Divisive plan of action
The WPIAL is against the state's proposal to move from four divisions to six in high school football.
But it might have to live with it.
The proposal has passed two votes already and will become official beginning with the 2010 season if it passes a third vote May 20.
There are 31 votes divided among districts across the state. The WPIAL has three of those votes. A simple majority of 16 votes statewide is needed to implement a six-division system.
"Our membership is against this and we will vote accordingly," WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley said. "Our survey indicates that our schools prefer to stay at four divisions and not compete in the state playoffs if this passes.
"That doesn't mean we'll do that. If this passes ... I don't know what we're going to do. Our football committee would get some further feedback and we'll reconvene to make a decision."
Since 1988, WPIAL schools have won 29 state football titles. No other district has won more than 10."I do think WPIAL football can stand on its own," Knoch coach Mike King said. "There's enough tradition there. But for a team to be able to hold its finger in the air and say they're No. 1 in the whole state — I'm sure that's a big deal."The recent influx of Philadelphia area schools into the PIAA has raised the number of football schools in the organization to 598.By increasing to six divisions, one out of 100 Pennsylvania football programs would claim a state crown instead of one out of 150."When you look at those numbers, this doesn't seem so bad," Butler coach Jeff McAnallen said. "Butler would clearly be a 6A school and would be competing with 12 to 14 schools for a WPIAL title instead of 25."That doesn't seem so bad, either."It does in O'Malley's view."Six classifications would reduce the significance of local district competition," he said."Other concerns of a six-division football setup are increased travel, loss of neighborhood rivalries and loss of Heinz Field as the venue for WPIAL championship games."Out east, there are a few schools that are absolutely huge in enrollment," Freeport coach John Gaillot said. "Six divisions would benefit them, but it seems like we'd be hurt by it on this end of the state."
Mars coach Scott Heinauer said the Planets likely would be a Class 4A school under a six-division format and would play teams like Blackhawk and West Allegheny during the regular season.He'd rather play Knoch, Highlands, Hampton and Pine-Richland."To me, that's what high school football is about," he said of the local rivalries. "You play against kids who your kids see at the local mall on a regular basis."You play games two hours away and the band may not come; cheerleaders, students may stay away. Nobody wants that."We just moved into a section we want (with Knoch, Hampton, etc.) and now we may have to move right back out," Heinauer added.Gaillot agreed."The tradition of Western Pennsylvania is its rivalries," he said. "I haven't looked at the enrollment breakdown yet, but if we can't play Burrell and Valley, I want no part of this."I grew up in Western Pennsylvania. The WPIAL title means more to us than the state does."Heinz Field will not be made available to the WPIAL for more than four championship games. WPIAL officials have stated that either all of its title games will be played there or none will be."The Heinz Field experience is so unique for these high school kids," Seneca Valley athletic director Greg Caprara said. "It's a memory for a lifetime.
"If the Philadelphia schools played their district title games on the Eagles' field, they would understand. We have something special here that we don't want to give up."Heinauer said the TV contract the WPIAL has to air its games on FSN might disappear if Heinz Field is not the venue."That's another thing to consider," he said. "Those games are taped and kept forever. Our high school kids annually get the chance to play in an NFL stadium. That may not be happening anywhere else in the country."McAnallen, who was an assistant coach at North Hills when the Indians played at Heinz Field, doesn't oppose moving WPIAL title games to high school venues."Play before a packed house in an electric atmosphere," he said. "At Heinz Field, the press box is far away from the field, teams have to share the same locker room, there's a lot of distractions."It's not a high-school environment."The six-division format would only be implemented in football."Why six divisions in football when we only have two in girls soccer? And we have more basketball teams in the state than football. There are a lot of issues here," O'Malley said."Other states our size have six football divisions, most notably neighboring Ohio," McAnallen said. "I'm sure that's why it's being considered."King doesn't want to see the current WPIAL football playoffs tinkered with in any way."The WPIAL playoffs do it right. There's a lot of excitement surrounding it," he said. "Why fix it if it's not broke?"
