PIAA expanding to 6 classes for football

In a move that changes the landscape of high school sports, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association approved a measure that would expand high school football classifications from four to six.

Girls basketball, boys basketball, baseball and softball will join football in moving from four to six classifications starting with the 2016-17 school year. Class 2: None. Class 1: None.The six classifications bring Pennsylvania in line with other states. Hawkins is District 12’s vice chairman. Expansion for each of those 10 sports was scheduled Wednesday only for its second of three readings – a three-step approval process that generally takes a year or so to complete. Every school in the state must submit its current enrollment figures by October 15.

Championship brackets for the next cycle should receive their first reading in January 2016, with final approval likely to occur in May 2016.

“The Board reacted to that”. There previously were only four classes in those sports.

Romanczuk’s reaction was a common one among coaches who were just hearing the news. Regardless of where his team ends up, Dallastown coach Kevin Myers likes the idea of two extra classes because it could break up the powers in current Class 4-A and allow a few other schools the chance at playing in the postseason and competing for a title.

“The biggest thing we heard in our district was narrowing the gap”.

A driving force behind the move from four to six classes in football was reducing the length of the season by one week. But he said it’s too soon to know exactly what the vote will mean for Catholic League schools and schools across the state in general. The latter three schools are typically powerhouses on the football field. It is then when schools will find out where they land in the new system.

At the District 11 Media Luncheon held September 24, Hartman said the majority of District 11 schools favor a 10-game regular season with one scrimmage. Last season, Nanticoke Area made it to the PIAA semifinals and Holy Redeemer won the state championship, in Classes AAA and AA, respectively.

The next big challenge for District 3 could be reworking the playoff system with six classifications.

Lombardi said that D-10 can decide to use either option. I think the votes illustrate there’s a lot of support for expansion. I think there’s a disparity in others that really stands out for basketball. “So, I’m not quite sure what this was a solution to”. “But we’re going to listen to what the schools want”.

“I know we’re traditionally between a large AAA and a small AAAA school”, Wildcats coach Chris Hakel said.

“I would assume we wouldn’t be a AAAAAA”, continued Blackburn, referring to Hershey’s enrollment (486).

“I think the potential is there for it to be a positive down the road”, Guido said.

Blackburn, however, offered another perspective.

“I think basically, the leagues can mirror what they are doing now”, said Ognosky, who has worked closely on scheduling in the past. “If the other teams are only able to draw from 400, like we are, then I think it gives us a fighting chance”.

“We’re so out-of-whack with the rest of the country in the ratio of championships to the number of schools that sponsor the sports”, he added. “I think it’s time for a change”.

The PIAA Board must have been so ecstatic over the vote that not long afterward it did the equivalent of running its own bylaws through the shredder by suspending protocol and voting (23-7) to expand basketball, baseball and softball to six classes.

“I’m absolutely tickled pink that they brought soccer to four classifications”, Altimore said.