If you’re a wrestler looking for a great, and close by, chance to get some big time competition before the high school season begins, The Surge is the place for you.
And time is running out on the opportunity to be involved. Early registration for the event ends TOMORROW. The early registration cost is $45, compared to a $60 cost beginning on Tuesday.
Registration is open to any wrestler in grades 8-12, and there will be a four-pound weight allowance. You can sign up on Flo Arena by visiting www.arena.flowrestling.org.
The Surge will be held November 3-4 at the UPJ Sports Center.
I don’t have any official involvement with the tournament, but just as a fan of the sport beyond my journalistic role related to wrestling, this is a great idea to bring some of the best scholastic wrestlers from this region, the state, and anywhere else together in a preseason format. Kudos to Eric Knopsnyder and others associated with the event’s creation.
Act now on your chance to be part of The Surge.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
A Busy Offseason
The offseason in high school wrestling has been busy to say the least, with a number of headlines ranging from coaching moves to transfers and things in between.
— Locally, among those changes will be seeing Kaden Cassidy back at Bedford. I wrote about this last month - Cassidy back in Bedford colors. A former PJW champion for the Bison program, Cassidy will be looking to get back to the PIAA podium after missing most of last season.
Cassidy will be wrestling under a new head coach at Bedford in Joel Easter, who takes over after the long and successful run of Brian Creps. Easter has a wealth of experience in coaching at Bedford, and this should make it an easy transition as the Bisons continue to rebuild the program to what it once was.
Also, Tussey Mountain has a new coach in Mason Replogle, the former Northern Bedford wrestler who was an assistant in the Titans' system a year ago.
There have been some moves around District 6 as well. Bishop McCort will get a pretty good wrestler in Noah Roulo. He'll be a senior at McCort, and he brings three state medals with him from Virginia, including a title two years ago.
St. Joseph's Academy is making news as well, as I'm hearing some of its better wrestlers won't be there. That said, the private school did gain one with the addition of junior Tyler Stoltzfus. Stoltzfus was a fifth-place PIAA medalist for Mifflinburg last season.
— Plenty of news has come out of the wrestling-rich Lehigh Valley this summer. In my opinion, though biased here, the biggest of which was Bethlehem Catholic hiring Rick Thompson out of a short retirement to take over for Jeff Karam.
Thompson is well-traveled in his coaching career, but was easily most successful in three stints at Phillipsburg High School in New Jersey. He won 268 dual meets and eight team state titles with the Stateliners, and was most recently at Bangor in District 11. After one year off, Thompson was hired by Becahi after being turned down for two other jobs.
It's not always easy to replace a great coach with another one, but the Golden Hawks have done it. I could wax poetic about what Thompson means to me personally, but I'll leave it at this: He's one of a kind - a master motivator, supremely dedicated to coaching and teaching kids on and off the mat, and a coach who is worth the price of admission just to see him on the bench. It's tremendous to have him back in the sport.
One of Bethlehem's other schools, Freedom, also made a coaching move in the offseason by hiring Dante Terenzio, who had been at Western Wayne in District 2. Terenzio takes over for former Tussey Mountain wrestler Brandon Hall, who had a nice run at Freedom, but the school decided to go in a different direction.
Among those D11 kids that take the mat, the nation's top ranked freshman will be suiting up for Notre Dame-Green Pond this winter. Ryan Crookham came up through the Bethlehem Catholic program and was expected to attend Saucon Valley for his freshman season. Crookham won the prestigious Super 32 Tournament as an eighth-grader at 113 pounds last fall.
While Saucon Valley missed out on keeping a future stud in house, Class AAA's Easton lost one of its as well, with the messy departure of Jonathan Miers to prep program Wyoming Seminary.
Miers was unfortunately at the center of controversy at the state tournament in March, when he missed weight on the final day of the event. That led to Easton coach JaMarr Billman, a former state champion at the school, reportedly being verbally and physically attacked by family members of Miers.
