NYS adds classification to seven H.S. sports

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association is going from a five-classification format to six classifications in seven different sports – boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, girls volleyball, baseball and softball – beginning this upcoming school year.
For Nassau and Suffolk County, it means more county champions, more Long Island championship games and more teams competing in state tournaments in those sports. The NYSPHSAA, which last summer voted to approve the new classifications, wanted to create approximate equal numbers across the state in each enrollment classification.
“Every section in the state is different, but for us in what used to be Class A we had more than 30 schools competing for one championship,” Section VIII athletics executive director Pat Pizzarelli said. “Now within that same group there’s an extra opportunity to win a championship.”
For example, Nassau boys and girls basketball had 58 schools compete in the 2022-23 campaign; 15 in Class AA, 34 in Class A and nine in Class B. This coming season, there will be 12 in Class AAA, 24 in Class AA, 17 in Class A, and four in Class B.
Among the second-tiered teams for boys and girls basketball (Class AA) will be Calhoun, Carey, East Meadow (down from the largest grouping), Elmont, Hewlett, Kennedy, Long Beach, MacArthur, Sewanhaka, South Side and Valley Stream Central. Class AA is for schools with an incoming enrollment (grades nine through 11) between 692 and 1,104 for boys, and between 699 and 1,112 for girls. The new Class A numbers are 391-691 for boys, and 397-698 for girls.

“With the exception of Floral Park, the new AA schools on the boys side have had the Class A champ for the last 25 years,” said South Side’s Jerry D’Angelo, head coach of the reigning Nassau and Long Island Class A boys’ basketball champions. “So the new setup will give us two county champions among the 41 teams in AA and A.”
Suffolk had 59 boys and girls basketball programs this past winter with 25 competing in Class AA, 22 in Class A and four in Class B. For 2023-24, there would be 18 in Class AAA, 18 in Class AA and 13 in Class A.
Across the board, much of the largest group landscape in Nassau County remains unchanged with many of the fixtures like Baldwin, Farmingdale, Freeport, Massapequa, Plainview, Syosset and Uniondale will vie for a title. However, East Meadow and Valley Stream Central are two schools with difference classifications based on sport. The Jets remained in AAA in soccer, baseball and softball but dropped to the second largest classification for hoops. The Eagles have an identical setup under the new breakdown but competed in Class A for basketball in recent seasons.
The classification numbers between basketball and soccer are slightly different. For soccer, Class AAA starts at 1,082 students and up on the girls side and 1,090 on the boys side. Softball and baseball breakdowns are closer to soccer than they are basketball, but are all within a range of less than 30.
One minor negative is Nassau and Suffolk will take on an extra expense of securing more postseason venues for some semifinals and finals, and the cost of sending more teams to state competitions.
“It’ll cost a little more money come tournament time with extra playoff games,” Pizzarelli said.
Nassau County softball coordinator Rachel Barry, who coaches Clarke, said the plan at this time is to stick with ability-based conferences during the regular season. “The playoffs will look pretty similar with some smaller brackets,” Barry said. “The extra classification balances our section a little bit better by spreading out the single A schools.
“Suffolk hosts next year’s Long Island championships, so it’s up to them to figure out locations,” she added. “As far as the state championships, softball isn’t going to be impacted as much since we no longer play the semis and finals on the same day. Adding another classification only adds three games to the mix.”