Criteria & Instructions
At the end of each sports season, the NYSPHSAA honors those teams and individuals that excel in the classroom. Those student-athletes, teams, and schools work very hard throughout the year and deserve to be recognized for their academic success.
Scholar-Athlete Team:
To receive Scholar-Athlete team recognition with a certificate, the average GPA of the top 75% of the roster must be greater than or equal to 90.00. Students with a GPA below 90 may be included in the average, but those individuals will not receive a Scholar-Athlete pin.
Individual Scholar-Athlete:
If a team DOES NOT meet the Scholar-Athlete Team Criteria, the individuals on that team with a 90.00 or above GPA are still eligible to receive a pin and will be considered an Individual Scholar-Athlete.
School of Excellence:
Schools can earn School of Excellence status by having 75% of its varsity teams qualify for and receive the Scholar-Athlete team award during their respective sports seasons. Applications are released after Spring Scholar-Athlete Deadline.
School of Distinction:
Schools can earn School of Distinction status by having 100% of its varsity teams qualify for and receive the Scholar-Athlete team award during their respective sports seasons. Applications are released after Spring Scholar-Athlete Deadline.
Pins are distributed at the Athletic Director Workshops based on the previous year's submissions. Digital certificates are distributed via email after review of the Scholar-Athlete applications. If a school need additional Scholar-Athlete pins, contact Assistant Director, Kristen Jadin.
Examples and further instructions are available here.