Sports
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Maspeth baseball shut out of league
School community seeks lawmakers help in quest to fi nally gain PSAL membership
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 school
is complying Title IX, the
federal act encouraging coed
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
Maspeth High School Jr. Varsity Baseball Team Photo provided by Maspeth High School
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.
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