Important Highlights

The New York State Federation Championship will be held on Saturday, March 6, 2010, at Barton Hall, Cornell University. This will be a split day meet with the boys participating in the morning and the girls in the afternoon.

Our coaching clinic schedule will be published as an article shortly. Dates for coaches clinics are 11/16 and 11/23; assistant coaches are also required to attend.

The PSAL will again reimburse teams for the entry fee for two Indoor Invitational events from a list prepared by PSAL staff; Hispanic Games, New Balance Games and The Metropolitan Invitational.  

The Armory will not allow spikes for the first five PSAL meets. When spikes are allowed, only ¼ inch or 7 mm spikes will be permitted.

The City Championship scratch process will be the same as last year. All scratches will be done electronically.

The city championship is being conducted on Saturday, February 27, 2010.

Rules and Regulations

• The indoor track and field season begins on Monday, November 9th. The season ends after the Frosh/Soph Championships, which will be held on Sunday March 7th, 2010.
• All coaches must electronically submit an approved team roster to www.psal.org (forms electronic) as early as November 9th and may continue submission through February 11, 2010. No athlete will be permitted to participate in any meet unless he or she is on the approved roster. The minimum number of students required on a roster is twelve.

• Cross country participants may be rolled over onto your indoor roster by going to “forms electronic.” Enter last name and file number and click on indoor track rosters. Then select “choose from cross country roster” (on top). Transfer to your roster those athletes continuing from cross country. Submit to your AD for approval and submission.

• Each student athlete must have a signed parental consent form on file for each sport before the first of participation in that sport. This includes games, scrimmages, tryouts and practice.

• Each student athlete must have a current (within one calendar year) medical certificate on file before the first day of participation. This includes games, scrimmages, tryouts and practices.

• A student athlete must have completed 12 practices prior to participating in their first contest.

• On days of normal school attendance, a student/athlete must be present in school in order to participate in any team practice, scrimmage, and league or non-league game, meet, contest or tryout on that day.

• All coaches must be Board of Education licensed teachers with current First Aid, CPR and AED Certifications. The AED unit must be present at all games, meets scrimmages, practices or tryouts.

• An authorized teacher/coach (with current First Aid, CPR and AED certifications) must be present at every match, game, scrimmage, practice and tryout.

• Each teacher/coach will actively supervise student athletes until a competition or practice is complete and the team has left the facility.

• PSAL issued numbers are required to be worn by athletes at all PSAL sponsored events.

• If you expect to have pole vaulters on your team this season, at least one coach from your school must attend a clinic on the pole vault that would have covered the techniques and rules for the event prior to the start of this season. If this clinic is not attended your athletes will not be cleared to participate. The pole vault clinics that are open to coaches will be held on 11/16, 11/23 and 12/14

• An athlete who wishes to pole vault this season must attend two clinics prior to competing in a PSAL sponsored event. Athletes who were PSAL certified last year must attend one clinic prior to competition. A current list of qualified vaulters will be posted on the PSAL website.

• All events except the Millrose Games & NYSPHSAA Championship will be held at the 168th Street Armory. Parking around the Armory is always an issue. Plan accordingly.

• In order to gain credit for any PSAL sponsored indoor meet a school must have a minimum of six participants compete. If less than six compete, that school will receive a forfeit for that date. Forfeiture will result in a loss of 4 hours pay for the coach.

• Broad participation is a stated goal of all PSAL programs. It is expected, therefore, that indoor rosters for indoor track contain a minimum of twelve participants by November 24, 2009. Schools that do not meet this requirement will have their programs reviewed by PSAL staff.

• Cross country athletes will be assigned new PSAL numbers for the indoor season. These numbers will be distributed beginning with the first scheduled indoor meet. Coaches must establish procedures for the collection of a team’s numbers.

• Open pits. The triple jump and long jump will be run as open pits. When the event is called, ALL contestants for the event must sign- in, get their steps and run-throughs. Once competition starts, only run-backs (from the board back to the runway) are permitted. No run-throughs into the pit are permitted. When the pit is closed, a “time for competition” will be determined by the Referee in conjunction with meet management. It is the responsibility of the athlete to take his/her jumps during this time. The athlete must wear their assigned PSAL number and, in the case of the triple jump, tell the event judge which board they will be using. If finals are to be held in these events, the names of the finalists will announced before the finals are conducted.

