BUTLER TWP — The Butler Area High School football team qualified for the District 10 playoffs a month ago.

The Golden Tornado soon will learn whether they will be permitted to participate.

Last winter, the WPIAL (District 7) and PIAA — the latter governing Pennsylvania high school athletics — ruled Butler ineligible to participate in postseason play through any district other than the WPIAL. After its appeal to the PIAA was denied, the Butler Area School District opted to challenge this decision in court.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday in Courtroom 7 of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas. It is open to the public.

“We filed an enjoinment application with the court against this action,” said attorney Tom Breth, representing the Butler school district. “The PIAA bylaws and constitution state specific reasons why an athletic program should not be permitted to participate in the playoffs. None of those reasons apply to Butler.”

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