Nun has eye on sports

By PAUL QUIRINI- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Several Catholic high schools have been reclassified to compete in higher divisions of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association in recent years, an issue that concerns Sister Carol Cimino, SSJ.

As executive director of the Catholic School Administrators Association of New York State, she worries when Section IV schools in Binghamton and Elmira must step up in class and compete against public schools with larger populations.

Section II, the NYSPHSAA section that includes most of the Albany Diocese, hasn't had an arbitrary reclassification of a high school yet.

Why it's done

She believes the reclassification of schools is partially based upon misconceptions held by public school administrators.

"Many of them feel Catholic schools recruit athletes, and, therefore, we have an advantage over public schools that have to take only kids that live in their district," she said. But "we can't give athletic scholarships; so if we recruit a kid, that's a kid who's willing to pay tuition. There's something about the education or the sports program that he or she wants."

Seton High School in Binghamton and Notre Dame High School in Elmira were reclassified to compete in a higher division based upon the notion that these and other Catholic schools can recruit student-athletes from outside the schools' areas.

Transfers

Sister Carol acknowledged that student-athletes from public high schools do transfer to Catholic high schools in looking ahead to their collegiate athletic opportunities.

"They know they're going to get playing time, and they're going to be a big fish in a small bowl at a Catholic school," she said. "So when college coaches come around, they're going to see this kid."

However, public school districts also let students from out of district attend by allowing them to live with relatives to meet a district's residency requirements, Sister Carol pointed out.

What's next?

Although there hasn't been an arbitrary reclassification of a Catholic high school in Section II, Sister Carol closely watches as events such as those in Binghamton and Elmira unfold.

The health and safety of athletes at smaller Catholic schools must not be overlooked, and she also wants schools to ask themselves this question: "How do you coordinate the philosophy of a Catholic school education [and the development of a Catholic person] with the fierce competition of sports?"

(09-02-99) [[In-content Ad]]