Following the season, Billman had been notified that the school district wouldn't be renewing his contract, but days later, he was reinstated after uproar within the community over the matter.
Dashawn Farber, a former PJW medalist who moved to Georgia and became a two-time state champion down south, is returning to Pennsylvania and will be at Nazareth, another Lehigh Valley powerhouse.
— Locally, among those changes will be seeing Kaden Cassidy back at Bedford. I wrote about this last month - Cassidy back in Bedford colors. A former PJW champion for the Bison program, Cassidy will be looking to get back to the PIAA podium after missing most of last season.
Cassidy will be wrestling under a new head coach at Bedford in Joel Easter, who takes over after the long and successful run of Brian Creps. Easter has a wealth of experience in coaching at Bedford, and this should make it an easy transition as the Bisons continue to rebuild the program to what it once was.
Also, Tussey Mountain has a new coach in Mason Replogle, the former Northern Bedford wrestler who was an assistant in the Titans' system a year ago.
There have been some moves around District 6 as well. Bishop McCort will get a pretty good wrestler in Noah Roulo. He'll be a senior at McCort, and he brings three state medals with him from Virginia, including a title two years ago.
St. Joseph's Academy is making news as well, as I'm hearing some of its better wrestlers won't be there. That said, the private school did gain one with the addition of junior Tyler Stoltzfus. Stoltzfus was a fifth-place PIAA medalist for Mifflinburg last season.
— Plenty of news has come out of the wrestling-rich Lehigh Valley this summer. In my opinion, though biased here, the biggest of which was Bethlehem Catholic hiring Rick Thompson out of a short retirement to take over for Jeff Karam.
Thompson is well-traveled in his coaching career, but was easily most successful in three stints at Phillipsburg High School in New Jersey. He won 268 dual meets and eight team state titles with the Stateliners, and was most recently at Bangor in District 11. After one year off, Thompson was hired by Becahi after being turned down for two other jobs.
It's not always easy to replace a great coach with another one, but the Golden Hawks have done it. I could wax poetic about what Thompson means to me personally, but I'll leave it at this: He's one of a kind - a master motivator, supremely dedicated to coaching and teaching kids on and off the mat, and a coach who is worth the price of admission just to see him on the bench. It's tremendous to have him back in the sport.
One of Bethlehem's other schools, Freedom, also made a coaching move in the offseason by hiring Dante Terenzio, who had been at Western Wayne in District 2. Terenzio takes over for former Tussey Mountain wrestler Brandon Hall, who had a nice run at Freedom, but the school decided to go in a different direction.
Among those D11 kids that take the mat, the nation's top ranked freshman will be suiting up for Notre Dame-Green Pond this winter. Ryan Crookham came up through the Bethlehem Catholic program and was expected to attend Saucon Valley for his freshman season. Crookham won the prestigious Super 32 Tournament as an eighth-grader at 113 pounds last fall.
While Saucon Valley missed out on keeping a future stud in house, Class AAA's Easton lost one of its as well, with the messy departure of Jonathan Miers to prep program Wyoming Seminary.
Miers was unfortunately at the center of controversy at the state tournament in March, when he missed weight on the final day of the event. That led to Easton coach JaMarr Billman, a former state champion at the school, reportedly being verbally and physically attacked by family members of Miers.
Following the season, Billman had been notified that the school district wouldn't be renewing his contract, but days later, he was reinstated after uproar within the community over the matter.
Dashawn Farber, a former PJW medalist who moved to Georgia and became a two-time state champion down south, is returning to Pennsylvania and will be at Nazareth, another Lehigh Valley powerhouse.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Spring's Spotlight - Macen Akers
Macen Akers spends very little time on the sideline during an Everett football game.
It seems to suit the Warriors' senior just fine.
He plays quarterback. He plays defensive back. He's the team's punter, and he'll return punts and kicks as well.
