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Briarcliff UFSD Athletic Department Tryout Procedures

CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF TRYOUT PROCEDURES

Dear Parents/Guardians of BHS Student-Athletes,

The athletic team selection process is without question the Briarcliff Manor UFSD’s coaching staff’s most challenging responsibility.  In order to create procedures that will give every student an equal opportunity during the team selection process, the Athletic Director and the Assistant Athletic Director evaluated all facets of the tryout process to establish best practices for the district. This handbook codifies those practices.

We are confident that these guidelines will help not only our athletes, but also our coaching staff as they navigate through the process of identifying players during team selection and help us to provide the best possible experience for our student-athletes.

Go Bears!

Sincerely,

BRIARCLIFF MANOR UFSD ATHLETIC

TRYOUT PROCEDURES

1.  Number of Days for Tryouts

Varsity & JV – Minimum of 3 days

Extending Tryouts

Tryouts will be extended as needed at the discretion of the coach(es).  Tryouts are not to exceed 6 days for Varsity and JV.

The Athletic Department will split tryout groups as needed to make smaller groups.  As each sport is unique, there will not be a specific cutoff number, rather the decision as to whether to create a second, third, etc., tryout group will be made by the Athletic Director in consultation with the coaching staff.

2.  Number of Coaches Evaluating Students During Tryouts

There will be a minimum of two coaches evaluating students during the tryout period.  The best practice is to have at least two coaches and potentially an additional coach(es), when available, to help evaluate players.  A third coach is not always available, but the Athletic Department will work to find a third evaluator for at least one of the tryout days.

3.  Evaluation Rubric

All evaluating coaches will use a rubric to score student-athletes and will compare the rubric with their fellow evaluator(s) at the end of the evaluation period when making a shared decision about team selection.  The rubric will include, but may not be limited to, the following elements for scoring:

• Play during scrimmage (if able to scrimmage, sport-dependent)

• Attitude

• Attendance

• Sport-specific skills

• Physical fitness

• Intangibles, leadership, hustle

• Knowledge of the game

• Know their role

• Respects teammates and is respected

4.  Tryout Procedures

The following procedures shall serve as a guideline for coaches to follow.  However, coaches may also include other elements they feel are helpful in evaluating student- athletes.

• Skill-Related Drills – Students will be brought through a series of sport related drills to assess their ability.

• Stations – Stations may also be used, depending on the sport.  Stations are especially helpful for sports with tryout taking place inside (e.g., baseball and softball).

• Conditioning – Students’ level of fitness will be tested during tryouts.

• Scrimmaging – Students will be given the opportunity to scrimmage with peers in sports where possible, giving coaches the ability to assess students in situations approximating a game.

5.  Notification of Team Selection

After the team selection process has taken place, students will be invited to a face-to-face meeting with the coaching staff on the BHS campus.  All students will be brought in for a meeting regardless if they will be invited to join the team or not.  The meeting location will be such that the student will be able to enter the meeting room/area from one location, and exit from another, to allow for student privacy.  There will be a minimum of two coaches present for the meeting.

For students who do not make the team, the coaching staff will go over the team selection rubric and give very specific feedback to the student to explain why they were mot selected.  In addition, those students who do not make the team will be given information on how they can improve in that sport over the course of the year in an effort to give that student athlete a better chance of making the team the subsequent year.  Unfortunately, team selection is unavoidable.  Roster size is dependent on the number of athletes the Athletic Department judges appropriate given the level, the facilities available, and the number of coaches available. 

6.  Preparing your son/daughter for the possibility of not making a team

Not making a team can be devastating for a student-athlete.  It is critical that students and parents be prepared in the event that this is the case.

Joel H. Fish, PhD, Director at the Center for Sport Psychology, and author of “101 Ways to be a Terrific Sport Parent” (Morgan James Publishing, 2013), offers this helpful advice on how parents can help support and encourage the young athlete:

• Be self-aware parents – Parents need to be aware of their own attitudes towards making the team, and towards winning and losing because inevitability these attitudes will be picked up by their children.  Fish cautions, “I believe parents are extremely well intentioned, but parents often have an emotional response to their child not making the team.”  Parents who display anger or immediately want to challenge the coach’s decision are adding an extra dimension to their child’s burden.  Charles Kuntzleman, author of over fifty books on fitness and health, says that “The most powerful thing is to not display, when they get home, displeasure with what the coach did.  Parents have to learn to bite their tongue; it’s demoralizing to the team, and a great disservice to the child.”

• Give your child a chance to feel.  Parents can help their child cope by giving him or her ‘permission’ top have a normal response.  Fish says, “There’s a tendency for parents to rush in there and say, ‘it’s ok’ – sometimes we need to say to our kids ‘that must hurt’, or give them a hug, or not say anything.”  Parents who respond to their child not making the team by saying “Well, soccer is a stupid sport anyways!” invalidate the hurt their child is feeling as well as dismissing something that may well be very important to him or her.

