Safety Issues for Young Athletes Addressed by Seaford School Board

Seaford Superintendent of School Brian Conboy has presented the Seaford Board of Education a draft policy for selection classification, which is when middle school athletes are invited to compete on the high school varsity level due to readiness and ability.

The draft consists of what the district has essentially already been doing, Conboy said at Thursday night's Board of Education meeting held at .

“I think it is a good thing to have in place,” Conboy said. “I think it has been a positive for the athletes.”

Additionally, he provided the board with five years worth of information on athletes who have fallen into this category for examination. Over the past five years, 104 middle school students – composed of 32 boys and 72 girls - have competed with the junior varsity or varsity teams at Seaford High School.

Some sports, Conboy explained, had more of a prevalence of this action than others, including field hockey and cross country. There have been no middle school students moved up to the high school team recently. He added that the students in the selection classification have not had any big injuries.

“That is one of the main concerns, having a middle schooler play with high school varsity players, which is a big different in age,” said Seaford Board of Education Vice President Richard DiBlasio.

In order for middle school students to participate in high school sports, they must past a series of tests to gauge their readiness for the competition. They are required to have a medical physical and fitness test. They are also screened for emotional maturity and academic eligibility.

“The safety of the athlete is always paramount, but we also want to make sure that the student we are considering can go through the testing that is required by New York State,” Conboy said.

Trustee Jeanmarie Wink said that she was in favor of this policy, as long as the child was physically fit and ready to participate on such a team.

“I’m more worried on the other end,” she continued. “If that child plays at the middle school level that the opposite will happen, that the other children will get hurt.”

DiBlasio questioned a portion of the policy which concentrated on the fact that there have been no reports of “poor social, emotional adjustments by coaches, parents, teachers or administrators.” He said that the statement was strong and asked if the district had any proactive measures in place to tackle these issues.

“The coaches that may have issues with behavior of athletes, or kids getting along with their teammates and things like that, do report those issues,” Conboy said.

The board decided that they would include a mandate in the policy that required the superintendent to approve seventh and eighth grade students playing on varsity squads. This would not be necessary for those moving to the junior varsity teams.

The first reading of the selection classification policy for the Seaford School District will take place at the Dec. 1 Board of Education general meeting scheduled for Seaford Manor School at 7:30 p.m.