Section III hopes for spring sports postseason, but details remain tricky

Syracuse, N.Y. — Section III officials hope to nail down details of a possible spring high school sports postseason within the next few days.

The section’s athletic council met Thursday morning to review potential plans. Final decisions were not made, but executive director John Rathbun sounded optimistic that there will be a decision soon.

“We’re going to have some sort of season-ending event, we just don’t know what it’s going to be yet,” he said. “That’s been our goal right from day one, to make sure we offer some championships for our spring athletes.”

That effort takes on added urgency because there was no spring sectionals — or regular season — last year because of the coronavirus. Another playoff cancelation this year would mean spring teams would go two years without any postseason.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association has already decided there will be no spring state tournament this year.

While the availability of vaccines and the outdoor settings of spring sports make sectionals more feasible, the postseason challenge is a question of timing.

Usually, sectional play is wrapped up by the end of May and states conclude in early June. This year, the section has approved a spring calendar of April 19-June 30.

But running games into mid-June would start bumping into final exams, graduations, proms and possibly the Regents exams. There is also the hope of striking a balance between structuring some kind of postseason and allowing as many schools to play as many games as possible, regardless of record.

“I think everybody’s got the same mindset. We want to do whatever we can do and be realistic about what’s there,” said CBA athletic director Buddy Wleklinski, who is on the section’s athletic council. “We’re all hopeful that we’ll be able to do something.”

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