IHC crying foul in football move up to Class C

Paul Alteri has worked hard over the last four years to make his Immaculate Heart Central football program one of the best in Section 3 among smaller schools.

Now, Alteri and the IHC administration feel as if their hard work and diligence are being used against them to move the Cavaliers up a class beginning with the 2010-11 season.

The Section 3 Classification Committee voted in December to move IHC from Class D, where they have played since Section 3 went to a strictly class system for football, to Class C.

IHC appealed that decision and was notified Jan. 14 that its appeal was denied. The Cavaliers argued during the appeal hearing that their low numbers did not warrant a move up, and that several procedural errors occurred during the entire process.

The main argument for IHC is that they are now the third smallest school in Section 3 playing football (only Rome Catholic and New York Mills are smaller). They also say that they do not have an unfair advantage of being able to get players from any school district in Jefferson County.

"We feel as if we have not been treated fairly, and we haven't been able to give our side of the story,'' said Alteri.

Here's some background.

Public schools in New York State are classified solely on their enrollment figures in grades 9-11. Private and parochial schools, however, may be classified on a different set of criteria, including, in Section 3, on their record over a two-year period.

This past year, IHC's enrollment was 190 students. Next year, IHC will be down to 140. That in itself, they argue, is reason enough not to move up to Class C.

New classification numbers for football just approved have Class D schools with enrollments of 0-259. Class C is now 260-399 students in grades 9-11.

At the classification meeting, which is held three times a year every two years to decide where private schools belong, a proposal was made by Sandy Creek athletic director and football coach Mike Stevens to move IHC up to Class C. It was approved 21-5.

IHC athletic director Mike Delaney also attended the meeting.

"We were kind of caught by surprise by that proposal because the Section 3 football committee had not recommended that we be moved up,'' delaney said. "I tried to present our case, but they voted against us anyway.''

Frontier League executive secretary Bob Kowalick is another member of the classification committee. He said the private schools are urged to come to such meetings "fully prepared to discuss any sports and present their cases.''

The criteria used for moving IHC up was that they had won 75 percent of their games over a two-year period, had won two league titles and were sectional finalists in 2008. IHC was 7-2 this past season, winning Class D North and making it to the sectional semifinals. In 2008, IHC was 9-1, captured the regular-season crown and lost to Dolgeville in the sectional finals.

Alteri's argument for those successful numbers is simple: "We had a bunch of great athletes playing football, and worked our butts off to be a very good team. We lost a lot of very good seniors last year and this year, so we probably won't be as good as that in the near future. ''

Another reason given to kick the Cavaliers up a class was the potential for IHC to get kids from nearby Fort Drum.

Alteri and Delaney argue that they get few very kids from Fort Drum (they had one this season that played infrequently), and that the majority of players on their football roster are IHC kids born and bred, members of families that attended parochial school for decades.

"On this past year's roster of 32, only nine kids were from out of the Watertown district,'' Alteri said. "And eight of them have been attending parochial schools since elementary school.''

"We get a lot of really good athletes whose parents want them to attend a private school,'' Alteri added. "Should we be punished for that?''

Said Delaney: "The committee is dealing in hypotheticals. We're dealing with the real issues, not something that mayor may not happen. We've won one sectional football title in 25 years (2005). Does that mean domination?''

IHC has another problem with the vote to move the Cavaliers up. Utica Notre Dame, with an enrollment of 204 for this coming year, has a similar record to IHC over the past four years. IHC is 26-11 during that span, and Notre Dame is 25-11.

But when it came moving Notre Dame up to Class C, that proposal was voted down. Since then, however, the Notre Dame vote was appealed by Dolgeville and was overturned. Notre Dame, like IHC, will play Class C football next season.

Another point Alteri makes is that during the appeals hearing, "We were not allowed to present any new evidence. But a member of the football committee brought a bunch of stats which Mike (Delaney) said was not presented during the original classification meeting.''

IHC argued that a Section 3 bylaw which says two weeks notice should be given for such a vote, was not followed. And that the matter should be sent back to the committee for further discussion.

After learning that their appeal had been denied, IHC formed a committee of its own to discuss its options. They include appealing to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, which governs sports in the state; appealing to the New York Commissioner of Education; or pursuing legal action.

A decision on what to do should be made in the next week or so, Delaney said.

"From our perspective, it's mainly unfair to our student athletes,'' he said. "To compare us to the metro schools (like Christian Brothers Academy, Bishop Ludden or Notre Dame), is not being realistic.''

Alteri brought up another issue which could have significant ramifications.

"There could be a liability problem if one of our kids is injured playing against bigger and stronger competition,'' he said. "Some Class C schools (Clinton, 397) and Altmar-Parish-Williams (391) are almost three times our size. We field two football teams (varsity and modified), and three boys soccer teams (varsity, JV, modified). And 14 other teams in Class C now field JV football teams. Our ninth and 10th graders will be playing varsity instead of JV.''

Kowalick said the case is strictly a matter between IHC and Section 3.

"We (as a league) usually have little input on committees like that because of our small numbers,'' he said.

Of the 26 voting members on the classification committee, only four represent Frontier League schools.

Alteri said if IHC loses its case, "we will show up and play as hard as we can in Class C. We think we can compete in that class, but for how long?'' he said. "Our enrollment numbers are dropping fast, and that means we will have less students to choose from in the future. I can see this move really hurting our program in the long run.''

Stevens referred questions to Section 3. Executive director John Rathbun could not be reached for comment.