And he's become one of Everett's leaders, on and off the field, as the Warriors are off to a 2-1 start to the season.
In Friday's 28-26 victory over Glendale, Akers was in the middle of many big situations.
Glendale had the ball up 7-0 late in the second quarter, and Akers intercepted Jacob Jasper's deep pass attempt, and brought the ball back some 40 yards to set the Warriors up in position to either tie or take the lead.
He converted a third down by running for 24 yards, then score a touchdown on the next play, and also ran in a two-point conversion.
In the third quarter, with the Vikings ahead 13-8, Akers engineered a 15-play drive that lasted over six minutes and went nearly 80 yards. He handed the ball off to Logan Propst for the touchdown, before scoring another two-pointer himself. Early in the fourth, Akers scored his second rushing touchdown to give Everett a 22-13 lead.
Glendale inched closer, but Akers again had an answer, on a fourth down from the Viking 6-yard line. He took the snap and didn't hesitate in running for the end zone, beating the defense to the goal line on the near side of the field.
"A lot of times, Coach (Winston Redman) and I might see the same call," Akers said when asked if the play was by design. "It's just what we see out there, and it came off perfectly there to get a big touchdown."
Everett is playing with heavy hearts this year, after former coach Tom Waltman passed away unexpectedly in July. Waltman was a football coach at many levels in the Warrior program, and was very close to many of the current players because he was a physical education teacher in the district, and beloved in the community.
The team held a "Red Out" in the home opener, wearing shirts that had the letters TW and the number 23 with angel wings on either side, and they also run onto the field with the same design on a flag.
"We have someone watching over us this year," said Akers. "That's always going to be behind us and with us all season. If we have nothing else to play for, that's what we play for. We play for Tommy Waltman, our family, and our community."
It seems to suit the Warriors' senior just fine.
He plays quarterback. He plays defensive back. He's the team's punter, and he'll return punts and kicks as well.
And he's become one of Everett's leaders, on and off the field, as the Warriors are off to a 2-1 start to the season.
In Friday's 28-26 victory over Glendale, Akers was in the middle of many big situations.
Glendale had the ball up 7-0 late in the second quarter, and Akers intercepted Jacob Jasper's deep pass attempt, and brought the ball back some 40 yards to set the Warriors up in position to either tie or take the lead.
He converted a third down by running for 24 yards, then score a touchdown on the next play, and also ran in a two-point conversion.
In the third quarter, with the Vikings ahead 13-8, Akers engineered a 15-play drive that lasted over six minutes and went nearly 80 yards. He handed the ball off to Logan Propst for the touchdown, before scoring another two-pointer himself. Early in the fourth, Akers scored his second rushing touchdown to give Everett a 22-13 lead.
Glendale inched closer, but Akers again had an answer, on a fourth down from the Viking 6-yard line. He took the snap and didn't hesitate in running for the end zone, beating the defense to the goal line on the near side of the field.
"A lot of times, Coach (Winston Redman) and I might see the same call," Akers said when asked if the play was by design. "It's just what we see out there, and it came off perfectly there to get a big touchdown."
Everett is playing with heavy hearts this year, after former coach Tom Waltman passed away unexpectedly in July. Waltman was a football coach at many levels in the Warrior program, and was very close to many of the current players because he was a physical education teacher in the district, and beloved in the community.
The team held a "Red Out" in the home opener, wearing shirts that had the letters TW and the number 23 with angel wings on either side, and they also run onto the field with the same design on a flag.
"We have someone watching over us this year," said Akers. "That's always going to be behind us and with us all season. If we have nothing else to play for, that's what we play for. We play for Tommy Waltman, our family, and our community."
Monday, August 27, 2018
Spring's Spotlight - Cole Weist
Cole Weist and his Tussey Mountain teammates were more than excited to put the pads and helmets on for real Friday night.
And when they did, their performance was quite exciting as well.
