Sports

UPDATED: Girls Lacrosse Coach Gary Jensen Suspended for Season

Jensen violated Section XI's scheduling rules.

Sayville girls lacrosse coach Gary Jensen was suspended for the remainder of the season after scheduling more games than are allowed according to Section XI rules.

Section XI, the official governing body of high school sports in Suffolk County, allows varsity girls lacrosse teams to play 16 games a season, which includes both league and non-league games. Sayville’s schedule included 17 games this season– three non-league games and 14 league games.

According to Sayville Athletic Director Dennis Maloney, each school district in Suffolk County submits all of their non-league games to Section XI and a league schedule is developed by a pre-seating meeting. “The purpose of the pre-seating meeting is to design a schedule to ensure that teams are competing against other school districts of equal ability,” he said.

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According to an October 2007 update to the Section XI handbook, “if an individual or team exceeds the maximum number of contests permitted by Section XI, the penalty is team ineligibility from the date of violation for the rest of the season, including playoffs.”

On March 29, Maloney said he received a call from Section XI informing him of the mistake and the penalty involved. Sayville appealed and although Jensen’s suspension was not overturned, Sayville will be allowed to compete in the playoffs if they qualify.

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“Mr. Jensen made an unfortunate clerical error that was not picked up by administration or Section XI,” said Sayville Superintendent Dr. Walter Schartner. “Our major concern was that the student athletes not be penalized for an adult mistake. We will stand by Section XI's decision to allow the girls to play and decide their own destiny. This was Mr. Jensen's goal also. His focus is always on what is best for the students and athletes.”

Jensen started the lacrosse program as a club team in 1999, and was entering his 12th season as head coach. Assistant coach Adam Sznitken will serve as interim head coach in Jensen’s absence, pending board approval, and the assistant coach position has been posted within the district, according to Maloney.

“This is an unfortunate situation that has occurred under my watch,” said Maloney. “I know that the team has a great deal of respect for Coach Jensen and Coach Snzitken and the team will rally around this situation and find a positive. I believe that Section XI handed down a fair and equitable ruling. They understood that this was an adult mistake and the girls on the team were not in anyway responsible for the scheduling error. We have all learned a valuable lesson from this experience and need to continue to do our due diligence in order to ensure compliance with all Section XI rules and regulations.”

Adam Sznitken has been the assistant coach at Sayville under Jensen for six years. “I am extremely upset about the suspension,” he said. “I have had six amazing years standing next to my friend and coach and now I won’t be able to do that for the remainder of the season.  It is very bittersweet because the girls can still make playoffs, but we can’t do it with our coach.”

The playoffs, Sznitken said, remain a priority. “For the rest of the year, I plan to get the girls ready for every game and into the playoffs,” he said. “I will not be changing anything to our team, but I will be reinforcing what Coach Jensen taught them this year and the prior years for the girls who have been on our team for a few years now. The girls have already said they want to do this for Jensen.  They know he is suffering the consequences so they can make playoffs and they don’t want to waste the opportunity.”

The girls lacrosse team’s next game is set for April 13 at 4:30 p.m. at Rocky Point, the team that defeated them in the semifinals a year ago.

Section XI President Ed Cinelli did not a return a phone from Patch.


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