CYO Basketball is a parish-based organization.  Sign-up and team registration takes place at the parish level.  Refer to the parish boundary maps at the bottom of this page to determine the parish where you child is eligible to play.  Should you need assistance, contact your parish.  

CYO Winter Basketball is offered for boys and girls teams in grades 3 through High School.  The season begins in November and concludes in March with the Archdiocese Championships at local Catholic High School or College facilities. Season games are typically played at parish and school gyms in Westchester and Putnam. CYONY Eligibility Rules and CYONY Play Rules apply.  Westchester Putnam also has its own WP Winter Basketball Play Rules that take precedence during the winter play season.  

https://tourneymachine.com/R153127

When playoff brackets have been finalized with dates, times and locations they will be available for each division at the bottom of the general season schedule: https://tourneymachine.com/R153127. Or, if you use the APP, select the BRACKETS tab to view.

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Eligibility Rules for WPCYO Competition 2024 - 2025

General Eligibility Guidelines

• WPCYO is a Catholic, parish-based league.
• Participants must play for the parish where they are registered; a resident parish is defined as the parish where the family is registered, and is the center of the family’s religious activities.
• Players must meet age and grade requirements.
• Movement from one parish to another parish is strictly prohibited.
• The WPCYO league strongly emphasizes: where you played LAST, either last season or the last time you participated in CYO Basketball, is where you play this season. 

1. Attendance at a Catholic school is the primary determinant of eligibility. 
2. Any student of a Roman Catholic parish/private school is eligible to represent that school in a CYO activity. 
3. A player may leave his/her Catholic school team to play for the registered parish one time, but may not switch back and forth.
4. Participant can only play for one team, and under NO circumstances can he/she play for a school and parish team.
5. If the school is closed, the player’s eligibility is grandfathered. 

1. Participants must play for the parish where they are registered, and is the center of the family’s religious activities. As long as the resident parish offers a spot on one of its teams, the player is bound to play with that parish.
   • For the purposes of determining CYO eligibility, families may only be registered parishioners at one parish.
2. Where you played last season, or the last time you played CYO Basketball, is where you play this season. Any exception must be requested by the Parish Coordinator and approved by the County Commissioners.
3. Participation in a different parish program, such as CCD or a basketball clinic, does not establish residency in that parish. Once a player enters the third grade, they must play for the family’s registered parish.
4. Once a parish is established, that is where participant and all siblings must play… movement from one parish to another parish is strictly prohibited without authorization from the County Commissioners, and a family cannot have siblings in different programs, unless one or more attends a Catholic school. You can play CYO Basketball where you live or where you go to school (Catholic School), but you cannot jump back and forth once you play for a parish.
5. Participant can only play for one team, and under NO circumstances will an individual be allowed to utilize two separate addresses for the purpose of establishing CYO eligibility.
   • If the geographic residency is ever called into question, the CYO will use the registered address on file with the player’s school.
6. If no program or team exists in a parish, the player may participate on a team of an adjoining parish with authorization from the CYO County Commissioners. Catholic players will not be counted as an exception on the assigned team. The Parish Coordinator must contact the County Commissioners, and the player can only be assigned to a team in a neighboring parish by the County Commissioners. 

1. Non-Catholics who do not attend a Catholic School may participate with the Catholic parish program within the geographic boundaries in which they reside. For your convenience, the parish boundary maps can be found on the Westchester Putnam CYO website at www.cyony.org  A player who cannot secure placement on a team must contact the County Commissioners. 
2. Once a parish is established, that is where participant and all siblings must play. Movement from one parish to another parish is strictly prohibited without authorization from the County Commissioners, and a family cannot have siblings in different programs. You can play CYO Basketball where you live or go to school (Catholic School), but you cannot jump back and forth once you play for a parish.
3. Where you played last season or the last time you participated in CYO Basketball, is where you play this season. Any exception must be requested by the Parish Coordinator and approved by the County Commissioners.
4. A child who cannot secure a position on a resident parish team may play at an adjoining parish with authorization from the CYO County Commissioners. The Parish Coordinator must contact the County Commissioners, and the player will be assigned to a team in a neighboring parish…Non-Catholic players will be counted as an exception on the assigned team.
5. As long as the resident parish offers a spot on one of its teams, the player is bound to play with his/her resident parish.
   

