BY LOGAN FULLER ’28
Imagine it’s your senior year: you’re excited to finally start in your last season on the gridiron, eager to celebrate your hard-earned senior night. However, the likelihood of your team playing an entire season is fading due to difficulty in fully and safely fielding a team. This is no hypothetical scenario, but is instead a reality for many high schools across Long Island including the Jericho Jayhawks.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, Jericho’s Varsity Football Team was supposed to play New Hyde Park in their season opener, but Jericho ultimately had to forfeit because they didn’t have enough players cleared for their first game. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) requires all football athletes to participate in at least 10 days of practice before competing in their first game, while other interscholastic sports, such as soccer and flag football, require 6 days of practice before their first game. While the Jayhawks’ football team was able to play their first game against Roosevelt on Friday, Sept. 18, they suffered several injuries, some season-ending. These injuries, compounded by additional injuries sustained on Friday, Sept. 25 at Jericho’s Homecoming football game against Hicksville, ultimately ended the Jayhawks’ season prematurely.
In previous years, the Jayhawks were unable to field their own football team due to player shortages, causing Jericho to combine with Plainview Old Bethpage in a team known as the Hawks. In more recent years, Jericho’s football program has had at least 50 student-athletes show up to tryouts, enabling the Jayhawks to successfully field both varsity and junior varsity football teams. Jericho High School’s Varsity Football Coach Brendan Lahti has hopes that the future of Jericho football is promising due to the team–and the athletic department’s–commitment to building community interest in the sport. Coach Lahti said, “I think as programs such as football begin to see declining participation, coaches hosting youth clinics can help build interest and participation at the younger levels, especially since we have not been allowed to do so in years past.”
The student athlete shortage is not exclusive to just football. According to Jericho’s Athletic Director Mr. Brett Kornblum, there are multiple reasons as to why there is a decline in student athletes playing school varsity sports. Mr. Kornblum said, “Students have demanding academic schedules, more extracurricular opportunities, and we are also seeing more athletes specialize in one sport through club and travel programs.” Many students who play sports outside of school are committed to travel sports, and many of those travel teams across Long Island prohibit players from doing both club and school sports, impacting the rosters of varsity school sports.
Jericho is not the only school on Long Island to witness obstacles in fielding a football team. According to a recent Newsday investigative piece, the number of Long Island high school football players dropped 30% within the decade. Just this season, Holy Trinity, Amityville, and Port Jefferson, cancelled their football teams entirely before even initiating a season start. These schools canceled their programs due to safety concerns and an overall lack of players willing to play for their teams.
While some may dismiss football, and even varsity sports, as being obsolete, the Jayhawks are committed to rebuilding the nest. Through the leadership of Mr. Kornblum and coaches like Coach Lahti, as well as the student-athletes, themselves, Jericho is looking to drum up athletic program interest through clinics and community-building.
Mr. Kornblum believes that school visits, much like the Sept. 24 elementary school pep rallies, and clinics will grow future programs within all sports, introducing students to athletics at a young age while also building school spirit. “When current players visit the elementary schools, younger students have an opportunity to meet athletes they can look up to and begin to see themselves as future Jayhawks,” said Mr. Kornblum, “Building those connections at a young age can increase interest and participation, strengthen school spirit, and create a pathway for students to stay involved with Jericho football as they get older.”
While the future of football might be uncertain on Long Island, it is clear that football, and varsity sports in general, will continue to rebuild at Jericho, as athletic leadership and student-athletes continue to invest in the nest.
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