Home Forums Long Island & Eastern New York Soccer Message Boards Roll Away The Stone Soccer News Nassau school sports officials approve 'score differential policy' for team sports

By Jim Baumbach
jim.baumbach@newsday.com @jimbaumbach

Nassau County school sports officials approved a “score differential policy” for team sports that they said is aimed at reducing the number of lopsided scores and giving more athletes a chance to play.

The policy expands on a Nassau sportsmanship rule that has existed only in football for the past three years. That rule led to the controversial suspension of Plainedge High School football coach Rob Shaver in October after his team’s 48-point victory over South Side. The football rule required a coach whose team won by more than 42 points to explain what measures he took to keep the score respectable. A committee then would rule on whether the coach did enough.

The new policy for team sports will go into effect in September, though the sport-specific guidelines have not been written yet, according to Dom Vulpis, assistant executive director of Section VIII, Nassau’s school athletics governing body.

Coaches on middle school, junior varsity and varsity teams can be suspended indefinitely if they violate the sport’s guidelines three times in a season.

“Our philosophy is this is high school athletics, we’re playing all kids and we’re doing our best to maintain a representative score where nobody is leaving that venue that day thinking, ‘Oh my God, we just got the hell beat out of us,’ ” Vulpis said.

Sports that fall under the policy are football, soccer, field hockey, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, softball and volleyball, though Vulpis noted baseball and softball aren’t likely to be impacted because they already have rules that end the game when the score is out of hand.

Meredith Jones, president of the Nassau girls basketball coaches association, said she has heard from coaches who are concerned by the punitive part of the policy.

“Maybe I’m a naive optimist, but I think most coaches do put their subs in when they’re up by a lot,” said Jones, also the longtime Freeport coach. “And I’m speaking as a coach who has kicked people’s butts and also have had my butt kicked.”

The policy, which was presented to Nassau athletic directors Wednesday, includes an escalating series of penalties for coaches who violate their sport’s guidelines.

A first offense leads to “a letter of warning” sent to the coach’s athletic director, principal and superintendent.

A second offense will be reviewed by a special six-person committee that will include the sport coordinator and coaches association president and determine whether a “letter of reprimand with a recommendation of consequences” is necessary.

A coach who violates the guidelines a third time is automatically suspended while that same special committee determines for how long, including into future seasons.

The policy, a copy of which was obtained by Newsday, said its purpose is to “provide a wider range of players with additional playing time while keeping the game competitive.”

Jones said, “I think it could be a very good thing to motivate coaches to play subs more and balance severely lopsided scores when possible. I just hope they look at every situation individually, because no two games are the same.”

Vulpis promised they will.

“Just by looking at a score,” he said, “it’s impossible to say that was an egregious act of unsportsmanlike behavior until you bring in all the factors, and all of that will be reviewed.”

Bringing in stupid "everyone wins, don't hurt feelings, trophies for everyone" mentality into our school sports. If your team is in the process of getting a beat down then clamp down on defense!!!!! Stop being such punk A$$ #$%^!!!!!!

wow this is great!!!!! now teams and coaches are being penalized for working harder in practices to prepare for there games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this has got to be generated by snowflake liberal p-ssys!!!! "we are all equal and special and we all deserve a prize".....

There is no more incentive to work hard...I hope suffolk does not allow this to happen.

A ridiculous policy! High school is supposed to prepare you for the next stage of your life. Some will go right to work, some will go to college, some will go into military service. Section VIII gonna protect you there? These kids are supposedly getting ready for the real world where they will get the hell kicked out of them yet Nassau wants treat these kids like kindergartners. You don't want to get your ass kicked? Then get better and don't let it happen! I'm glad I live in Suffolk where the stupid SDV (score differential virus) hasn't been detected yet.

Section 8 is a category of discharge from the United States military, used for a service member judged mentally unfit for service....go figure.

This must've been brought up by pampering, coddling Manhasset (North Shore) parents.

Whoever it is isn't doing these kids any favors. Failure and getting your ass kicked is part of life and if you don't learn how to deal with it you will never succeed. Damned pabulum puking liberals!

Please. Manhasset is home to God's gift to yelling, overbearing,super predator, monster molester cons himself - Bill O'Reilly!

no denying this is the doing of a pathetic delicate, p-ssy snowflake liberal, if they live in manhasset, i'm sure its purely coincident.

The Roman empire failed, Great Britain failed as a world power, the US will fail as a world power quicker than the rest. Many years ago we played against a top team in Westchester or Connecticut. The age team that was supposed to play were half away on vacation so our club sent top players they were playing a year or two up. I believe they were 40 minute halves. The score was 8-1 midway into the second half and every goal the other team scored was better then the previous, beautiful passing, great headers, great crosses, almost all tap in’s from 6-8 yards out. No subbing until 8-1, one of our parents was angry and complaining they were running up the score on our outmatched under age kids. She got her wish, with 20 minutes to go the entire first string came off. Final score17-2. Those second and third string kids that never saw the field were so hungry they wanted to score way more and play way harder than those first string kids, and they did. Should that coach have been punished ??? If so, maybe for taking his TOP players out, LOL

Wow somebody touched a nerve.....

Lighten Up Francis

Relax little snowflake. It is just a comment on a soccer chat forum.

Ok Richard

This is DUMB AS [****] !!! Why is this being done in Nassau and no where else in the State?
So, baseball and softball have a run rule in place. If a coach run rules another team, say 10-0, 12-0, 15-0 do they get in trouble?
Should we put a "run rule" in for every sport?
SOCCER - up by 5 goals in the second half the game ends.
BASKETBALL - 30 point leadings 4th quarter and game ends.
FOOTBALL - 4 touchdown lead in second half and game ends.

Let us do this and then talk about playing time for high school athletes. I am a HS coach. You have to understand my starters beat your starters 5-0 in soccer at halftime. Second half i put in all my stubs. Guess what, the other coach does the same and now my subs can score 5 goals on his/her subs. Do I tell my kids not to score? Kids who rarely get to see playing time. Do we pass the ball around in circles in essence playing keep away from the other team? Is this productive? Is it good sportsmanship?

It should be an interesting 2020-2021 season for high school coaches and these idiots at the top making new rules who have not been on the sidelines themselves for over 20 years if ever.

I bet that 75% of these experts never played sports but they are the experts.

There are cases where this makes sense. I've seen teams at JV and middle school "bend the rules". Middle school is supposed to have 2 lines which most schools make into an A and B lines. Normally A lines can play while B lines are kids who normally are in their first year playing the sport. I've seen some schools just play A line the whole game against kids who have just picked up a lacrosse stick or soccer ball. Additionally JV is normally 9th and 10th graders however I've seen my son play against teams that are mostly 11th graders. Personally if a coach asked my 11th grader to gather up a crew of 11th graders to play against a team of 9th graders I would decline right after I told the coach what a douchebag he is. Unfortunately integrity isn't a part of many sports programs. Beating up on younger kids is the way to go now.