Merging sports teams just got easier |
On Board Online • February 11, 2013
By Cathy Woodruff
Senior writer
The governing body for high school sports in New York has approved a change aimed at making it easier for students from small schools to play on combined sports teams with students from other districts.
“This has the potential to affect a lot of schools,” said Robert Zayas, executive director of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. “I think all the smallest schools are going to be taking a good look at this. It gives more kids the opportunity to participate, and that’s what we are all about.”
Under revised classification formulas approved by the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee, only a portion of a smaller combining school’s enrollment in grades 9-11 will count toward the total grades 9-11 enrollment number used to set a merged team’s classification. The old system used the total of both districts’ entire 9-11 enrollments.
When full enrollment figures were used in the calculation, it was more likely that a blended team would be bumped up to a higher classification and would wind up competing against much larger, stronger programs in sectional and championship play. That possibility sometimes discouraged mergers.
“I’m thrilled,” said Superintendent Gordon Daniels of the Franklin Central School District in Delaware County, where would-be football players were benched this year by the lack of a school team for their sport. “This does open a few doors for our students,” he told On Board.
The NYSPHSAA Executive Committee approved the change with a 12-10 vote in late January. Debate on the new combined team classification rules centered chiefly on whether the partial enrollment figures used in the calculation should be tied to the graduated scale or set at a flat percentage, Zayas said.
Members who objected to the new formula also argued that it could clear the way for formation of regional “super teams,” Zayas said. But supporters of the change noted that sectional committees will be able to block mergers that they believe would create unfairly dominating powerhouses.
The portion of a smaller district’s grade 9-11 enrollment that will count in determining classification of a combined team will depend on the smaller district’s pre-merger athletic class.
The smallest schools (Class D) will have only 20 percent of their grades 9-11 enrollment added to the full grades 9-11 enrollment of the larger school to determine the athletic class of a joint team. For Class C and Class B schools, the portion will be 30 percent; and for Class A schools, it will be 40 percent.
Any combined team still will need annual approval from its NYSPHSAA section and league, and section authorities can veto proposed mergers that they believe would create an unfair advantage.
Daniels hopes the new formula will remove a major obstacle for Franklin students who would like to try out for teams fielded by a neighboring Delaware County district, Unatego. Under the old classification formula, Unatego would have leaped from Class D to Class C, if even just one or two Franklin players were to join a Unatego roster.
The new classification formula will be in effect for autumn 2013 teams, Zayas said. He said the deadlines for combined team applications will be set by the individual athletic sections.