PLACEMENT
I. Philosophy
A. The first priority shall be to provide all
teams with
fair and
equitable competition.
B. Teams shall be provided with a schedule that optimizes
competitive opportunities for all schools in the device.
C. Tournament qualification and post season play consideration is
secondary.
D. Clearly defined protocols must be followed by the sport chairman with
respect to proposals submitted to the Placement Committee.
E. Commitment Deadline for Varsity Teams
Schools need to notify the Section XI office prior to the following deadlines:
for the fall and winter seasons: Jan 15 of the previous year
for the spring season: April 1st of the previous year
Schools not meeting these deadlines will be permitted the opportunity to
participate on a non-league basis only. Such varsity teams and team
members will not be eligible for playoff or post-season competition. (See
Section XI Tournament Policy II.B.) (rev 10/21/03)
II. Conference/Division/League Size
A. A conference/division shall consist of a minimum of ten schools.
B. Leagues shall have no fewer than six teams whenever the total
number of participating schools in that sport allows for a minimum grouping of
six in a league. Exceptions to this minimum number must be appealed to the
Placement Committee.
C. The term Conference refers to the grouping of schools in each
basic conference. The term Division refers to a grouping of schools (minimum of
ten) in a sport specific placement.
III. Criteria
A. All placement formats will be approved for
periods of two years.
B. Basic enrollment must be considered as the first
option for all placements.
1. Geography and ability shall
only be considered if the format of basic enrollment does not address the needs
of the sport.
2. If enrollment is not used in
the placement process, justification for proposing an alternative must be
presented by the sport chairman.
C.
Consideration should be given to avoid mixed classification leagues if possible
(Approved Jan 2015)
D. Geography will be considered only where sites and
conditions specific to the sport require it.
E. Ability (grouping by anticipated strengths) shall be
done within enrollment whenever possible. This includes power ranking,
power points, etc.
F. Alternative/non post-season qualifying placement is an available option for
those sports where relief is sought.
G. Power Ranking System
1. Leagues/divisions will be
capped at 24 teams. After 24, the league or division must be split.
2. The odd/even splitting
(snaking) of schools completely bypasses the basic concept of enrollment, and
therefore is not a viable option if teams are power ranked.
3. The minimum number in a
power ranked league/division is 11.
4. Power ranking shall be done
within enrollment whenever possible.
H. Criteria for Size of Leagues
1.
Proposed placements shall ensure that all leagues have no fewer than six teams
whenever the total number of participating schools in that sport allows for a
minimum grouping of six in a league. Exceptions to this minimum number must be
appealed to the Placement Committee.
2. Standing rotation
should be considered for uneven numbers within the format.
IV. Placement Proposals
A. All sport placements must be proposed to the
Placement Committee by the sport chairmen.
B. Sport chairmen shall notify Section XI well in advance
of scheduled meetings with coaches. The dates for these meetings shall be posted
on the Section XI website to ensure that all coaches and districts are advised of
the meetings.
C. When format changes are anticipated, all varsity
coaches should be afforded the opportunity to provide input.
D. Proposals to Placement shall include date, site, time
and attendance of coaches or representatives at the placement meeting (roll call
vote). Written proposals must include written rational for change, address
problems with the current placement, and define the intent of the new placement
format.
E. Proposals shall include appropriate enrollment
figures, specific layout of leagues and/or divisions, and highlighted changes.
F. Proposals shall indicate standing agreements (i.e.,
order of rotation for uneven numbers in league, etc.)
G. Sport chairmen must submit proposals not less than two
full seasons prior to the season or year in which the proposal would take
effect.
H. All proposals must be in written format, and
received by the Section XI office not fewer than 14 days prior to the Placement
Committee meeting.
I. Sport Chairmen (or his/her representative) must attend
the Placement Committee meeting to present their proposals.
J. If a proposal is not submitted by the sport chairman in
a timely manner, the Placement Committee shall propose a placement consistent
with the format proposed in the past. If, however, the sport chairman has been given
direction by the Athletic Council or Placement Committee to change the placement
format, and a proposal is not submitted that reflects this change, the Placement
Committee shall formulate a new proposal to be considered on the Conference
Agenda.
V. Displacement
When enrollment is the criterion for league/division alignment and the most
populous school in the league or division possesses an enrollment equaling at
least 150% of the average of the remaining schools within the league or
division, the following will apply: a) If the most populous school (meeting
the above standard) wins a league/division championship, the next higher
finishing school will also be declared a league/division champion unless that
next higher finishing school possesses an enrollment equaling at least 75% of
that of the most populous school. b) Any team within a league/division
which would have been eligible for a post-season competition berth, but was
displaced by the most populous school (meeting the above standard), will be
entitled to a post-season berth unless the displaced school possesses an
enrollment equal to at least 75% of the most populous school. In addition,
if a displaced team does not have a .500 league record, it will not be entitled
to a playoff berth.
Rev 3/25/96
Note: This policy does not apply to power-ranked, alternative, advanced, geographical,
ability-grouped leagues/divisions or to post-season competition in
football.