Weist ran for 121 yards with a touchdown and a pair of two-point conversions, in helping the Titans defeat Claysburg-Kimmel, 42-28.
"Every football team talks about how much preparation they put into the season," said Weist, one of six seniors for Tussey Mountain. "I believe that we worked for this. The anxiety and excitement for this was unbelievable."
Weist is one of the upperclassmen that has been through some tough times with the Titan program of late, as only three wins over the past two seasons was on the record prior to Friday.
Tussey decided to go a different way in the offseason, bringing in Anthony Sottasante as the team's new head coach. Sottasante previously coached on the scholastic level at Columbia High School in District 3.
Along with a very uptempo type of offense, Sottasante also introduced the term "WADL" to the Titans. It stands for "Win All Day Long," and goes beyond whatever happens on the football field.
"It means that not only are we respectful on the field win or lose, but we accomplish daily tasks off the field," said Weist. "We're not just athletes, we're student athletes, and students first."
Tussey Mountain will look for a 2-0 start when it hosts Everett, also 1-0, this Friday.
NOTE: This is the first piece of a new series, entitled "Spring's Spotlight," that I expect to continue throughout the school year, and involve not only football but other sports.
And when they did, their performance was quite exciting as well.
Weist ran for 121 yards with a touchdown and a pair of two-point conversions, in helping the Titans defeat Claysburg-Kimmel, 42-28.
"Every football team talks about how much preparation they put into the season," said Weist, one of six seniors for Tussey Mountain. "I believe that we worked for this. The anxiety and excitement for this was unbelievable."
Weist is one of the upperclassmen that has been through some tough times with the Titan program of late, as only three wins over the past two seasons was on the record prior to Friday.
Tussey decided to go a different way in the offseason, bringing in Anthony Sottasante as the team's new head coach. Sottasante previously coached on the scholastic level at Columbia High School in District 3.
Along with a very uptempo type of offense, Sottasante also introduced the term "WADL" to the Titans. It stands for "Win All Day Long," and goes beyond whatever happens on the football field.
"It means that not only are we respectful on the field win or lose, but we accomplish daily tasks off the field," said Weist. "We're not just athletes, we're student athletes, and students first."
Tussey Mountain will look for a 2-0 start when it hosts Everett, also 1-0, this Friday.
NOTE: This is the first piece of a new series, entitled "Spring's Spotlight," that I expect to continue throughout the school year, and involve not only football but other sports.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Countdown to Kickoff
We're now less than 48 hours from the opening whistle of the 2018 high school football season. Despite all the rain over the late spring and summer, Friday night's forecast as of now is for near-perfect weather, which is also a welcome sign.
And there's plenty of intrigue around my coverage area for the Bedford Gazette. By the way, the Gazette's annual preview insert comes out on Friday (I didn't do much for the issue, so forward any comments/concerns to others not named Ryan Spring, LOL).
Here's some of the top storylines in my opinion:
Chestnut Ridge to the Laurel Highlands
The Lions, who have been very good of late, find themselves back in a league this fall as a full member of the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference. They will have a lot of new faces in the skill positions, and their development will be key. I've heard some people saying that Ridge will struggle in the LHAC, but to that point, I'll make two counterpoints.
First, I would argue that Chestnut Ridge's independent scheduling over the past decade has been just as rigorous as any league team. The Lions have faced opponents such as Berks Catholic, Fort Hill and Allegany from Maryland, Musselman from West Virginia, plus more regional powers like Berlin, Portage, Tyrone and others.
Second, in the 10 seasons against many of those above, Chestnut Ridge has had only one losing season, and that was 5-6 in 2009.
Sure, like mentioned above, Max Shoemaker will have a lot of new people on his first string offense and defense, but it is one of the stronger football programs from top to bottom around right now. The Lions draw one of the LHAC favorites, Forest Hills, right out of the box on Friday night in Sidman, and while I'm not sure they could pull out an upset in that one, I wouldn't sleep on them over the rest of the fall.
