We wish all student-athletes, coaches, programs and schools a happy and healthy spring sports season!

Here are some helpful links to keep you informed throughout the spring season:

• Schedule finder
• Standings
• Spring championship info

As we enter the final stretch of our winter sports season I would like to congratulate all of our student-athletes, coaches and teams on an outstanding season.

We continue to be amazed by your talent, dedication and commitment. We commend your efforts and thank you for creating so many positive memories for us all. To those teams and individuals who won league, county or Long Island championships we salute your accomplishments and to those who are still in search of a New York State championship we wish you the best of luck.

To Kevin McCarthy, I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks for the three years that you served as the Assistant Director of Section XI. You have served our member schools with great professionalism and dedication. The ideas, strategies and feedback that you brought to Section XI has been integral to our mission of creating positive and enjoyable athletic experiences for the 85,000-plus student-athletes. You have made a difference. We wish you all the best as you move on to the next chapter in your life.

Congratulations goes out to Pete Blieberg on being named the new Assistant Director for Section XI. The athletic experience and expertise that Pete brings to Section XI from his administrative work in the Sachem, East Islip and Kings Park school districts will be instrumental in our continued growth. I am confident that he and Tom Combs, our incoming Executive Director, will provide outstanding leadership. I wish them much success.

Lastly, good luck to all of our spring student-athletes and teams. Best wishes for a wonderful season. We look forward to seeing you in the gyms, on the fields, tracks and courts. ENJOY!

Section XI is looking for cheerleading officials. If you’re interested, you can learn more below!

Outstanding work by West Babylon, Mount Sinai, Babylon and Rocky Point on winning 2016-17 Section XI cheerleading championships!

(Photo Credit: Newsday)

Check the final wrestling brackets to track your very own Suffolk County wrestlers in the NYS Tournament!

ORIGINAL

Some of the best wrestlers in New York live right here in Suffolk and they’ll be competing over the next couple of days in Albany at the NYSPHSAA Wrestling Tournament.

Good luck to all of our Suffolk grapplers and let’s bring home some championships!

Here is some helpful info to track the action:

• Official NYS tournament brackets
• Championship scoreboard
• Championship preview
• NYSPHSAA Wrestling home page

We’re deep in the Suffolk County basketball playoffs now.

Some champions have been crowned, but there is plenty of action left.

Check the updated brackets for match-ups and times below!

CLICK for Boys Hoops!

CLICK for Girls Hoops!

The champions have been crowned. If you missed any of the action over the weekend at the Section XI Wrestling Championships, you can see recaps below.

CLICK HERE for Section XI Division I brackets!

CLICK HERE for Section XI Division II brackets!

CLICK HERE for Newsday champions photos!

CLICK HERE for News 12 individual match video!

Info on New York State Tournament

• Feb. 24-25: Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y.

Talk about a dynasty. Ward Melville fencing has done it again in both boys and girls fencing, winning Long Island titles.

From Newsday:

A win in epee from Ben Rogak tied the match and set up Mike Jaklitsch, who won the final bout of the season to clinch a 14-13 win for Ward Melville, giving the Patriots their 10th consecutive Long Island championship. The win also upped their dual-meet winning streak to 158. The Ward Melville girls team also won, defeating Great Neck South, 14-3, to win its 14th Long Island title in 15 years.

CLICK to read the full story!

The text below is from a release issued by the NYSPHSAA …

The Executive Committee of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) held its January meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn in Troy on Friday. The committee voted on several key items important to the Association’s 785 member schools.

One of the meeting highlights was the approval of NYSPHSAA Championship sites for future tournaments. The following venues were approved to host championship events:

• Tri-City Tennis Center, Latham, 2017-2019 Girls Tennis State Championships
• Middletown High School, 2017-2018 East Football Semifinals
• Union-Endicott High School, 2017-2018 West Football Semifinals
• Cortland, 2017-2019 Girls Soccer State Championships
• Williamsville North High School, 2018-2020 Field Hockey State Championships
• SRC Arena, Syracuse, 2018-2020 Wrestling Team Dual State Championships
• Binghamton, 2018 Baseball State Championships (one year extension)

“The goal of NYSPHSAA is to play all of our championships events at first class venues and give our student-athletes a once in a lifetime opportunity”, said NYSPHSAA Executive Director Robert Zayas. “We want our member schools, coaches, administrators and student-athletes to enjoy the experience of playing in a NYSPHSAA championship, and we feel these venues are the best places for our championship tournaments to be held at this time.”

The proposal of extending an additional year in Binghamton (until 2018) for the NYSPHSAA Baseball Championships was approved. The proposal came about to review and evaluate the new format of a two-day tournament before bidding occurs for the following three-year term. This springs Baseball State Championships in Binghamton will be the first in the two-day format.

The Executive Committee approved the proposed pitch count regulations in the sport of baseball starting this season at the modified, junior varsity and varsity levels. Attached is a copy of the pitch count guidelines and corresponding days off at all three levels.

“Today’s action by the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee is a giant step forward in doing our part to protect and support our student athlete baseball players”, said Ed Dopp State Baseball Coordinator for the last 12 years. Dopp added, “We will continue to monitor and adjust the pitch count rules in an attempt to always improve opportunities for our student athletes and address safety as best we can”.

The Executive Committee also approved the use of video replay for Safety and Deduction points at the NYSPHSAA Cheerleading Championships. Another approval was the addition of a second relay team for the NYSPHSAA Indoor Track and Field championships (starting in 2018) in the 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 for both the boys and girls. In addition, the number of officials at the indoor track and field championships was approved to increase from 70 to 85 in March of 2017. Approval was given to issue a yellow card before a red card in the sports of girls and boys volleyball.

CLICK for the full release and pitch count info!

Rocky Point beat Hauppauge in this year’s Section XI wrestling dual championships Saturday at Suffolk County Community College’s Brentwood campus.

CLICK to view the full brackets!

Next up: League, County and State Tournaments

• 2/4 – League Tournaments, 9:30 a.m. / ($6 adm)
• 2/11 – Section XI Division I/II Championships at SCCC -Brentwood, 10:00 a.m. / ($6 adm)
• 2/12 – Section XI Division I/II Championships at SCCC – Brentwood, 9:30 a.m. / Day Session ($6 adm) / Evening Session – Finals ($6 adm)
• 2/24-25 – NYSPHSAA Championships, Times Union Center, Albany (Sec II)