Family ID registration for Warwick Valley’s fall sports teams opens Aug. 6, and most tryouts begin Aug. 24, with football and cheerleading starting a week earlier on Aug. 17. Thirteen programs, from varsity football to a still unscheduled crew club, are recruiting inside the Warwick Valley Central School District this month.
One name on that list carries more weight than a routine late summer notice usually does. Boys cross country coach Michael Potter, who is signing up runners for the Aug. 24 first practice, spent July collecting a state coaching award months after his track team broke through at the state meet in June.
Paperwork Comes Before Practice
Registration opens through Family ID on Aug. 6, more than a week before the first team hits a field. Families upload a physical dated on or after Aug. 1, 2025, along with health history forms, before any student can practice. The link sits on the district’s athletics page under the Family ID tab.
The calendar barely moved from a year ago. Warwick’s last year’s Aug. 18 varsity kickoff came just one day later than this year’s Aug. 17 start, and modified teams followed a few days into the school year both times.
The Cross Country Coach Just Won a State Award
The cross country entry reads like every other line on Warwick’s list: show up Aug. 24, bring sneakers and water, be ready to run. But Michael Potter is also Warwick’s varsity boys track and field coach, and he is coming off the best stretch of his career.
Warwick’s boys outdoor track and field team won two state titles among 18 medals at the NYSPHSAA outdoor championship meet on June 13 and 14 at Webster Schroeder High School. In July, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Potter its 2026 New York boys track and field Coach of the Year, one of 50 state winners, plus the District of Columbia, chosen for team performance across the spring season. State winners stay in contention for USTFCCCA’s national high school coach of the year award, in what is the group’s 12th year handing out the honor.
I am incredibly fortunate to share this honor with my outstanding assistant coaches … whose hard work and commitment drive our success every day
Potter told Mid Hudson News, also crediting Athletic Director Gregory Sirico, the district administration and parents for backing the breakthrough season.
One of the assistants he thanked, Tim St. Lawrence, shares his name with the practice track where Aug. 24 cross country tryouts begin at 7:15 a.m. Potter has coached at his Warwick Valley alma mater since 1999, 27 years before this fall’s recruits show up at that same track.
- Two state titles among 18 medals at the June 13 and 14 NYSPHSAA outdoor championship in Webster
- USTFCCCA’s 2026 New York boys track and field Coach of the Year: Michael Potter, in the award’s 12th year
- Two OCIAA Scholar-Athletes of the Year: seniors Reagan Smith and Hank Wendell, honored this spring
None of that history shows up in the tryout notice itself. It just says 7:15 a.m., sneakers, water, be ready to run.
Every Fall Team’s First Day, Sport by Sport
Warwick fields 12 varsity or modified programs this fall, plus the still developing crew club. Here is when and where each one starts.
| Sport | First Tryout | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Football (Varsity/JV) | Mon., Aug. 17 | 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (JV ends 11 a.m.) | Hall of Champions, then field |
| Cheerleading (Varsity/JV) | Mon., Aug. 17 | 10 a.m. | High school |
| Boys Cross Country | Mon., Aug. 24 | 7:15 to 9 a.m. | Tim St. Lawrence Track |
| Girls Cross Country | Mon., Aug. 24 | 7 to 8:30 a.m. | Sanfordville Elementary, Trevor Jahn Pavilion |
| Girls Tennis (Varsity/JV) | Mon., Aug. 24 | 9 to 11 a.m. | Courts by the middle school |
| Girls Volleyball (Varsity/JV) | Mon., Aug. 24 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | High school gymnasium |
| Boys Soccer (Varsity/JV) | Mon., Aug. 24 | 9 a.m. | Tim St. Lawrence Track |
| Girls Soccer (Varsity/JV) | Mon., Aug. 24 | 5:30 to 7 p.m. | Middle school JV fields |
| Girls Swimming (Varsity) | Mon., Aug. 24 | 8 to 11 a.m. | High school pool |
| Girls Diving (Varsity) | Mon., Aug. 24 | 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. | High school pool |
| Boys Golf (Varsity) | Mon., Aug. 24 | 9 a.m. | Scenic Farms Golf Course, Pine Island |
| Crew Club | Late fall, TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Middle School (Modified) | Thurs., Sept. 4 (volleyball Sept. 8) | 3 to 4 p.m. | Middle school campus |
Nine of those entries land on the same Monday, and two of them share the exact same patch of grass and rubber. Cross country wraps its run at 9 a.m. just as boys soccer candidates arrive at the Tim St. Lawrence Track for their own mile run test, turning one August morning into a shared shift change on a single field.