Rest of the LHAC
Bedford, my other team in the league, has had a couple down years of late, but I expect the Bisons to be better. That said, I think they're still a year or two away from contending. They do avoid Bishop Guilfoyle on the schedule this season, which helps.
It appears as if Forest Hills and Bishop Guilfoyle are the preseason favorites, while it could be a battle between several teams for the next slot or two.
New Coaches
There's two new head coaches in my area, and they'll face each other in two days as Claysburg-Kimmel visits Tussey Mountain.
After winning its first playoff game in nearly 30 years, the Bulldogs gave the reigns to Matt Bilchak, who is the head man for the first time anywhere. He was an assistant to Dan Foor previously. Bilchak has a nice nucleus of starters back and expectations are up in CK country.
Meanwhile, the Titans went with Anthony Sottasante, who previously coached at Columbia in District 3.
Tussey Mountain has only three wins in the past two years, but rumors are a scrimmage this past weekend with perennial WestPAC power Portage went better than expected. A scrimmage is a scrimmage, so I don't know what can be taken out of it. But it's at the very least some positive vibes for the Titan faithful.
Inter-County Glory
It's a broken record, but it seems again like the road to an ICC title goes through Bellwood-Antis. Despite the fact that legendary coach John Hayes retired, the Blue Devils should be strong again, as assistant Nick Lovrich moved up to Hayes' spot.
The contenders could include Juniata Valley, Claysburg, and Southern Huntingdon.
Northern Bedford isn't getting a lot of press, but that's probably how Black Panthers' coach Garry Black likes it, coming off a district championship in 2017. Like Chestnut Ridge, Black will have a lot of skill position changes from a year ago. Central and Southern Huntingdon in the first two weeks will be challenges, but could also pave the way for success later on in the season. By the way, the Southern Huntingdon game is on a Thursday if you saw that and thought it was a misprint. The game is at Southern next Thursday, August 30.
And there's plenty of intrigue around my coverage area for the Bedford Gazette. By the way, the Gazette's annual preview insert comes out on Friday (I didn't do much for the issue, so forward any comments/concerns to others not named Ryan Spring, LOL).
Here's some of the top storylines in my opinion:
Chestnut Ridge to the Laurel Highlands
The Lions, who have been very good of late, find themselves back in a league this fall as a full member of the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference. They will have a lot of new faces in the skill positions, and their development will be key. I've heard some people saying that Ridge will struggle in the LHAC, but to that point, I'll make two counterpoints.
First, I would argue that Chestnut Ridge's independent scheduling over the past decade has been just as rigorous as any league team. The Lions have faced opponents such as Berks Catholic, Fort Hill and Allegany from Maryland, Musselman from West Virginia, plus more regional powers like Berlin, Portage, Tyrone and others.
Second, in the 10 seasons against many of those above, Chestnut Ridge has had only one losing season, and that was 5-6 in 2009.
Sure, like mentioned above, Max Shoemaker will have a lot of new people on his first string offense and defense, but it is one of the stronger football programs from top to bottom around right now. The Lions draw one of the LHAC favorites, Forest Hills, right out of the box on Friday night in Sidman, and while I'm not sure they could pull out an upset in that one, I wouldn't sleep on them over the rest of the fall.
Rest of the LHAC
Bedford, my other team in the league, has had a couple down years of late, but I expect the Bisons to be better. That said, I think they're still a year or two away from contending. They do avoid Bishop Guilfoyle on the schedule this season, which helps.
It appears as if Forest Hills and Bishop Guilfoyle are the preseason favorites, while it could be a battle between several teams for the next slot or two.
New Coaches
There's two new head coaches in my area, and they'll face each other in two days as Claysburg-Kimmel visits Tussey Mountain.
After winning its first playoff game in nearly 30 years, the Bulldogs gave the reigns to Matt Bilchak, who is the head man for the first time anywhere. He was an assistant to Dan Foor previously. Bilchak has a nice nucleus of starters back and expectations are up in CK country.
