By Cody Marshall-Sultan of Sports

GALWAY–Next month are the spring sports state championships for baseball, softball, lacrosse, and track and field. In the baseball state championship, the starting pitcher for one of the teams might have a school academic record that looks like this: The student could be taking just three courses, be failing two of them, and still be eligible to take the hill in that pivotal game. How is this possible? The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) does not regulate whether or not a school implements an academic eligibility standard for student-athletes.

The Times Union decided to do a report on local school districts in Section II (covering New York’s Capital Region). The study surveyed 46 schools in Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Saratoga counties. Of those 46 schools, 33 have an academic standard for athletes to be eligible to compete on sports teams. Three schools allow for a student that is failing a class to still participate on an athletic team. Of the 33 schools that have an academic standard, only seven allow athletes to fail more than one class and still participate on a team. Just under half, with 22 schools saying yes (47.8%), agreed that playing athletics require a higher academic standard than the student body at large. Only 10 of the 46 schools surveyed said that there should be a uniform academic ineligibility standard to participate in athletics in New York.

In case you are curious, here’s a run down of different academic eligibility standards around Section II.

Galway- If a student is failing 2 or more classes during a two-week period, the student is banned from participation in athletic competitions for two weeks.

Colonie, Guilderland, Bethlehem, Shaker, and Niskayuna-No formal standard for academic eligibility.

Shenendehowa- If a student is failing a class, or does not maintain an average of 75 or higher, that student is banned from athletic participation indefinitely.

Albany- Students may be failing one class and still play sports.

Personally, this issue is hard to form an opinion on. As a student-athlete, I have put academics first, even though athletics are my true passion in life. However, I also feel that if a school feels that its students are very much capable of passing in the classroom without an academic standard then it’s fine not to have such a policy. Plus, if a school is having success on the playing field without a policy, such as Shaker winning the Class AA state baseball championship last year, then why change the policy? A simple mantra of sports is, “If it isn’t broken, don’t “fix” it.” The academic policy here at Galway is fair in my opinion, and may even be a little too lenient. In my opinion, no student who is failing should be allowed to play sports, which is exactly what’s going on at Shenendehowa and it has worked for the Plainsmen. However, I feel as though a 75 average is too low and might recommend that a school with such a policy hold the lowest average to maintain availability at around an 80.

I’m glad the Times Union, mainly James Allen and Pete Iorizzo, took the time to point this out. It really makes you think that maybe high school sports are becoming “unfair” to a degree like college sports in some aspects. Let me know what you think about it.