Category Archives: Section XI News

Section XI News

Dezy Strong Foundation Impacts Connetquot, Others

The Dezy Strong Foundation has taken Suffolk County by storm in recent months.

Started by Sachem teacher/coach Matt DiStefano, who was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer, he has used his illness as a platform to talk about the power of positive thinking when facing adversity.

He has spoken to student-athletes at Sachem, Connetquot and Hofstra so far.

“It was a great event organized by our head coach Justin Hurtz and the parents,” said Peter Melore, Connetquot AD.  “Dezy is a Connetquot resident and was inspirational as usual as he spoke to our crowd.”

Section XI News

Southampton is First School to Play Unified Soccer

Southampton became the first school based program on Long Island to field a Unified Soccer team.

In their first game vs the NYC Eagles, they won, 6-2. In the final game they meet the NYC Cityhawks and lost, 7-2.

Southampton was awarded a silver medal and most importantly left feeling like a team. Their next scheduled tournament is being played on October 19 on Randall’s Island for the NYC Inclusion Cup.

Section XI News

Section XI with 8 NYSPHSAA Schools of Distinction

Eight schools from Section XI were named “Schools of Distinction” by the NYSPHSAA.
Athletic Director’s and Superintendents from the schools accepted the honor from NYSPHSAA  Executive Director Robert Zayas, Assistant Director Joe Altieri and Section XI Executive Director Tom Combs.
One hundred percent of their varsity athletic teams achieved a combined GPA of 90 or better.
Schools included Kings Park, Westhampton Beach , Rocky Point, Babylon, Northport, Smithtown West, Shelter Island and John Glenn.
Section XI News

Submit for NYSPHSAA Community Service Challenge

For the 2019-2020 school year, Team Up 4 Community is excited to once again partner with the NYSPHSAA to encourage Youth Athletes to give back to their communities through the NYSPHSAA Community Service Challenge!

Community Service is an integral part of the Interscholastic Athletic experience. Through community service, student-athletes, coaches, and administrators are able to give back to the communities that support them each and every day!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

  1. Starting August 12th Apply by visiting https://www.teamup4community.org/nysphsaa
  2. Sign into an existing account or create a new account.
  3. Fill in the necessary information and click register.
  4. To enter the challenge, click add an event on the right-hand side under account.
  5. Enter the title of the event, event date, number of participants, hours volunteered, amount of money raised (if any – this is NOT a requirement), the location of the event, the sport/team, and the event type.
  6. Under Event Contest, select “NYSPHSAA Challenge.”
  7. Select the name of your school. Remember, this is the name of the high school in the district (associated with your high school building BEDS code – like Scholar-Athlete).
  8. Add event photos you may want to share.
  9. Add event videos or URL link if you so choose.
  10. Enter event description (required). Use the rubric on the Downloads Page to view the criteria for selection.
  11. Enter excerpt (voluntary).
  12. Scroll to the top of the page, select either save draft (if you are not ready to submit), preview, or publish to submit (right-hand side).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

  • Administrators, coaches, and student-athletes are eligible to apply on behalf of the school / team / group
  • Limit to 1 community service project per application.
  • Only NYSPHSAA sanctioned sports/schools are eligible to apply for the NYSPHSAA Challenge (like Scholar-Athlete).
  • Teams do NOT need to be in its championship season to apply.
  • The NYSPHSAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will select the State winner each season (using the rubric on the Downloads Page).
  • Winners will be announced after each deadline and will be presented with an award at the Central Committee meeting in July.

Fall Submission Deadline: November 11th, 2019
Winter Submission Deadline: March 9th, 2019
Spring Submission Deadline: June 1st, 2019