Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District

 

Frequently asked questions  

 

When are tryouts for sports for each season?

High School Sports - The fall season will in general start the week prior to school starting, but football and cheerleading will start 2 week prior of school starting. Winter sports begin around the middle of November, while the Spring season starts at the beginning of May. (Golf starts about 2 weeks later then other sports in the spring).

 

Middle School Sports - Fall Sports start the first week we come back. Winter I, the first week in November, Winter II after Martin Luther King weekend, and Spring last week in March/first week in April.  We have pre season meetings and all coaches are required to give student athletes an information sheet that has the tryout date listed.

 

Do all students make a team?

This will vary between sports and levels. At the middle school we make every effort to avoid cuts, but sometime its unavoidable.

 

There are some teams that do not cut (ex. football, wrestling, track and field) and as a result all student athletes will make the team.

 

How do the teams/coaches handle religious instruction and holidays that may occur at the same time as practice or games?
Practices and games will occur during vacations/holidays at the JV and Varsity level.  When parents and student athletes choose to take their family vacations during sport seasons, it must be understood that the time missed by the student/athlete can affect team chemistry and personal conditioning. Student athletes who miss practices or competition for any unexcused reason may have their position or playing time adjusted. Coaches will make every effort to inform parents and student/athletes of the season’s schedule as far in advance as possible.

 

As far as religious instructions most times the kids leave practice early/go to instruction late so that they can get the 45 minutes of physical activity in to count as practice. Once they have the required number of practices they can miss practice if they have to. Games are a different story - most parents let the kids miss religious instruction to go to the games.  If there are a lot of games on the instruction days then the parents will allow the kids to go to some games and miss others.  They have to let the coach know when they will be missing the game. Communication with the Coach in these situation is vitally important.

 

When are practices and games held?

High School Level – Practices at the high school are a 6 day a week commitment. Practices will normally start at 3:15pm and end by 5:30pm. Practice times can vary from team to team. Games schedules again will vary but schedules can be found at the following website - http://170.24.253.25/sportspak/oecgi3.exe/O4W_SPAKONLINE_HOME

 

Middle School Level - Practice and games are held Monday thru Friday. Football has practice most Saturdays and some Saturday games.  Wrestling could have occasional Saturday Practices and matches. No practice or games are held on Sundays. Some coaches will have Saturday practices if they have some athletes who need the practice to reach their required number - this is usually voluntary. Games are 2-3 times a week and never 3 days in a row. Games schedules again will vary but schedules can be found at the following website - http://170.24.253.25/sportspak/oecgi3.exe/O4W_SPAKONLINE_HOME

 

What time do practices and games begin and end?

High School – 3:15pm 5:30pm, once again this will vary depending on the team

 

Middle School - Mattlin practices 3-4:45 and POBMS 3:45 - 5:30.  If the team is at an off site then they start practice a little later because of the shuttle bus ride and end practice a little later. Practice times will be listed in the Parent Packet.

 

Do students get bussed to games?

All teams get charter bus to and from games. They get shuttled to off sites for practice and parents pick them up at the off site.

 

Can you take your child home in your car after a game?
Only in an "emergency" and with prior permission from the Athletic Director.  You need to fill out a form, have a copy of photo ID and have it signed by the AD.  This is given to the Coach at the game.

 

What schools do we play?

High School – Varies depending on Sport.

 

Middle School - We play schools in our geographic area in most sports. The Districts in Conference III are: Bellmore-Merrick, Bethpage, East Meadow, Farmingdale, Hicksville, Island Trees, Levittown, Massapequa, Plainedge, Seaford & Wantagh.

 

Which sports require tryouts?

I think all sports require tryouts - see question "do all students make a team"

 

Can a student be in more than one sport?

Students are only able to participate in one sport per season

 

Is there travel?

Yes

 

Intramurals....what are they and when do they meet?

Intramurals at the middle school are different in both schools because of the time of the school day.  There are 4 Intramural seasons that correspond to the sport season. There is a maximum of 25 sessions per season.

Mattlin has 25 sessions in the Fall - anything scheduled Mon thru Thur are after school and Fridays are 9th period.  Winter I and Winter II can only have Intramurals on Fridays during 9th period- this amounts to about 10 per season.  We cannot have any after school because B&G Volleyball temas need the gym for practice/games. There are 25 session in Spring - same as for the Fall.  If it rains and the sports teams need to use the gym for practice then Intramurals will be cancelled.  An announcement is made at 2:00

 

POBMS has 25 sessions every season because they have Mon thru Thur during "0" period and Fridays during 9th period.  POBMS can use the "0" period because there is bus service at that time.  See Karen Baker for accurate info.

 

Would it be possible to have a list of coaches and contacts for the different teams?

Please contact the Athletics Office for this information.

 

What are the tryout dates for varsity soccer? Do they start in summer before school actually starts?

All fall sports at the high school start prior to the start of school year. Attendance is required to make the team.

 

How/when are families notified of tryouts/student informational meetings?

The Athletic Department has begun using email to communicate important information about tryouts and interest meetings. Of course announcements will be made during school and flyers placed around the school

 

At the middle schools announcements will be made 2 weeks prior to the start of the season. Informational meetings are held before the season starts and the info sheets have all the information on it.

 

 

How often/when are interest meetings held for students?

There is a difference between Informational meetings and Interest Meetings.

 

Interest meetings are really to see how many students are interested in coming out for a team so that we can figure out what we need to do. We only have interest meetings when there is a question of how many kids will be coming out and we have to decide on how many teams we need.

 

Information meetings are the meetings 1-2 weeks before the season starts.  This meeting gives the kids the info about tryouts. These meetings are done every season.  Fall Info Meetings are held in June because we usually start sports the 2nd day we are back in school.