Meanwhile, the Titans went with Anthony Sottasante, who previously coached at Columbia in District 3.
Tussey Mountain has only three wins in the past two years, but rumors are a scrimmage this past weekend with perennial WestPAC power Portage went better than expected. A scrimmage is a scrimmage, so I don't know what can be taken out of it. But it's at the very least some positive vibes for the Titan faithful.
Inter-County Glory
It's a broken record, but it seems again like the road to an ICC title goes through Bellwood-Antis. Despite the fact that legendary coach John Hayes retired, the Blue Devils should be strong again, as assistant Nick Lovrich moved up to Hayes' spot.
The contenders could include Juniata Valley, Claysburg, and Southern Huntingdon.
Northern Bedford isn't getting a lot of press, but that's probably how Black Panthers' coach Garry Black likes it, coming off a district championship in 2017. Like Chestnut Ridge, Black will have a lot of skill position changes from a year ago. Central and Southern Huntingdon in the first two weeks will be challenges, but could also pave the way for success later on in the season. By the way, the Southern Huntingdon game is on a Thursday if you saw that and thought it was a misprint. The game is at Southern next Thursday, August 30.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Cassidy back in Bedford colors
With two promising years left as a varsity wrestler, Kaden Cassidy is returning to his roots as a member of Bedford's team.
A former junior wrestling standout in the Bison program, Cassidy was a PIAA third-place finisher at 106 pounds for Bishop McCort as a freshman. Last season at Chestnut Ridge, Cassidy began on a high note by winning the King of the Mountain Tournament, but missed the rest of the season due to injuries.
Cassidy won a Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling (PJW) state title in 2016 for Bedford, and will certainly be a nice building block for new Bisons' coach Joel Easter.
Cassidy and his family moved back into the Bedford Area School District over the summer. The transfer between the two county schools was approved at the recent District 5 meeting, and the new PIAA rules regarding transfers sitting out postseason events do not apply in this case, as Cassidy's move was prior to the state's August 6 deadline.
A former junior wrestling standout in the Bison program, Cassidy was a PIAA third-place finisher at 106 pounds for Bishop McCort as a freshman. Last season at Chestnut Ridge, Cassidy began on a high note by winning the King of the Mountain Tournament, but missed the rest of the season due to injuries.
Cassidy won a Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling (PJW) state title in 2016 for Bedford, and will certainly be a nice building block for new Bisons' coach Joel Easter.
Cassidy and his family moved back into the Bedford Area School District over the summer. The transfer between the two county schools was approved at the recent District 5 meeting, and the new PIAA rules regarding transfers sitting out postseason events do not apply in this case, as Cassidy's move was prior to the state's August 6 deadline.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
PIAA's new transfer rules — Are they enough?
It's no secret that the PIAA has been under a lot of scrutiny for some time regarding the issue of competitive balance between public and private, or non-boundary, schools.
Earlier today, the state's athletic association Board of Directors broke its protocol to enact new transfer rules which take effect on August 6, one week before official practices for the fall sports season begin.
Here's a quick breakdown:
1) If any student athlete in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade decides to transfer to another school, he or she is permitted to compete in regular season competition, but will be banned from all postseason play in any sport that they competed at the year before at the previous school.
2) The board also approved a new competitive balance formula, based on postseason success and number of transfers. Schools will receive points for certain advancement in PIAA playoff brackets, and those points along with a given number of transfers over a two-year period will require a move up in classification. The numbers will be used to determine 2020-21 classifications. Keep in mind that this formula is only being used for two sports — football and basketball.
This is the biggest step that the PIAA has made in regards to trying to "level the playing field." And I do think the Board of Directors deserves credit for tightening up the transfer rules, and for suspending its protocol to enact the first measure as early as this year.