VI. Intradistrict Combining of Schools
When it is necessary for schools within a school district to combine teams due
to lack of interest, coaching problems, transportation, austerity or other such
reason, the teams that are formed by combining schools will be placed according
to their combined enrollment.
VII. Combining of Interdistrict Teams (Revised 3/15/88)
WHEREAS, it is the purpose of the Suffolk County Public High School Athletic
Association (Section XI) to formulate and adopt within its bylaws such policies
as will enable the Association to administer and govern interscholastic
athletics within Suffolk County and,
WHEREAS, it is the purpose of the Placement Committee to consider the
appropriate placement of schools, and such relevant matters which pertain to
such placement.
WHEREAS, the Athletic Council has charged this Placement Committee with the
responsibility of determining the procedures and standards to be utilized by
Section XI in considering applications on the matter of the merger of athletic
teams by two distinct school districts and,
WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Placement Committee and Section XI to enable as
many student-athletes to participate in interscholastic athletics within the
framework of providing for equitable competition for all member schools within
Suffolk County.
NOW, THEREFORE IT IS DULY RESOLVED that the merger of the athletic teams of two
school districts may only be effected for one year and by way of the following
procedures:
A. Superintendents of the subject schools will file a joint application to
the Executive Director of Section XI setting forth their request for a merger of
athletic teams and will provide with such application a substantiation of the
need for such merger; such substantiation to disclose the insufficiency of
student interest in participation in the specific sport(s) for which the merger
is requested. Such application is to be received annually by the Executive
Director no later than January 15th for the following school year.
B. The Executive Director will refer the application to the Section XI
Placement Committee for its review; the Placement Committee will possess the
prerogative to request additional information from the petitioning school
districts on the matter of the justification for a request to merge the subject
athletic teams.
C. Schools seeking to combine in any sport where there is an avenue of
competition for the individual competitor may be requested to appear at the
appropriate Placement Committee meeting to justify the need for such
combining. In unusual circumstances, teams seeking to combine in team
sports will be required to appear at the appropriate Placement Committee meeting
upon the sport chairman's request.
D. The Placement Committee will recommend an acceptance or rejection of the
applications referred to it; the recommendation of the Placement Committee will
set forth to the Executive Board the basis upon which its recommendation is
made. In addition, should the Placement Committee approve of the requested
merger, it will recommend the appropriate placement of the combined team.
The Executive Board will make a recommendation to the conferences on the matter
of the Placement Committee findings.
E. The conferences, at their next regularly scheduled meetings following
the Placement Committee meeting at which a report on a merger request is made,
will consider the recommendation of the Placement Committee.
F. The Athletic Council at the next regularly scheduled meeting following
the submission of the matter to the conferences will approve or disapprove the
requests of school districts seeking merged athletic competition.
VIII. Alternative/Non Post-Season Qualifying League Placement
(Rev 1/10/13)
A. A team is considered to have alternative/non
post-season qualifying league status when it is deliberately placed
in a league/division of lower enrollment or ability.
B. A school having (a) an emerging team or, (b) a team which has experienced
a lack of success over a prolonged period, or (c) a team with other extenuating
circumstances may petition for alternative/non post-season qualifying league
placement status in that particular sport.
C. A sport chairman may petition for alternative/non
post-season qualifying league placement when there are
extenuating circumstances.
D. Such requests signed by the Athletic Director must be received by the
appropriate sport chairman and the Executive Director by February 1st for fall
sports, May 1st for winter sports, and September 15th for spring sports.
E. Approval for such requests must be sought from the Placement Committee and the
Athletic Council.
F. If a sufficient number of teams in a sport request alternative/non
post-season qualifying league placement,
an alternative/non post-season qualifying league may be established.
G. Teams placed in a league/division of lower enrollment or ability are not
eligible for a league/division championship.
H. In a league where all teams have alternative/non
post-season qualifying league status, a league champion will
be recognized.
I. Teams opting for alternative/non post-season
qualifying league placement will not be eligible for Section XI
Tournaments. (3/14/89)
IX. Advanced Placement (5/24/89)
A. A team is considered to have advanced status when it is deliberately placed in a
league/division of higher enrollment or ability.
B. Requests from schools seeking advanced
placement must be received by the sport chairman and the Executive Director by
January 15th for fall sports, May 1st for
winter sports, and September 15th for spring sports.
C. Approval for such requests must be sought from the Placement Committee and the
Athletic Council.
X. Enrollment Criteria
As of September 1, 1993, ALL placements are effective for one year
only. Placements using enrollment as a criteria will be determined
using the State Education Department Student Information Reporting System
(SIRS).
Example: January 2012 SIRS report will determine placement for all sports and
conferences for the 2012-13 school year. (Approved 1/11/12)
XI. Basic Conference Placement
At its May 12, 2015 meeting, the Athletic Council approved that the
basic conference placement shall be determined by utilizing the rank order of
Section XI member schools listed on the State Education Department Student
Information Reporting System (SIRS) as follows:
~Conference I: 15 highest enrollment
~Conference II: 15 next highest enrollment
~Conference III: 14 next highest enrollment
~Conference IV: 15 next highest enrollment
Rev. 7/20