A message from the Athletic Department

Dear Parents, Guardians, Student Athletes, and Community Members,

The 2026-27 school year has begun for the majority of our Oneida student-athletes. We wanted to make you aware of a couple of transitions in our athletic department. In recent years, we’ve observed declining participation in many of our athletic programs. 

To ensure that our students continue to have meaningful opportunities to participate and compete, we have transitioned to the Modified “A” format in several sports beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

Starting this fall, our Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Field Hockey, and Football programs will all participate in this model. Modified “A” allows us to combine 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students into one team when participation numbers do not support multiple levels of teams. Going to this model will allow us to create more competitive balance, especially at the lower levels, by playing schools with similar enrollment challenges. Most importantly, this model allows us to provide our students with a sustainable team structure and continued opportunities to participate, rather than risking teams with very low numbers or insufficient participation to support a separate level. This will also allow our students to compete on teams without having to worry about dwindling enrollments.

A few questions have come up about what Modified “A” is and if it is a new program. Modified “A” is not a new sport or a replacement for the traditional Modified program. It is an existing model used by districts throughout New York State when participation numbers do not support three separate levels of athletics. Just like with the traditional modified program, the focus and goals of the Modified “A” team will remain the same. These goals will emphasize quality participation, safety, fundamentals, and team play. This model is something new for us at Oneida, but not new for our area or other districts in New York State. There are multiple neighboring districts that use this model and have been able to stay competitive while doing so.

We understand that combining 7th, 8th, and 9th graders may raise questions about age, size, skill level, playing time, and safety. Coaches and the athletic department will continue to prioritize appropriate competition, player development, safety, and meaningful participation for all student-athletes.

Another big question that has come up is about scheduling and the travel distance to play at different schools. We are happy to announce that all three varsity-level teams going through this transition have travel schedules very similar to what they have had in the past. Our new Modified “A” teams are still competing against schools we have typically played in the past and are close to their full schedule as well. 

The goal is to maintain as many contests as possible while matching our teams with schools that have similar enrollment and participation levels. We are still working on some schedule adjustments, but it is our hope to allow all of our programs to play as many contests as possible. 

Another big change throughout our athletic department is the transition to a new platform called Arbiter. We have used pieces of this platform in the past, but are using it to its full potential starting this year. The biggest change for our fans is the use of ArbiterLive. This is our new scheduling platform where you will be able to see all of our scheduled games. Our schedules can be found using the following link.

We recognize that changes to our athletic programs can create questions and uncertainty for our families. Our goal with the Modified “A” model is not to reduce opportunities for our student-athletes, but to make sure those opportunities remain available and sustainable as participation numbers change. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email at trose@oneidacsd.org. Thank you and Go, Oneida!!

Sincerely, 

Tom Rose

Director of Athletics

Oneida CSD