That said, it's not near a total fix of the issues regarding public vs. private. While I did not speak with anyone on the record about the PIAA's new rules, I gather that many public districts will see this as a band-aid type of measure that won't produce their desired long-term solutions.
Next Tuesday, superintendents and other administrators from over 100 public school districts are expected to be in attendance at a meeting set up in State College. The public vs. private debate is at the heart of the matter, and who knows where it leads.
It should be noted that many of the schools named on a list of probable attendees (published Tuesday on pennlive.com) are from the central and western parts of the state. A number of administrators from schools in the east, notably Districts 3 and 11, have already been quoted as saying that they would not attend next week's gathering.
In the past 10 years, the non-boundary schools have won 64 percent of team championships in boys basketball and 59 percent in girls basketball, with football basically at a 50-50 split between public and private programs.
While those numbers might not be as high as thought by some on the outside, it's a rallying call by many public districts to at least get together and discuss options, with the list of meeting attendees rising drastically since such a meeting was proposed.
The Centre Daily Times reported that the Bellefonte school board, at its meeting last night, passed a resolution calling on the PIAA to consider separating public and private postseason competition. The resolution says that the state should put public schools in four classes (A, 2A, 3A, 4A) with private schools in two classes (5A, 6A).
At the very least from the public school angle, the time for complaints seems over and a call to action is imminent.
Will it eventually mean separate playoffs? Will it mean schools leaving the PIAA and creating a new governing body for state athletics?
Obviously, I can't answer that. But what I can say is this topic is as hot as hype is for the upcoming sports season itself.
Earlier today, the state's athletic association Board of Directors broke its protocol to enact new transfer rules which take effect on August 6, one week before official practices for the fall sports season begin.
Here's a quick breakdown:
1) If any student athlete in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade decides to transfer to another school, he or she is permitted to compete in regular season competition, but will be banned from all postseason play in any sport that they competed at the year before at the previous school.
2) The board also approved a new competitive balance formula, based on postseason success and number of transfers. Schools will receive points for certain advancement in PIAA playoff brackets, and those points along with a given number of transfers over a two-year period will require a move up in classification. The numbers will be used to determine 2020-21 classifications. Keep in mind that this formula is only being used for two sports — football and basketball.
This is the biggest step that the PIAA has made in regards to trying to "level the playing field." And I do think the Board of Directors deserves credit for tightening up the transfer rules, and for suspending its protocol to enact the first measure as early as this year.
That said, it's not near a total fix of the issues regarding public vs. private. While I did not speak with anyone on the record about the PIAA's new rules, I gather that many public districts will see this as a band-aid type of measure that won't produce their desired long-term solutions.
Next Tuesday, superintendents and other administrators from over 100 public school districts are expected to be in attendance at a meeting set up in State College. The public vs. private debate is at the heart of the matter, and who knows where it leads.
It should be noted that many of the schools named on a list of probable attendees (published Tuesday on pennlive.com) are from the central and western parts of the state. A number of administrators from schools in the east, notably Districts 3 and 11, have already been quoted as saying that they would not attend next week's gathering.
In the past 10 years, the non-boundary schools have won 64 percent of team championships in boys basketball and 59 percent in girls basketball, with football basically at a 50-50 split between public and private programs.
While those numbers might not be as high as thought by some on the outside, it's a rallying call by many public districts to at least get together and discuss options, with the list of meeting attendees rising drastically since such a meeting was proposed.
The Centre Daily Times reported that the Bellefonte school board, at its meeting last night, passed a resolution calling on the PIAA to consider separating public and private postseason competition. The resolution says that the state should put public schools in four classes (A, 2A, 3A, 4A) with private schools in two classes (5A, 6A).
At the very least from the public school angle, the time for complaints seems over and a call to action is imminent.
Will it eventually mean separate playoffs? Will it mean schools leaving the PIAA and creating a new governing body for state athletics?
Obviously, I can't answer that. But what I can say is this topic is as hot as hype is for the upcoming sports season itself.
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