The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Executive Committee met on Wednesday, February 4, at the Embassy Suites in Saratoga Springs for its quarterly meeting, addressing a wide range of proposals impacting interscholastic athletics across New York State.

During the three-hour session, committee members reviewed sport-specific and standing committee recommendations, future championship sites, proposed rule changes, and section concerns. The committee also heard reports from NYSPHSAA staff, committees, and affiliated organizations.

A major focus of the meeting was the approval of host sites for upcoming state championships. Among the sites approved for the 2027–2029 championship cycles were Hudson Valley Community College (2) for Game Day Cheerleading, Baldwinsville High School (III) for Field Hockey, Binghamton (IV), utilizing Mirabito Stadium, Binghamton University, and Union-Endicott High School for Baseball, and the Rochester area (V), featuring Greece Central Schools, St. John Fisher University, and Pittsford Sutherland High School for Flag Football.

Several proposals were introduced for discussion and are scheduled for a vote at the May meeting. These included a two-year pilot program for Field Hockey allowing 9-vs-9 competition at the Junior Varsity and Modified levels, and a Softball proposal to adopt a standardized pregame timeline and protocol for all regular season contests.

Three winter sport proposals were approved, highlighted by a significant change impacting girls wrestling. The committee approved a revision to the NYSPHSAA Representation Rule for girls wrestling. The revision includes any girls that compete against boys during the regular season are only eligible for the boys’ postseason. Girls continue to be permitted to practice against boys during the regular season and be eligible for the girls’ postseason. Additional winter sport approvals included eliminating the five-second closely guarded rule for the dribbler in boys basketball and requiring bowling teams to roster at least 5 athletes to qualify for state tournament competition.

For spring sports, three rule changes were approved in Flag Football, including the introduction of an onside play option. Outdoor Track and Field also saw three proposals approved: requiring athletes to finish in the top five at the state qualifier meet to advance, eliminating post-qualifier entry opportunities, and adopting a three-year average to calculate qualifying standards based on seed performances.

The committee also approved new language for inclusion in the NYSPHSAA Handbook and Modified rules. Handbook language was approved to now read, “A contestant or athletic team shall not represent a school in a game, contest, or scrimmage, except in conformance with all the rules and regulations.” Additionally, revised three Modified rules were approved including new language stating, “With Section approval, contestants may be promoted to a higher classification within the Modified program or to a junior varsity or varsity team at any time.”

Among section concerns, Section I formally presented a sectional concern regarding ongoing inequities within the NYSPHSAA related to the classification of open enrollment schools in championship tournaments. This concern has been referred to the Schools Without Boundaries Ad Hoc Committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 11 in Saratoga Springs. Section representatives serving on the Ad Hoc Committee, along with each Section’s Superintendent representative, will convene to review the concern, engage in discussion, and develop a recommendation to present to the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee at its May 6 meeting.

“The Executive Committee continues to take thoughtful and comprehensive action on behalf of our member schools and student-athletes,” said NYSPHSAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Zayas. “We remain committed to strengthening interscholastic athletics statewide and ensuring that our policies and championship experiences reflect the integrity, safety, and educational mission of school-based sports in New York.”

The full meeting agenda is available on nysphsaa.org. Voting items and official meeting minutes can be found on the NYSPHSAA website under the “Central/Executive” section of the About tab.

The Executive Committee Meeting was called to order by NYSPHSAA President Tim Mullins at 9:00 a.m. and adjourned at 11:15 a.m. The next Executive Committee Meeting is scheduled for May 6, 2026, in Saratoga Springs, NY.

The NYSPHSAA is proud to recognize the Schools of Distinction and Excellence for the 2024-2025 school year.

To be recognized as a School of Distinction, a school must apply for the honor and have 100% of its varsity teams earn the Scholar-Athlete Team Award during their respective sports seasons. The School of Excellence designation is awarded to schools that apply and have at least 75% of their varsity teams achieve this same academic recognition.

Winning schools will receive their commemorative awards at their local athletic director workshop this fall.  To be eligible to receive these prestigious awards, schools must apply following the spring submission of the Scholar-Athlete each school year.

The complete list of School of Distinction and School of Excellence Award winners can be viewed by using the links below.

School of Distinction

School of Excellence

The NYSPHSAA announces its Spring 2024 Scholar-Athlete teams and number of Scholar-Athlete individuals per team and there are several from Section XI school.

 For Spring 2024, NYSPHSAA recognized 3,049 Scholar-Athlete teams. Additionally, 47,211 students received individual scholar-athlete recognition by earning an individual average of 90 or above for the spring season, whether their team qualified or not. 

The full list of Scholar-Athlete teams for the Spring 2024 season can be found here.

The number of Scholar-Athlete individuals per team for the Spring 2024 season can be found here.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) held its quarterly Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday, January 31, at the Embassy Suites in Saratoga Springs. The following key points were discussed and voted on that will be implemented for the regular and championship season for the 787 membership schools.

Nine championship sites were voted on during the meeting including the approval of Boys Basketball moving to Binghamton from 2025-27. Additionally in the winter, the Skiing State Championships were approved to go to Gore Mountain/North Creek Bowl (2025), Whiteface Mountain/Mount Hoevenberg (2026) and Bristol Mountain/Harriet Hollister State Park (2027) as part of a rotation. Two spring championship sites were also approved. Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park in Binghamton will host the 2025-2027 Softball State Championships and Hobart & William Smith Colleges will host the Boys Lacrosse State Finals from 2025-27. In the fall, Hudson Valley Community College was approved as the host site of the Game Day Cheer State Championships from 2024-26.

Numerous proposals were brought forward to expand state championships including two volleyball proposals.  A two-day Boys Volleyball State Championship was approved which includes every section now having representation at the state tournament. The girls volleyball state committee presented a proposal for a three-day tournament now that they have begun to compete in six classes. That item will be voted on at the May 1^st meeting.

Both indoor and outdoor track presented proposals for expansion as well. Indoor Track had its proposal approved to add a second division for the relays at state championships. Outdoor Track & Field had its lone proposal approved to move to a third class starting in the 2025 spring season.

Two tennis proposals were brought forward including both girls and boys starting a 2 singles, 3 doubles format for their events starting in 2024. This was approved while a second proposal, to move all boys and girls tennis championship events (team and individual), was introduced and will be voted on in May.

Two football proposals were presented, including an additional official for state semifinals and finals. The item will be voted on May 1^st at the next Executive Committee meeting.

The Safety Committee had one proposal approved. To provide safer guidelines during inclement weather for outdoor sports, the MyLightning Tracker app was approved for implementation in 2024.

From the modified to the varsity level, rule revisions in various sports were approved, including the experimental use of a shot clock in boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, as well as approving metal cleats for modified softball.

The Winter 2024 NYSPHSAA Executive Committee will be held Wednesday, May 1st, at Embassy Suites in Saratoga Springs.