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)

Brentwood athletic director and Section XI girls basketball chairman, Kevin O’Reilly, was honored with a distinguished service award from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Girls Basketball Committee.

West Islip Athletic Director Tim Horan received the NYSAAA Section XI Athletic Administrator of the Year Award at the NYSAAA Conference in Saratoga Springs.

Horan was presented the award by NYSAAA President Murphee Hayes NYSAAA and Deb Ferry, NYSAAA Awards Chairperson.

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)