New Hurdle For Sports

Joseph Vasile-Cozzo, the athletic director at East Hampton High School, announced at Tuesday’s school board meeting that because of increased enrollment the athletic teams would move from League VI to League V.

Section XI Athletics, Suffolk County’s governing body for high school sports, determines league placement based on the size of a school in order to ensure “safe and equitable athletic participation” among teams. The larger the school, the higher the league.

For East Hampton, the move raises an issue of geography.

“Being in League VI,” Mr. Vasile-Cozzo said, “meant the furthest we had to travel for games was Shoreham” — approximately 44 miles — “which wasn’t easy.” In League V, however, he pointed out, teams would be competing with schools at the western end of the county, such as Kings Park High School, about 70 miles from East Hampton.

With having to leave classes early to arrive in time for 4:30 p.m. starts already a difficulty for athletes, and then returning home after 9:30 at night, the added distances would prove to be even more challenging and could lead to anxiety among parents and students.

Jackie Lowey, a school board member, echoed the athletic director’s concerns, saying that students would be hurt academically by the move to the new league.

Mr. Vasile-Cozzo told the board that he is in discussions with Section XI, attempting to keep the school in League VI on the grounds that despite its size, the school’s geography does not offer student-athletes a “fair and equitable schedule.”