• In the short sprints and hurdle events, FAT will determine the finalists.

• Event cards must contain the full name and assigned PSAL number of all athletes. Alternates must be listed on the event cards for running event relays

• Shot puts will be weighed prior to all PSAL competition.

• Pole vault and high jump competition will be conducted so that all grades will jump together and the results sorted when the event is completed. Boys and girls will not jump together.

• Pole vault competitors will be weighed prior to all PSAL competition to ensure that an athlete is using the proper pole.

• Competitor numbers will be assigned after 12 noon Thursday, upon receipt of your approved roster. The initial roster deadline for 2009 is noon, Tuesday, November 24. Numbers will be distributed at the Pilgrim Games. These numbers must be worn at all PSAL sponsored events. Additions to rosters received by noon Thursday will have numbers available at the next PSAL Meet. REMEMBER: Athletic Directors must approve all rosters before numbers can be assigned.

• Results of all PSAL Indoor Meets will be posted on the PSAL website.

• The deadline for additions to Indoor Track rosters is noon February 11, 2010.

• The official rulebook for PSAL is the National Federation of State High School Association Track and Field and Cross Country Rules Book. Uniform, coach and player conduct and jewelry provisions are discussed in detail. Review with your athletes before your season begins.

• Electronic roster submission – Coaches must be registered with the PSAL by your athletic director before rosters can be entered. To enter your roster online, your browser must be 5.0 or higher. Coaches may verify the roster submission by their athletic director by looking at your “School Profile” page and clicking on your sport.

• Electronic entry is required only for the PSAL Indoor Track & Field Championship. Coaches must go to forms electronic and follow the instructions.
• Coaches are required to attend one of the coaching clinics scheduled for 11/16 and 11/23. You may attend either one. Clinicians will be announced on Meet Info pages.

2009 – 2010 Indoor Track and Field Qualifying Standards

City Championship entry and scratch process procedure.

Entry of athletes and relay teams must be made electronically and may be done regularly during the indoor track season. Entries should be verified by checking the listed entry fields found off the orange bar located at www.psal.org. (Only athletes or teams that have made one of the two published standards may be entered. Borough champions who have not met a standard will be entered by PSAL staff, if the coach wants the athlete to compete in that event.)

Entries will close at 10 am on Monday, February 22, 2010. Accepted entry lists that will include the addition of provisional athletes who are in the meet will be posted later that day. Coaches will then have the opportunity to scratch (or remove) athletes or teams from this list by e-mail. These requests must be sent to dburnett@schools.nyc.gov , no later than noon on Wednesday, February 24, 2010.

A final list of city championship entries, including heat assignments will be posted later that day.

Heat sheets will be available on Friday morning at approximately 9:00 am

• If, for any reason, an athlete remains entered in more than three events the athlete must compete in the first three events as listed in the order of events. If an athlete has not scratched and misses their event they are out of the remainder of the meet. An athlete may not be listed as an alternate on a relay, compete in three events and then compete in the relay final. An athlete who violates the event limit provision will be disqualified from all events in which he/she participated.

Relay team reminder: Read carefully and plan accordingly.

• At the City Championship relay teams must include the same athletes who met the qualifying standard or were listed on the initial entry card. A school that qualifies more than one team may use any of the individuals who qualified on their teams. If changes occur, the seed time for these teams must be adjusted downward.

The 2009-10 PSAL Indoor Schedule Requirements

Each PSAL team is mandated to participate in a minimum of 10 track and field meets during the season. Four of these mandated meets are specifically listed below and must be attended. In addition to these listed meets, any six other sanctioned meets*, at the coach’s option, must be attended to complete the ten meet requirement.

Jim McKay Memorial
Mayor’s Cup Championship
Borough Championship
Frosh/Soph Championship

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*Check the PSAL meet information page and armoryfoundation@aol.com for additional meet information.

Schedules are to be submitted electronically to the PSAL using the “forms electronic” link on the PSAL website. They are due by noon, Tuesday, November 24, 2009.