The Section 1 Athletic Council recently declined to start the football season a week early, reaffirmed a decision to eliminate overtime in boys and girls soccer, paved the way for more competitive baseball leagues and held conversations about operational issues that have been impacting member schools in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess.
Here is the breakdown from the meeting:
1. Football will not be starting early
Last month, the NYSPHSAA executive committee approved an Aug. 19 start date after upstate schools lobbied for additional lead time. There wasn’t a lot of support for the move in Section 1, so the Athletic Council voted to stick with the Aug. 24 start date already in place.
All other fall sports begin the following Monday.
“Nobody wants to do that,” Mahopac football coach Dominick DeMatteo said of the early start. “We’re trying to push football deeper into the fall, not take away time in the summer. There will be workouts and camps over the summer, but we all want to do what’s best for the kids, the families, and the sport.”
The Wolf Pac open the season Sept. 7 against Section 2’s Averill Park.
“Most schools decided it makes sense to play a Week 0 game this year instead of scrimmaging because the outcome doesn’t impact the playoffs,” DeMatteo said. “(Averill Park) is going to have five more days of prep, but it is what it is.”
Takeaway: Given the offseason activity that is now commonplace in football, it’s difficult to justify shortening the summer to add practice time. The kids will continue to focus on strength and conditioning after schools close this week. Various team camps will be conducted over the summer, as well, so it makes sense to put friends and family ahead of the game for a week.
2. No overtime in soccer
The reaction to a January decision to do away with overtime in soccer in Section 1 was met with some criticism and resulted in a proposal from the boys and girls coaching associations to reinstate overtime play just for league contests.
It was rejected by the Athletic Council.
“This may help as far as reducing stress on the body,” said Byram Hills boys coach Matty Allen, who is also the Section 1 co-chair. “It could be a blessing for a team that plays a lot of tight games. I do believe it shifts the way you play. I think now you’re going to see more intensity during the last five minutes of the game. The confusing part, in my opinion, is the fact they took overtime away in soccer citing physical stress, but they added overtime in field hockey.”
Takeaway: During the fall, schools typically host multiple games and practices daily on stadium turf. Overtime is not a rarity and playing on beyond regulation delays all subsequent events 20-30 minutes. It can make for a long day. More importantly, given the lack of soccer officials in Section 1, eliminating overtime makes it more feasible to host junior varsity and varsity contests back-to-back.
The downside is the loss of regular-season drama that prepares a team for the added pressure of the playoffs. And it really doesn’t make any sense for Section 1 to claim the move was made to reduce wear and tear while adding 7-on-7 overtime play in field hockey to better prepare teams for state tournament play.
3. Reducing blowouts in baseball
Starting next spring, baseball will be scheduled as a cross-conference sport, meaning enrollment will play less of a role in league structure. The new alignment has to be approved by the individual conferences, but this paves the way for more balanced competition.
Takeaway: Any time ability is considered along with geography, league structure improves and games become more interesting.
4. No easy bonus points
A proposal to reduce the impact of playing Varsity B and Independent teams on playoff seeding was reviewed by the Athletic Council and passed along to the Championship Committee for consideration. If approved, no bonus points would be awarded for playing a winning program that is not eligible for Section 1 tournament play.
Brackets are determined by a seeding index. Teams get points for each victory against Section 1 opponents along with bonus points for defeating an opponent that finishes with a winning record. The change would not impact the equation used to determine playoff qualifying.
Takeaway: It’s a move that makes perfect sense, but the impact will likely be minimal given the fact that most Varsity B and Independent teams struggle to post winning records.
5. Administrative issues for another day
The constant reshuffling of schedules is creating more and more friction, so the Section 1 Standards Committee passed along a proposal to establish guidelines that need to be met in order to move a contest when schools are not on the same page with a change.
If passed by the Athletic Council later this summer, future contests would only be allowed to reschedule when an issue or conflict leaves a team short of the minimum number of players required or when a team doesn’t have a BOE certified assistant coach available.
The Standards committee also proposed expanding a spectator guideline that currently prohibits singling out individual athletes. If approved, coaches, officials and event staff would be pulled under that umbrella, starting with the fall season.
Takeaway: Reducing the number of schedule changes by coaches simply looking to gain a competitive advantage is overdue. So is halting verbal abuse from the fans. It’s hard to imagine expanding that guideline will have a noticeable impact, though, unless schools fund more security and empower staff to eject individuals who make the unnecessary noise.