Schenectady, NY – The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) held its annual Central Committee meeting at Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady. The committee voted to approve numerous sport proposals, general action items and requests made by sport coordinators.
The 3-Region Concept (for postseason regional competition), which was voted to be tabled during the May Executive Committee meeting, returned to the floor for consideration and was ultimately voted 25-22 in favor of implementing the 3-Region Concept this fall 2025.
To keep up with growing expenses and balance a budget, the Central Committee voted to approve an increase state championship ticket prices. Football along with the Girls & Boys Wrestling Championships will change to $14.00 starting this fall. The remaining championship ticket prices will increase to $12.00 this fall.
The sport of volleyball saw multiple rule revisions approved by the Central Committee. In Boys Volleyball, the current two-libero rule will now fall in line with the current NCAA rules. In Girls Volleyball, the current NCAA penalty for having a non-compliant uniform was approved to be waived. Additionally, it was approved to amend the tiebreaker action during the Girls Volleyball State Championship Semifinals. It was noted during the meeting that the host venue of the Girls Volleyball State Championship in Glens Falls has had its name revised from Cool Insuring Arena to Harding Mazzotti Arena.
Numerous Girls Wrestling proposals were presented including a proposed revision to the NYSPHSAA Representation Rule allowing girls wrestlers to compete in both boys & girls events in the regular season then choose which state championship they prefer to compete in. A decision was made to discuss this topic at the October Executive Committee meeting. Additionally, girls wrestling introduced a seven-match maximum per day proposal as well as adding verbiage to the NYSPHSAA Handbook addressing multi-school meets and expanding the appeal procedure by coaches to include all rounds during the Girls Wrestling Championships.
Boys Wrestling made numerous proposals which can be found between pages 119-123 of the meeting agenda. Revisions were also proposed to ‘Officials Only’ availability to view any replays during the state championship, appeals to the Blood and Placement rounds during the state championship, and revising the maximum number of tournaments competed in a season. These topics will be voted on in the October Executive Committee meeting. During the Central Committee meeting, the addition of a 14th weight class was approved. The implementation of 103, 110, 118, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215 & 285 weight classes will begin this Winter 2025-2026 season.
The Indoor Track & Field Committee brought multiple action items to the floor. In order to increase competitive value of the championship, the Central Committee voted to approve the reduction in relay teams from eight athletes to six. The Central Committee also approved to revise the Division 2 Relay qualifying standards. Finally, in order to ease the volume of the event, beginning with the 2026 Indoor Track & Field championships will be a two-day event.
After a bid process resulting in no bids submitted to host the 2026 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, NYSPHSAA announced its plan to work with Webster Schroeder High School (Section V) to host the event. In working together to provide an all-around championship experience for student athletes, the upcoming Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held on Saturday, June 13 – Sunday, June 14. This is a change from the past Friday & Saturday schedule.
The meeting agenda can be found here.
The voting items and meeting minutes can be found on the NYSPHSAA website under the “Central/Executive” portion of the ‘About’ tab.
The 2025 Central Committee meeting was called to order by NYSPHSAA President Tim Mullins, Tuesday at 12:59 PM, and concluded at 10:35 AM Wednesday afternoon. The NYSPHSAA Executive Committee will meet for its Fall 2025 meeting Tuesday, October 21 at the Albany Capital Center.