1. Rosters are the responsibility of the basketball Parish Coordinator. Coordinators must ensure that their program, and all coaches and participants, are adhering to all CYO rules and eligibility guidelines. Coordinators must also confirm that all players meet age and grade requirements.
2. Coordinators must confirm that all teams in their program are being entered into the appropriate divisions.
   
3. By submitting a roster to the CYO office, the Parish Coordinator and team coaches acknowledge the ability of their teams and classification of all their players…parish and exceptions. 
4. Further, they confirm that all new players have not previously played CYO for another team and parish.
5. All team entries and divisions must be submitted on or before October 1. 
6. In regards to teams moving up, any team with a .500 or better record that was associated in any way with the playoffs the previous season, must move up to the next highest division this season. These include teams that: played in the playoffs, played in a play-in game, lost a coin toss, missed out due to head-to-head record or qualified but chose not participate in the playoffs for any reason. Any exceptions must be requested by the Parish Coordinator, and approved by the County Commissioners.
7. Similarly, no team with a record of .500 or better may move down a division. A team with a record of less than .500 may move down to the next lowest division.  
8. Any “C Blue” Division team with a record of .750 or better must move up to the “C Orange” Division. Any exceptions must be requested by the Parish Coordinator, and approved by the County Commissioners.
9. Parishes/schools have until November 1 to organize and submit all team rosters. Changes must be submitted prior to the first scheduled game. Additions to team rosters must comply with Archdiocesan rules. The final deadline for roster changes is December 1. No additions are permitted after this date. FAILURE TO COMPLY COULD RESULT IN A TEAM’S AUTOMATIC FORFEITURE OF ALL GAMES UNTIL SUCH TIME A ROSTER IS FILED. All rosters must be completed in full.
10. In any situations where the participation of a team or parish brings in to question the credibility of those individuals responsible for that team or program, and the actions of that team or program are detrimental to the integrity and credibility of the CYO, then the CYO Central Administration has the right to impose sanctions including removal, reassignment to a different division or the designation as a non-playoff eligible team. These actions will be taken after consultation with the pastor or principal of the offending party and the decision of CYO is final.

1. WPCYO is a Catholic, community-based league, and it’s our expectation that all volunteers, participants and their parents subscribe to fair play and are in compliance with all rules and eligibility guidelines.
2. WPCYO is a self-policing and self-reporting league. It is the responsibility of ALL participants and volunteers to maintain the standards of our organization and to bring to our attention any cases of misconduct on the part of a coach or a parent.
3. Use of an ineligible player in a game or games means forfeiture of the game for violating rules. Forfeiture is determined by the County Commissioners. The team who forfeits a game due to an ineligible player could lose eligibility for the playoffs.
4. In a situation where a parish/school program has been found to have ineligible players, ALL of the teams in that program may be ruled ineligible for County and Archdiocesan playoffs by the CYO administration. 
5. Teams entered into the wrong division by the Parish Coordinator could be ruled ineligible for the playoffs.
6. Recruiting players from another CYO team or parish is strictly prohibited…any coach or Parish Coordinator of a program or team where recruiting has occurred, whether from a volunteer or parent, will be suspended from CYO.

Westchester/Putnam County CYO Basketball Rules  

DOWNLOAD TABLE COPY HERE

1. PRESSING RULE: Teams may press only under these conditions:

2. THREE POINT LINE: For all 6th, 7th and 8th grade teams, if the court has the 3-point line, then the game must be played with the 3-point shot.

3. BALL SIZE:

4. FOUL LINE:                                                                                                                                                                

 5. FOUL BONUS:

Bonus situation begins with the 5th team foul, There are always two free throws. The team fouls reset to zero after every quarter. The team fouls do not reset after the 4th quarter into an overtime quarter. All substitutions should be made after the first foul shot. 