Boys Golf Tees Off in a Season It Has Never Played
Boys golf has never had an August tryout before. The district’s notice says NYSPHSAA moved the sport from spring to fall, and Warwick’s golfers now report to Scenic Farms Golf Course in Pine Island on Aug. 24 for a 9 a.m. start under Coach Pete Scheuermann, the same Monday nine other programs are testing candidates.
The move folds golf into NYSPHSAA’s boys golf championship structure as a fall program instead of a spring one, no longer sharing a season with baseball, tennis and track. Other sections of the state already organize boys golf as a fall sport on their own athletic sites, suggesting Warwick is catching up to a shift already underway elsewhere in New York rather than piloting something new.
Can a Middle Schooler Really Play Varsity?
Yes, but only through a formal test, not a request. Warwick’s Advanced Athletic Placement Test runs Thursday, Aug. 13, starting at 9 a.m. and lasting about an hour, at the high school fitness center behind door 25. A middle schooler needs a recommendation from a high school coach before attempting the sport they hope to play up in, and the district follows NYSPHSAA guidelines built on New York’s statewide placement process.
That statewide process, jointly issued by the New York State Education Department alongside NYSPHSAA and the state’s athletic administrators, lets schools choose whether to let 7th and 8th graders try out for a high school team at all. New York’s own guidance stresses the process exists to place a handful of physically ready students safely up a level, not to fill out a thin roster or reward a student for effort.
A Small District Runs on Its Own Volunteers
Three coaches on this list use personal email addresses instead of a wvcsd.org account. Girls volleyball’s Shawn Thomas and girls soccer’s Sean Hackbarth both list Gmail addresses, and diving coach Chris Blackwell’s contact routes through an outside club account rather than the district directly.
That mix is normal for a district serving more than 30,000 residents while fielding 13 fall programs at once inside the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA), part of Section IX. Section IX covers several counties in the region, the same footprint that produced Mount Hope’s wrestling sweep this past winter alongside Warwick’s own spring track breakthrough.
Warwick leans on that community every fall in other ways too. Its homecoming parade each year draws hundreds down Main Street, led by the marching band and followed by every athletic team the district fields, purple and gold from the first float to the last.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can Families Follow Warwick’s Scores Once the Season Starts?
The district runs its own Wildcats Athletics App, built on the Arbiter Sports platform and free to download for Apple and Google Play devices. It is the quickest way to check rosters and live results once Warwick’s 13 fall programs are underway.
What Happens if a Middle Schooler Tests for Placement but Does Not Qualify?
Nothing is lost. A 7th or 8th grader who tries the Aug. 13 placement test but is not selected simply plays on their own grade’s modified team, which still opens the first week of school on Sept. 4. The test is optional and coach recommended only, never a requirement to make a modified roster.
Which Warwick Fall Sports Field Both Varsity and JV Teams?
Football, cheerleading, tennis, volleyball and both boys and girls soccer all field varsity and JV squads this fall. Cross country, swimming, diving and golf are listed as varsity only programs in the district’s notice, though that can shift if enough underclassmen try out.
Is Crew a Varsity Sport at Warwick Yet?
Not on the same footing as the other 12 programs. Crew Club is still training toward a late fall start, and the district has not announced its first practice date, the one line on Warwick’s entire fall calendar still left blank.
