New York HS athletics operates under one of the strictest student-data frameworks in the country — Education Law §2-d — alongside the operational complexity of NYSPHSAA's 11-section structure. Lightning for Schools is built to meet both: §2-d-compliant data handling out of the box, flat-rate pricing that doesn't punish NY HS programs for carrying full coaching staffs, and integration with the recruiting-dense Northeast HS sports environment.
Built for NYSPHSAA
Governing Body
New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA)
Member-school eligibility rules, classification, and championship workflows shape what an athletic department needs from its software. Lightning for Schools is configured to support NYSPHSAA-aligned workflows out of the box — not generic NFHS templates that don't map to your state's specifics. Reference:
www.nysphsaa.org.
Compliant with New York Education Law §2-d
Student Data Privacy
New York Education Law §2-d
New York Education Law §2-d (and its implementing regulations) imposes strict requirements on third-party contractors that receive student personally identifiable information from NY public schools — including data-security plans, parental rights, and breach notification. Lightning's data-handling practices are built to meet these requirements; a vendor that can't speak to your state's privacy framework should not be on your shortlist.
What New York athletic directors actually deal with
- NYC PSAL (Public Schools Athletic League) operates SEPARATELY from NYSPHSAA — NYC public schools play under PSAL governance, not NYSPHSAA. Cross-system competition between PSAL and NYSPHSAA programs is rare.
- CHSAA (Catholic High School Athletic Association, NYC region) governs NYC-area private/Catholic schools separately from both NYSPHSAA and PSAL — Christ The King, Holy Cross, Cardinal Hayes run their own brackets and don't appear in NYSPHSAA seeding.
- NY Education Law §2-d is one of the strictest student data privacy frameworks in the country — required Data Privacy Agreement (DPA) must be signed with each NY district before vendor work begins. NYC DOE specifically maintains detailed §2-d vendor-vetting procedures.
- NYSPHSAA's 11 sections each have their own classification, seeding, and tournament-bracket conventions — Section V seeding rules differ from Section II, etc., creating per-section operational nuance that single-section states don't share.
What Lightning for Schools includes
10 coach seats included
Flat $150/yr base includes 10 full coach seats. Need more for a big multi-sport department? Add extra seats anytime at 50% of the coach-tier price.
Roster + eligibility
Per-sport, per-season roster management with eligibility tracking, transfer documentation, and out-of-season practice limits.
Recruiting portal integration
Your student-athletes' Lightning profiles roll into a searchable college-coach portal — recruiting attention without leaving the AD platform.
DPA-compliant data handling
Aligned with New York Education Law §2-d requirements. Documentation available for your district's procurement review.
Stat verification
Coach Verified and Tournament Verified stats flow into the recruiting layer automatically. Reduces manual roster-update workload for AD staff.
Multi-season scheduling
Fall / winter / spring sport scheduling in one tool — facility allocation, transportation requests, official assignments.
Built for athletic departments across New York
We're looking for our first partner departments in the state. If you're an AD in one of these areas and want to talk through a pilot:
NYC DOE schools
Long Island (Section VIII / XI)
Westchester
Capital Region
Buffalo area
Hudson Valley
Talk to Christian directly
I'm the founder. New York athletic directors who want to talk through a pilot or just get specific questions answered can reach me directly: [email protected] or (443) 996-6563.