NYSAIS FALL FACILITIES

December 19, 2016

Colleagues,

A few years ago, Darrin Fallick in his role as the ADC Chair, collected facility information to be used to judge the suitability of facilities for hosting NYSAIS Tournament contests. The ADC has continued this project and I am happy to share that it's time to implement the results of the committee's work. You can likely imagine the challenges with collecting, reviewing and making decisions that best serve our athletes during their Championship experiences.

Here is the process the ADC used in making facility decisions:

- The ADC formed a sub-committee (Jason Edwards, Amy Pare and Craig Stolzberg) to work through the details to present the questions the ADC needed to address in making informed decisions.
- Facility dimensions from the NFHS were used as a starting point. You can reference the NFHS Court and Field Diagram Guide for further details regarding minimums, maximums, etc. -

Three lists were generated:
--Approved – facilities that met the NFHS guidelines
--Unapproved – facilities that were not close to meeting NFHS guidelines
--Unapproved until further research complete – info lacking or facility very close to meeting NFHS guidelines and facility has been traditionally used for past NYSAIS Tournaments


- The ADC discussed the NFHS guidelines and made comparisons to the facilities lists. The ADC decided to allow a bit of flexibility with the NFHS guidelines as long as facilities were suitable for play and the nature and flow of the sport was not changed. This flexibility allowed more facilities to be included in the approved list. (For example, several volleyball facilities were approved with ceiling heights not at a full 23 feet per NFHS recommendation.) - An email was sent to AD's of any facilities that needed further clarification. AD's were invited to send info and/or photos as necessary. - In some cases, ADC members conducted site visits to selected facilities. - The ADC discussed each facility and established an Approved Facility list for each sport. Three major criteria provided the basis for decisions:

---How close was the facility to NFHS Guidelines
---If a facility did not meet NFHS Guidelines, was the nature of the sport changed due to the specs provided
---Would slightly altering the NFHS guidelines increase inclusivity to allow additional NYSAIS member schools to host contests

The ADC is conducting this work seasonally with the Approved Facility list distributed to the membership with enough time for schools to submit additional information prior to the declaration process for the following year. Accordingly, the Fall Approved Facility list will be posted on nysais.org early next week. Schools have ample time for additional information or requests to be provided by Athletic Directors to the ADC for changes prior to next fall. The Winter and Spring Approved Facility lists will be distributed after the 2017 NYSAIS Tournaments for implementation for the 2017-18 school year. These approved facility lists will be active documents as facilities are improved and constructed over time.

Please let me know if any info on the list is incorrect or you can add clarity. The survey was conducted several years ago, so it may be that some of the information is outdated, such as lights, turf, etc. Also note that there are likely suitable facilities that were not included in the original survey. Simply send the info as directed in the next paragraph.

Any requests from Athletic Directors regarding the facility decisions should be directed to me via email (ADCChair@nysais.org) so the ADC can discuss such requests. Any facility that a member school would like to be reviewed should be sent in writing via email to the ADC Chair. Please include as much relevant information as possible – dimensions, type of flooring, seating, space surrounding playing surface, etc.

Thanks for understanding the challenges the ADC faced in making such decisions. Please don't hesitate to be in touch should you have any questions or suggestions.

Happy Break,
Pat


Pat Krieger
Chair - NYSAISAA Athletic Directors Committee