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QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 12, 2019
‘There is no roadmap’: Maspeth High School’s boys
athletic teams denied offi cial status for seventh time
BY MAX PARROTT
Despite mounting need
and political pressure,
the Public School Athletic
League (PSAL) denied
Maspeth High School’s
request to have two of
their boys’ sports teams
officially recognized for
the seventh year in a row.
After years of
applications, letters
of support from local
legislators and activism by
the student government,
the city agency shows
no sign of changing its
mind without giving a
substantial justification.
School staff, students
and legislators are
puzzled and frustrated by
the response.
“They flat out tell
us that it’s not going to
happen and that there is
no roadmap. So we don’t
know what to do,” said
MHS Athletics Director
and Assistant Principal
Jesse Pachter.
The school has filed
requests with the PSAL
for boys varsity volleyball
and junior varsity baseball
teams. Currently these
teams operate as clubs
instead of competitive
sports teams, despite
interest that exceeds the 30
members of each team.
As Pachter sees it,
operating this way limits
competition for the
players. When the team
reaches out to compete
against high schools that
have actual PSAL, they’re
usually not interested in
playing because it’s not
going to help their record
or affect their seeding in
the playoffs.
“There’s a different
connection that you form
with the school when
you’re able to participate in
athletics,” Pachter said.
The PSAL’s Executive
Director Donald Douglas,
who did not respond to
multiple requests for
comment, justified his
decision to Pachter by
saying that the agency
is working with schools
who have less sports
teams overall.
Pachter also says the
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school is complying Title IX,
the federal act encouraging
co-ed participation in
education programs, with
flying colors. Out of a
student population about
evenly split between males
and females, 62% of females
participate in sports and
only 38% of males.
At a Glendale town hall
meeting in December of 2017,
MHS student government
representatives raised
the issue to Mayor Bill de
Blasio and former Deputy
Chancellor Elizabeth Rose.
“It sounds fixable to
me,” said de Blasio. Pachter
says that’s the last he heard
from the mayor’s office.
Last week, state
Senator Joseph Addabbo
wrote a letter to the PSAL
intervening on behalf
of the school and asking
for an explanation of the
repeated denials.
“After reviewing the
PSAL mission statement
on its website, I find the
current decision to exclude
the MHS teams extremely
inconsistent with the
PSAL’s role to ‘provide
opportunities for educating
students in physical fitness,
character development and
socialization skills through
an athletic program,’”
wrote Addabbo. His office
has gotten no response
from the PSAL.
On May 3, MHS student
body representatives
enlisted the help of
Congresswoman Grace
Meng on the issue as well.
Read more at QNS.com.
Maspeth High School Jr. Varsity Baseball Team Photo provided by Maspeth High School
/QNS.com
