NYSSWA: New York State Sportswriters Association

NYSSWA rankings are updated weekly.
See the latest plus the earlier weeks'
updates on our rankings page.

Leading off today I've got to admit that I've spent more time over the years watching paint dry than I have thinking about the Governor's Bowl. And now I have a whole new reason to not give that game a second thought. Actually, I'll let Jason Molinet of Newsday explain:

"Football coaches must believe they've got the only sport going," he blogged this week. "Who else would schedule the 10th Governor's Bowl, the all-star football game pitting New Jersey vs. New York, the same weekend as the state championships in six varsity sports?"

I'm just astonished that organizers have picked that weekend for the game. I know a thing or two about bad timing -- I bought a chunk of Global Crossings stock about 10 minutes before the company tanked in a major way -- and I can tell you that trying to play this thing the same weekend as state championships in baseball, softball, track and lacrosse is a bad, bad, bad idea.

Petrides coach bumped: We've written a couple of times recently about coaches losing their spots on the sidelines for a variety of reasons.

You can now add Nick Kvasic to the list. The Advance of Staten Island is reporting today that the Petrides boys soccer coach -- who started the program in 2000 -- will have to surrender the job because of an "either/or" clause in the teachers' union contract.

According to the contract, teachers can coach as many teams as they wish but they can only claim "retention rights" on one position. Qualified individuals can apply to

take over a two-sport coach's other program and must be accommodated.

Kvasic, 53, is a teacher at New Dorp and has coached girls soccer there since the PSAL began sponsoring the sport in 1982. So it makes sense that he would stick with that program. The Advance says Petrides has not announced who the new coach will be.

After a difficult start with the Petrides boys, Kvasic had gone 5-6-1, 4-7 and 4-4-4 in PSAL action the last three seasons.

"It's easier to take over this team now than to build it up from scratch," Kvasic told the newspaper. "At least the new coach coming in will have players with soccer experience, which is something I didn't have when I started."

He added that he accepts the situation. The only disappointment is that Kvasic only found out on May 9 that he was getting bumped, leaving little opportunity for him to look for another coaching position.

Extra points: Following up on yesterday's blog item about tennis, NYSSWA editor Neil Kerr says the Fayetteville-Manlius boys started the season on a 136-match winning streak and believes they're now at 150 in a row give or take a match. . . . We're not sure if Syracuse Henninger's baseball/softball sweep of Cicero-North Syracuse on Wednesday was unprecedented, but I can't recall another instance of one school's two NYSSWA No. 1 teams losing to the same school on the same day. . . . Be honest. How many of you knew that the 2007 WNBA season begins today? Yeah, me neither.

9/12/25: Girls hoops wins leader Maher retires

9/11/25: 'Players to watch' lists? Thanks but no

9/10/25: Newsday jumping into New York City coverage

9/9/25: The new recuiting landscape is complicated

9/8/25: Iona Prep vs. Somers is worthy of encores

9/6/25: Section 11 loses another football team

9/4/25: Newspaper rolls out H.S. fantasy football

9/2/25: 2025 all-state boys lacrosse team released

8/29/25: Section 2 reduces La Salle's playoff ban

8/26/25: Will Brown to coach Green Tech basketball

8/22/25: 14-year-old Syosset girl lands NIL deal

8/16/25: 2025 all-state girls lacrosse team released

8/12/25: 2025 all-state baseball team released

8/9/25: Section 3 soccer standoff resolved for now

7/31/25: Central Committee annual meeting recap

7/29/25: Comparing NY's ticket prices with other states

HOME | BLOG | RANKINGS
BRACKETS | REFERENCE
KERR CUP | ABOUT US