits to Notre Dame via Newsday
• WATCH latest version of News 12 Sports Rush show
• Southampton dominates Hampton Bays in sweep via Southampton Press

Would you like to be featured in one of our many social media galleries?

Have a student-athlete, coach or team image that deserves to be added to the mix for spring sports imagery?

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) is proud to announce its winter 2017 Scholar-Athlete teams and Individuals. This is the 25^th year the NYSPHSAA has conducted the Scholar-Athlete program, sponsored by Pupil Benefits Plan, Inc.

“Congratulations to our member schools and student-athletes,” said Executive Director Robert Zayas. “We continue to be proud of this program which recognizes success in the classroom. We are excited to have the opportunity to expand this program to honor even more students for the academic excellence.”

To be honored as a Scholar-Athlete team at least 75% of a team’s roster grade point average (GPA) must average 90.00 or above. Teams who meet this criteria are honored with a certificate. Individuals on the team who reach a 90.00 GPA are also honored with a NYSPHSAA Scholar-Athlete pin.

Additionally, any individual with a 90.00 or above GPA whose team did not qualify for the team award were eligible to receive pins and are considered an Individual Scholar-Athlete. This winter there were 29,523 Individual Scholar-Athletes and a total of 2,050 teams who received the Scholar-Athlete Team award.

The full list of scholar athlete teams for the 2017 winter season can be found at http://www.nysphsaa.org/Educational-Programs/Scholar-Athletes.

Spring sports seasons are just getting started, so it’s a great time to check the standings and track your favorite high school teams.

Make SectionXI.org one of your daily stops!

CLICK HERE for standings page!

Looking for something to do this spring? Section XI has thousands of games across multiple sports to keep you occupied.

Bookmark our schedule link and check out schools in your community to stay in tune with all the athletic happenings imaginable.

If you miss games, not to worry, because you can track all results and schedules via SectionXI.org as well.

We are so incredibly proud of four amazing individuals from Section XI who were inducted to the New York State Athletic Administrators Association Hall of Fame last week in Saratoga Springs.

Current Section XI Executive Director, Don Webster, along with former Executive Director, former Brentwood athletic director, Chuck Goehring, and former Commack athletic director, Doug Prato.

(Note: Current Brentwood athletic director Kevin O’Reilly is pictured with Webster (r.) and Cinelli (c.) above)