Historic. Revolutionary. Sweeping. Drastic.
The PIAA’s decision last week to expand the classifications in 11 sports starting with the 2016-17 school year has been called a lot of things.
There have been numerous media, coaches and school officials who have spoken for and against the expansion. And there’s still a lot of questions that have to be answered in all sports.
Were they the right moves? No, not exactly.
Let me explain.
To refresh your brain, the PIAA Board of Directors met Oct. 7 at their headquarters in Mechanicsburg to vote on expanding from four to six classifications in football.
The move had been talked about for roughly a year, and meetings were held during the summer and early fall in each district to gain opinion from athletic directors, coaches, leagues and even the media.
A change in how each school’s enrollment is calculated for each two-year cycle — the 10-percent rule — was passed in August, setting the stage for the October vote.
What started as eight options was whittled down, with an even split of the PIAA’s member schools into six classes based on enrollment emerging as the winner. It was approved at a second reading, and the Oct. 7 meeting was really only considered a formality.
The only section of the state that seemed opposed to the idea were the schools in District 7 that compete in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL), which holds its district championship games at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field.
Not surprisingly, the vote to expand to six classes in football passed by a 26-4 vote.
What happened next was the shocker.
Based on a proposal from District 11 chairman Bob Hartman, the Whitehall athletic director, the PIAA suspended protocol and voted to go to six classes in boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball and softball. The PIAA then took it one step further, adding a class in boys’ and girls’ soccer, girls’ volleyball, field hockey and boys’ and girls’ lacrosse by a 23-7 vote.
The reason to expand the classes in all of these sports, the proponents said, was to level the playing field and give more opportunities for teams to win district and state titles.
Unfortunately, even with six classes in football, the playing field isn’t level.
Since the Pennsylvania Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association (PCIAA) was dissolved in the early 1970s, the PIAA has never been able to come up with a viable solution on how to handle enrollment calculations for Catholic and other private schools (Remember Scotland?) that have no specific boundaries.
For years allegations of recruiting by Catholic schools have been rampant, especially in boys’ and girls’ basketball and football.
This situation got worse when the Philadelphia Public League and Philadelphia Catholic League joined the PIAA in 2007 and formed District 12. The rise of charter schools like Imhotep and private schools like St. Joseph’s Prep that attract student-athletes from a wide area, including other states, have turned the state playoffs into a playground of sorts for the private schools, who have consistently sent teams to Hershey to play for state titles. The past two seasons, three of the four state football champions were Catholic or private schools.
The situation is much worse in basketball, especially on the girls’ side.
The elephant in the room, the ongoing public school vs. private school problem, was never addressed once by the PIAA during the discussions to expand classifications.
That needs to be addressed, and soon.
How do you fix it?
There have been various opinions, but some form of enrollment number that includes all of the public school districts that a Catholic or private school draws from, then divided by a certain number (in half?) seems like the best solution to me.
The 10-percent rule, which does help the public schools slightly, isn’t enough of a fix.
Until the PIAA addresses the ongoing debate between the public and private schools, it doesn’t matter how many classifications there are in each sport.
You’ll still have the same problems that have hampered high school sports in Pennsylvania for more than a decade.
Player of the Week
Major Jordan, NS
The junior fullback/linebacker rushed for 236 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries in the Spartans’ win over Shenandoah Valley. Entering last Friday’s game, Jordan had just 34 yards on 13 carries this season.
Honorable Mention: Chase Schaeffer, Tri-Valley; Mason Freed, Blue Mountain; Tyler Cann, Lehighton; Aaron Cleveland, Upper Dauphin
(Boyer is sports editor and covers H.S. football for The Republican-Herald. Follow him on Twitter @pubsportsboss)