New York State Public High School Athletic Association


The New York State Public High School Athletic Association is the governing body of interscholastic sports for most public schools in the U.S. state of New York, outside of New York City. The organization was created in 1923, after a predecessor organization called the New York State Public High School Association of Basketball Leagues began in 1921 to bring consistency to eligibility rules and to conduct state tournaments. It consists of 768 member high schools from the state divided into 11 geographic sections.
While as its name suggests the vast majority of its members are public, it does include a number of private and Catholic high schools. Most of these are located in Central New York and the Capital District, where parallel sanctioning bodies for private schools do not exist. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations as well as the New York State Federation of Secondary School Athletic Associations.
WWW nysphsaa.org𝕏 nysphsaa

NYSPHSAA sports

The NYSPHSAA acknowledges 23 sports and holds over 30 championship events throughout 3 seasons: Fall, Winter and Spring.
Fall Sports
Winter Sports
Spring Sports

Sections

The NYSPHSAA is divided into eleven sections by geographical areas. The official membership list is at the NYSPHSAA site.
Each section is further divided into classes, by school enrollment size. The classes are, from largest schools to smallest, AAA, AA, A, B, C, and D, though the classifications and enrollment numbers for each classification vary by sport.
Schools will sometimes compete with other schools outside of the section in tournaments or invitationals. The section is further divided into leagues based on mostly location but also the size of the school. The schools in the section compete with each other over the course of three seasons, fall, winter, and spring.
Typically, each section holds a sectional championship tournament in each sport and class. The sectional champions then meet first in regional competition, then in state competition, to determine the state champion in each class.

Section 1

Overview

Location: Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester Counties
Section 1 offers "modified athletics" administration covering grades 7-9 middle school competition in area middle schools.

Schools

Section 2

Overview

Location: Capital District
Section 2 is made up of high schools from around New York's Capital Region. The section is made up of 9 leagues mostly based on location but also based on size to ensure fair competition. Schools mostly compete with the other schools in their league but will sometimes compete with schools outside of it. This usually happens during the championship season when teams are competing for the section or state title.

Leagues

Adirondack League
Colonial Council
Foothills Council
Patroon Conference
Suburban Council
Wasaren
Western Athletic Conference
Independents

Section 3

Overview

Location: Central New York
Section 3 comprises seven leagues, some of which are further broken down into smaller groups. The following is the list of leagues with their member schools in order of size, from largest to smallest, based on the number of schools in the league.

Leagues

Onondaga High School League
The OHSL divides itself into three conferences based mostly on the size of the school. It is not exact, however, because of reclassifications. The Freedom Conference comprises Class A schools, the Liberty Conference comprises Class B schools, and the Patriot Conference comprises Class C and D schools.
Freedom Conference
Liberty Conference
Patriot Conference
The Center State Conference is broken up into four divisions.
Division I
Division II
Division III
Division IV
Frontier is divided into four divisions.
A Division
B Division
  • Altmar-Parish-Williamstown
  • General Brown
  • Lowville High School
  • South Jefferson High School
C Division
D Division
  • Alexandria High School
  • Belleville-Henderson High School
  • Copenhagen High School
  • Lafargeville High School
  • Lyme High School
  • Sackets Harbor High School
    CNYCL
The CNYCL is broken into five sections.
National
American
Tri-Valley
Central Counties
  • Brookfield High School
  • Cincinnatus High School
  • DeRuyter High School
  • Madison High School
  • McGraw High School
  • Otselic Valley High School
  • Stockbridge Valley High School
Independents

Section 4

Overview

Location: Southern Tier

Section 5

Overview

Location: Allegany, Cayuga, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties; Genesee Valley

Leagues

Section V is composed of 5 Athletics Leagues. As of the Spring 2025 Baseball and Softball season, schools were distributed among leagues in the following ways with two schools participating as independents.
Allegany County
Finger Lakes
Genesee Region
Livingston County
  • Avon High School
  • Caledonia-Mumford High School
  • Dansville 7-12 School
  • Geneso High School
  • Haverling High School
  • Hornell High School
  • Keshequa Secondary School
  • Le Roy Senior High School
  • Letchworth High School
  • Livonia High School
  • Mount Morris Central School
  • Pavilion High School
  • Perry High School
  • Warsaw Senior High School
  • Wayland-Cohocton High School
  • York High School
Monroe County
Private Parochial
Rochester City Athletic Conference
Steuben County
Wayne County
Independents

Section 6

Overview

Location: Western New York

Section 7

Overview

Location: Champlain Area

Leagues

Section 8

Overview

Location: Nassau County
Section 8 is also known as the Nassau County Public High School Athletic Association. It is divided into eight leagues.

Leagues

Section 9

Overview

Location: Orange, Sullivan, Ulster Counties

Section 10

Overview

Location: St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties

Section 11

Overview

Location: Suffolk County