• Help your child see the big picture.  There’s much more to being successful in life than simply making a sports team, however important it may seem at the time, and parents can help their children realize this.  Fish suggests that, before a tryout, parents make a list together with their child of multiple goals which reflect what a tryout is really about.  One of those goals can be making the team, but include others as well, such as having fun, trying your best, being a good teammate, and learning something.  Says Fish, “When not all the eggs are in the outcome basket, that can be really helpful for a child who doesn’t make the team, because he’s going with multiple definitions of what it means to be successful.”

Parents can also help their children realize that even though they didn’t make it onto the team they were hoping for, they have other options.  A community league may offer an opportunity to get involved, or maybe a different sport or activity altogether would provide a fun and exciting challenge.  Some athletes who have been cut from one team have gone on to be very successful in a totally different area.  Others who were at one time cut from their high school teams (like basketball great Michael Jordan) have gone on to become outstanding athletes.  Every young athlete or performer who is making an effort to succeed will eventually encounter some stiff obstacles and competition.  Parents can help their kids to not only handle these setbacks graciously, but to actually grow from them.

7.  Contacting Coach Regarding Tryouts

• If you as a parent/guardian have specific questions regarding your son or daughter’s tryout, we ask that you wait a period of 24 hours prior to sending the respective coach an email to set up a time to facilitate a brief phone call.  We appreciate your cooperation in advance.  Note - When asking about your son/daughter’s tryout, please only discuss your own son or daughter.  Coaches will not discuss other student-athletes with you.

• Please also remember that your son or daughter’s status on AAU, Club teams, and other teams that are facilitated outside of the district are not a consideration in selecting student-athletes for interscholastic teams at Briarcliff High School.  We thank you again for your cooperation.

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Tentative Athletic Calendar 2024-2025

 Athletic Placement Process (Fall Sports) June 12, 2025

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NYSPHSAA Spectator Sportsmanship Regulations

Any negative, inappropriate, derogatory comments or actions that brings direct attention to a supervisor or school administrator by a spectator or group of spectators are required to be addressed by the host school, Sectional or NYSPHSAA representative in the following non-sequential order depending on the comments or behavior.

* Depending on the severity of the behavior/comments or future disqualifications by the offending spectator, NYSPHSAA and the Section may get directly involved in the situation.

Note: A school may take any or all these actions during or after an interscholastic contest.

Rationale:  NYSPHSAA Sportsmanship Committee believes that the time has come to hold our spectators to the same expectations that our coaches and students are held to during an interscholastic contest.  If our spectators cannot meet these expectations, then just like our coaches and student athletes, they will face a similar consequence to their behaviors and comments.  NYSPHSAA schools have a requirement to address these types of behaviors as members of our association.

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Concussion Definition:

A concussion is a reaction by the brain to a jolt or force that can be transmitted to the head by an impact or blow occurring anywhere on the body. Essentially a concussion results from the brain moving back and forth or twisting rapidly inside the skull.

Facts about concussions accordIng to the center for disease control (cdc): 
•An estimated 4 million people under age 19 sustain a head injury annually. Of these approximately 52,000 die and 275,000 are hospitalized. 
•An estimated 300,000 sports and recreation related concussions occur each year. 
•Students who have had at least one concussion are at increased risk for another concussion.

In New York State in 2009, approximately 50,500 children under the age of 19 visited the emergency room for a traumatic brain injury and of those approximately 3,000 were hospitalized.

REQUIREMENTS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Education: 
Each school coach, physical education teacher, nurse, and athletic trainer will have to complete an approved course on concussion management on a biennial basis, starting with the 2012-2013 school year. 
•School coaches and physical education teachers must complete the CDC course. (www.cdc.gov/concussion/HeadsUp... nurses and certified athletic trainers must complete the concussion training course

Information: 
•Provide concussion management information and sign off with any parental permission form. 
•The concussion management and awareness information or the State Education Department's web site must be made available on the school web site, if one exists.

Removal from athletics: 
•Require the immediate removal from athletic activities of any pupil that has or is believed to have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury. 
•No pupils will be allowed to resume athletic activity until they have been symptom free for 24 hours and have been evaluated by and received written and signed authorization from a licensed physician. For interscholastic athletics, clearance must come from the school medical director. 
--Such authorization must be kept in the pupil's permanent heath record. 
--Schools shall follow directives issued by the pupil's treating physician.

SYMPTOMS 
Symptoms of a concussion are the result of a temporary change in the brain's function. In most cases, the symptoms of a concussion generally resolve over a short period of time; however, in some cases, symptoms will last for weeks or longer. Children and adolescents are more susceptible to concussions and take longer than adults to recover.

