Happy Holidays to all of the student-athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators in Suffolk County from Section XI!
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NYSAAA honors Section XI influencers
Section XI was well represented with this year’s New York State Athletic Administrator’s Awards at the local level.
Congratulations to the following recipients:
ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATOR: Timothy Horan School District: West Islip Public Schools
A member in good standing of the NYSAAA who has made an outstanding contribution to athletics over the years. This person has shown evidence of devotion and idealism to athletics through the NYSAAA and has demonstrated their influence and power in the promotion of athletics in a positive manner.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE: Frank Cutinella Position: The Thomas Cutinella Memorial Foundation (Tommy Tough Football Standards)
Awarded to a person, not an athletic administrator, who has made a significant contribution to athletics over the years.
COMMUNITY SERVICE: Edward P. Morris, Commissioner Position: Town of Brookhaven Parks Department
Given to an organization that has made outstanding contributions to athletics over the years. The organization should have evidenced support and contributions to the NYSAAA on the State and local levels.
JUDITH A. MARTENS, SECRETARIAL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: Barbara Vetrano School District: Kings Park Central School District
Awarded to a secretary of an athletic administrator who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to athletics at the local level for a minimum of five years.
VIDEO: Why we need high school football
Our communication’s staff found this video from the TedEx series that really resonated for those in the world of high school sports.
High school football coaches and players will really appreciate it, but all student-athletes and coaches can take something from this piece.
VIDEO: Keeping it in perspective
File this under the subject matter of “keeping it all in perspective.”
Suffolk represented well by Scholar athlete teams
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) is proud to announce its fall 2016 Scholar-Athlete teams. This is the 25th year the NYSPHSAA has conducted the Scholar-Athlete program, which is 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.”
In July 2016, the NYSPHSAA Central Committee approved numerous changes to the program which included new qualifying criteria and more individual recognition. One change in the new criteria is at least 75% of a team’s roster grade point average (GPA) must average 90.00 or above to earn Scholar-Athlete Team status. Teams who meet this standard are honored with a certificate. Also, new to the program this year is recognizing any individual who receives a 90.00 or above GPA. Individuals reaching this plateau are honored with a NYSPHSAA Scholar-Athlete pin.
Additionally, NYSPHSAA will now also provide recognition to any individual with a 90.00 or above GPA whose team did not qualify for the team award. These individuals are eligible to receive pins and are considered an Individual Scholar-Athlete. This fall there were 42,535 Individual Scholar-Athlete awards handed out and a total of 2,942 teams who received the Scholar-Athlete Team award.
A School of Excellence Award has also been added to the program which recognizes schools who have 75% of its varsity programs receive the Scholar-Athlete Team Award over the academic school year. There will no longer be a State Champion recognized in this category.
Support Suffolk Cheer Officials Individual Competition
Inside the Numbers: Section XI Sportsmanship
As part of Section XI’s fall wrap-up, our Sportsmanship Committee has the following data to report:
- 31 school districts received Certificates of Recognition or Distinction for Sportsmanship during the fall season
- 98.5 percent of our athletic contests in the fall were incident free (ejections/red cards) during the fall
- 15 percent or more school districts had a reduction in the number of ejections and/or red cards this fall as compared to 2015
Thanks to all of our student-athletes and coaches who believe in sportsmanship and make it a priority in their athletic careers.
#SectionXITBT: 1934-35 Central Islip hoops
Let’s throw it back to the 1934-1935 season with Central Islip girl’s basketball!
Suffolk to the Pros: Tobias Harris
Tobias Harris has made a living in the NBA since being drafted in 2011. After starring at Half Hollow Hills West as an All-American in high school, he played one season at the University of Tennessee before going pro.
A two-time Newsday player of the year, Harris was selected 19th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats and then was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.
He has since spent time in Orlando and Detroit and plays both small forward and power forward. In more than 300 career games he is averaging 13.2 points per game.
Wright: Putting kids first is joy of being AD
It has been said that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. To some extent that is certainly true when you talk about being an athletic director.
Unfortunately, life is meant to supply us with balance, and no one gets away with total happiness. Our business is a serious one that requires constant vigilance when dealing with the health and safety of children. Not a day goes by that we find ourselves walking a field or gym, taking note of conditions that may lead to an unsafe condition.
Additionally, we host 100-plus contests a year and are required to staff and secure the areas for the protection of players, coaches, officials, and especially the spectators that either live in the district or travel to see their children play a game. We are our own division of Homeland Security.
We have to anticipate receiving a crowd of over 1,000 and properly staff it, know how close a lightning storm is, check the THI, ensure that each team has secured and checked their AEDs, check the operation of clocks and scoreboards, outfit student-athletes with the best equipment to keep them free of injury, and making it a point to have coaches keep their individual emergency plans up to date.
Truth be told, we never really WATCH a game. We observe, head on a swivel, eyes wide open, hand on the walkie-talkie, hoping that this game goes off without a hitch.
Of course, when the game has ended and the gym is empty we can share an anecdote with the custodians as they clean up the mess left by everyone. We sit in a side office for some time reflecting on what we just observed and ponder the subsequent email that gets sent out either congratulating or consoling your coach. If we are lucky, no one else receives notice. If an incident occurred, no matter how minor, we must share it and before the next game begins, we adjust, adapt, and reassess our strategy, like any good soldier.
The best compliment we can expect to receive is that everyone had a good time, win, lose or draw. Yet we relish the opportunity to do these things. We want our schools to be in the spotlight. We want to show off what we have built. So many of us step up to help when help is needed to the point of never having to worry because that is what we in Section XI are programmed to do, not because we have to, but because we have all been there and will continue to be there.
Yes, this may seem a bit dramatic, but if we follow the philosophy of putting KIDS FIRST, this makes you love your job and therefore WORK is removed from your vocabulary as long as you carry the title of AD.
Jim Wright, Ed.D., CMAA, Supervisor of Physical Education, Health, Athletics and Recreation, Huntington UFSD