6. FOUL SHOOTING/ENTERING LANE: 

Players may step in on the release of the foul shot for ALL divisions. (Revised July 2015)

7. AMOUNT OF TIME IN A QUARTER and OVERTIME:

For HS games only: Break times after Q1 and Q3 are purely administrative to reset the clock, adjust the scorebook and for substitutions. Otherwise, teams need to be ready to play on the referee whistle.

A 3-minute overtime to break a tied score will be used by all age groups. Additional overtimes will be used as needed until a winner is determined.  

 8. SCORE:

• Opposing coaches are asked to communicate with each other in keeping the score respectable in unbalanced games. The table below outlines the allowed victory margin:

•  Each Parish Coordinator is responsible to make sure his/her coaches. or another volunteer update results for Home games on the WPCYO website within 24 hours after a game is played.
• Exact scores should be reported. In previous years, CYO game scores were reported as a 2 for a Win and a 0 for a Loss. This change is being made to better monitor scores and assist in creating balanced Divisions. Point spread will not be used to break ties or determine standings. Our general CYO philosophy is retained: Emphasis rests not on the number of games won or lost, but on the participants' attitude in victory or defeat. Learning how to lose is just as important as learning how to win. Learning how to win graciously is more important than winning itself.
• In ALL cases where the final score differential exceeds the victory margin limit, the Coordinator of the winning team MUST send to your Regional Commissioner an explanation.
• If the point differential in the final score is much greater than the limit set above, the game may result in a forfeit. 

9. TIME OUTS:

Four timeouts per team per game are allowed. 

10. COACHES PER TEAM:

Up to two coaches ONLY may sit on the bench. 

11. C DIVISIONS

• C Orange Division is for more competitive C teams and will be eligible for season-end playoffs.
• C Blue Division is for less competitive C teams and/or ones with a .5 or lower record in a C Division in the previous season. Teams in this division will not be eligible for season-end playoffs.

12. CENTER TEAMS

• Please see the update CYONY Eligibility Rules located on cyony.org. If no program or team exists in a parish, the player may participate on a team of an adjoining parish with authorization from the CYO County Commissioners/Director. Catholic players will not be counted as an exception on the assigned team. The Parish Coordinator must contact the County Commissioners/Director, and the player can only be assigned to a team in a neighboring parish by the County Commissioners/Director.
• Any WPCYO League Team that does not meet the CYO NY Eligibility Rule of no more than 3 non-parishioners or players who do not attend the Parish school, is considered a Center Team. 
• CYO Coordinators must inform their WPCYO Commissioner if any of their registered Teams are Center Teams 
• CYO Coordinators should contact their WPCYO Commissioner if uncertain of Center Team status. 
• CYO Rosters will be reviewed/verified for Center Team status
• Center Teams are ineligible for Playoffs.

13. PLAYOFFS:

• Any team with two forfeits during the season will be ineligible for playoffs.
• All team fees must be paid before a team is eligible for playoffs.

 14. MOVING TO NEW DIVISION:

• Please see the updated WPCYO Eligibility Rules located on wpcyo.net

 15. OFFICIALS

  Official Fees per game: 

• Each team (Home and Away) will pay one official
• A Parish Coordinator should contact their Supervisor of Officials to discuss a problem involving an official at the parish’s gym.
• No official can work more than 4 games at your gymnasium.
• Please make sure to have the officials sign their full name in the scorebook. All Supervisors of Officials have been notified of this requirement.

16. GAME CANCELLATIONS:

Games Cancellation due to reasonable reasons must be called in to your Official Supervisor by 7pm on the Wednesday preceding a weekend game, or by 7pm on the day 3 days prior to a weekday games.  If this procedure is not followed, the team cancelling is at risk of forfeit and both Official Fees must be paid by the cancelling team. 

Reasonable cancellation reasons include unplanned circumstances such as loss of gym time due to maintenance/repairs, school or parish events that require use of a gym, and community/family emergencies.  The following are not acceptable cancellation reasons: a team has a game in an outside league which conflicts with the CYO schedule, missing players due to vacations/parties, and other personal reasons.

The following was adopted at the WPCYO Coordinators Meeting on Sept 13, 2016:  Due to some parishes that are paying rental fees for gym use - If a team forfeits a game, they are not only responsible for both the ref fees, but also an additional $75.00 if the parish has gym fees to pay.