It is imperative that any student who is suspected of having a concussion is removed from athletic activity (e.g. recess, PE class, sports) and remains out of such activities until evaluated and cleared to return to activity by a physician.

Symptoms include, but are not limited to: 
•Decreased or absent memory of events prior to or immed- iately after the injury, or difficulty •retaining new information 
•Confusion or appears dazed 
•Headache or head pressure 
•Loss of consciousness 
•Balance difficulties, dizziness, or clumsy movements 
•Double or blurry vision 
•Sensitivity to light and/or sound 
•Nausea, vomiting and/or loss of appetite 
•Irritability, sadness or other changes in personality 
•Feeling sluggish, foggy or light-headed 
•Concentration or focusing problems 
•Drowsiness Fatigue and/or sleep issues – sleeping more or less than usual

Students who develop any of the following signs, or if signs and symptoms worsen, should be seen and evaluated immediately at the nearest hospital emergency room.
•Headaches that worsen 
•Seizures 
•Looks drowsy and/or cannot be awakened 
•Repeated vomiting 
•Slurred speech 
•Unable to recognize people or places 
•Weakness or numbing in arms or legs, facial drooping
•Unsteady gait 
•Change in pupil size in one eye 
•Significant irritability Any loss of consciousness 
•Suspicion for skull fracture: blood draining from ear or clear fluid from the nose

STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS GUIDANCE FOR CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT 
Schools are advised to develop a written concussion manage- ment policy. A sample policy is available on the NYSPHSAA web site at www.nysphsaa.org. The policy should include: 
•A commitment to reduce the risk of head injuries. 
•A procedure and treatment plan developed by the district medical doctor. 
•A procedure to ensure proper education for school nurses, 
certified athletic trainers, physical education teachers, 
and coaches. 
•A procedure for a coordinated communication plan among 
appropriate staff. 
•A procedure for periodic review of the concussion management program.

RETURN TO LEARN and RETURN TO PLAY PROTOCOLS 
Cognitive Rest: Activities students should avoid include, but are not limited to, the following: 
•Computers and video games 
•Television viewing 
•Texting 
•Reading or writing 
•Studying or homework 
•Taking a test or completing significant projects 
•Loud music 
•Bright lights

Students may only be able to attend school for short periods of time. Accommodations may have to be made for missed tests and assignments.

Physical Rest: 
Activities students should avoid include, but are not limited to, the following: 
•Contact and collision 
•High speed, intense exercise and/or sports 
•High risk for re-injury or impacts 
•Any activity that results in an increased heart rate or increased head pressure

Return to Play Protocol once symptom free for 24 hours and cleared by School Medical Director: 
Day 1: Low impact, non strenuous, light aerobic activity. 
Day 2: Higher impact, higher exertion, moderate aerobic activity. No resistance training. 
Day 3: Sport specific non-contact activity. Low resistance weight training with a spotter. 
Day 4: Sport specific activity, non-contact drills. Higher resistance weight training with a spotter. 
Day 5: Full contact training drills and intense aerobic activity. 
Day 6: Return to full activities with clearance from School Medical Director

Any return of symptoms during the return to play protocol, the student will return to previous day's activities until symptom free.

CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT TEAM: 
Schools may, at their discretion, form a concussion management team to implement and monitor the concussion management policy and program. The team could include, but is not limited to, the following: 
•Students 
•Parents/Guardians 
•School Administrators 
•Medical Director 
•Private Medical Provider 
•School Nurse 
•Director of Physical Education and/or Athletic Director 
•Certified Athletic Trainer 
•Physical Education Teacher and/or Coaches 
•Classroom Teachers

OTHER RESOURCES: 
•New York State Education Department 
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/s... York State Department of Health--http://www.health.ny.gov/preve... concussion/htm 
•New York State Public High School Athletic Association--www.nysphsaa.org/safety/ ... for Disease Control and Prevention--http://cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainI... Federation of High Schoolswww.nfhslearn.com – The FREE Concussion Management course does not meet education requirement. 
•Child Health Plus http://www.health.ny.gov/healt... guide/about_child_health_plus.htm 
•Local Department of Social Services – New York State Department of Health http://www.health.ny.gov/healt... Injury Association of New York State http://www.bianys.org  Children's Hospital – Concussions in the Classroom 
http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/concussions-in-the- classroom 
•Upstate University Hospital – Concussions in the Classroom http://www.upstate.edu/pmr/hea... classroom.php 
•ESPN Video – Life Changed by Concussion http://espn.go.com/video/clip?... http://www.sportsconcussions.o... Association of Neurological Surgeons http://www.aans.org/Patient%20... and%20Treatment/Concussion.aspx 
•Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport – Zurich http://sportconcussions.com/html/Zurich%20Statement.pdf

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