State Federation Basketball Tourney cancelled

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 19 January 2021 at 11:25 am

In a decision that was expected after the New York State Public High School Athletic Association had already cancelled its state boys and girls basketball championships for this year the Federation Tournament has also now been cancelled.

The New York State Federation of Secondary Schools Athletic Association (NYSFSSAA) announced this morning “the cancellation of its 2021 Boys and Girls Basketball Tournament of Champions at Fordham University due to the impact of COVID-19.”

The Federation’s release stated “The NYSFSSAA Basketball Tournament of Champions is an event comprised of representatives from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA), the New York City Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL), Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA), and the New York State Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association (AISAA) in Classes AA, A, and B.”

The release continued that “Due to the continuing public health emergency related to COVID-19, the Federation Executive Board unanimously voted to cancel this year’s Federation Basketball Championships,” said Jim Foster, NYSFSSAA Executive Secretary. “It’s a disappointing announcement but the Board felt it was in the best interest of student-athlete safety and furthermore, it is an unknown if Fordham University will even be open for events utilizing the college facilities in March.”

Additionally the release noted that “none of the four associations that comprise the NYS Federation are conducting winter championships; therefore, there would not be any teams qualifying to participate in a culminating Federation event.

“Fordham is scheduled to host the tournament in 2022 which is the final year of its three-year bid. However, Fordham officials have offered the Federation to host the event in 2023 on its campus and are also in discussions about hosting in 2024 to provide Fordham a full three-year term.

“The 2020 basketball tournament at Fordham and the boys/girls golf championships at Bethpage were also cancelled last spring. In October, the Federation announced the cancellation of its cross country championships, typically held in November at Bowdoin Park, due to COVID. The boys/girls Federation golf championships remain scheduled for this June.

“The NYSFSSAA boys tournament was held in Glens Falls for 30 years (1981-2010) while the girls tournament was held in Glens Falls for 16 years (1995-2010) before both went to the Times Union Center in 2012. Fordham won the bid for the event in 2019 and was scheduled to begin hosting in 2020.”