Inclement Weather:

Safety is our primary concern. Games can be cancelled by either team, without forfeit or referee fees, if the weather prevents safe travel. The Coordinator for each team should be involved in any game cancellation. No team is required to travel to any game, if the team does not want to risk going out in bad weather. Weather cancellations should be made within 2 hours of game time, to give teams and referees enough notice.

• If the HOME Team cancels, the HOME Coordinator must notify the AWAY Team Coordinator
• If the AWAY Team cancels, the AWAY Team Coordinator must notify the HOME Team Coordinator
•  For any cancelled game, the HOME Team Coordinator must notify:
  • Officials
  • WPCYO Scheduler at [email protected], so the game will be put into cancelled status on the website schedule and affected Coordinators automatically notified by email.

 17.  HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER CYO ELIGIBILITY: 

The Westchester/Putnam CYO High School League is open to Boys and Girls in grades 9 to 12. The only exception is Boys that play on their High School Varsity Team are not eligible, this does not include a HS Boys Varsity B Team. If a Boy is brought up to Varsity after the regular season, for post-season play only, he may continue to play on his HS CYO Team. If a Boy is brought up to Varsity during the regular season, and plays in any regular-season game, he is no longer eligible to play on a HS CYO Team. The NY Archdiocese limit on the number of non-parishioners per team applies to HS.

Players on any Boys and Girls High School Varsity team who have participated in any league or non-league game, are ineligible to participate in CYO leagues grades 8 and below. Exception: Once the Boys’ and/or Girls High School Junior Varsity/Freshman season ends, players who are brought up to play in High School Varsity sectional, intersectional, regional, semifinal or final are eligible to continue play on their CYO team. (Revised July 2015) 

1.     If 2 Teams are tied with the same number of Wins and Losses:

• The results of the regular season game(s) against each other are considered.(ie.head-to-head comparison.)

• The team with the greatest number of Wins against the other tied team gets the higher standing.

• Two teams that have an equal number of Wins against each other may play a pre-playoff game to break the tie, if both sides agree.

• If a pre-playoff game cannot be played due to gym constraints, timing., etc. the County Commissioner will flip a coin to break the tie.

2.    If more than 2 Teams are tied with the same number of Wins and Losses:

• The results of all the regular season games between the tied teams are considered (head-to-head comparison).

• Tied teams are ranked based on the Win/Loss ratio for all the games played between the tied teams. The larger the ratio, the higher the Standing. For example, consider Teams A,B and C who all have the same number of Wins and Losses in their Division;  A played B twice and split, B played C twice and split and A played C once and Won.The Win/Loss ratios for A = 2/1, B=2/2, and C=1/2.In this example, A would receive the higher Standing, B comes next and C last.  Note, not all the teams in a tie situation may have played each other an equal number of times, but that does not matter.The total Win/Loss ratio with the other teams in the tie is used.

• If 2 or more teams have equal Win/Loss ratios for all the games played between them, there is no time to play multiple pre-playoff games to determine standings. The County Commissioners will resolve the tie with random and fair methods.

3.  Other Playoff Standing questions

• Center Teams are not eligible for Playoffs, but  game results with Center Teams do count in the Standings

• Games may be forfeited if all possible options for a makeup game have been exhausted. The reported Loss of the forfeiting team, and Win for the opponent, does count in the Standings.

•  Any team with a .500 or better record that was associated in any way with the playoffs the previous season, must move up to the next highest division this season. These include teams that: played in the playoffs, played in a play-in game, lost a coin toss, missed out due to head-to-head record or qualified but chose not to participate in the playoffs for any reason. Any exceptions must be requested by the Parish Coordinator, and approved by the County Commissioners

• No team with a record of .500 or better may move down a division. A team with a record of less than .500 may move down to the next lowest division. 

• Any “C Blue” Division team with a record of .750 or better must move up to the “C Orange” Division. Any exceptions must be requested by the Parish Coordinator, and approved by the County Commissioners.

• See Team Placement list below
  
  

Download Game Change Process

Link WP Winter Basketball Schedule 2023-2024