Move to six classes is bad for basketball
A shift to six classifications in PIAA football was designed to narrow the enrollment gap, shorten the season and give more schools a shot at winning a championship.
It is an ambitious plan that’s tailored to solve the competitive imbalance in football. What the PIAA didn’t realize is it was simply a one-sport issue.
Moving to six classes in basketball can, and will likely, water down the WPIAL’s postseason and make the road to a championship easier for private schools.
After the enrollment figures for six classifications were released, it became obvious the debate about private schools will only increase next season.
The smallest classification in WPIAL boys and girls basketball will consist of only 17 schools. Of those 17, eight are private schools.
Some people are skeptical when it comes to the competitive advantage, so let’s take a look at the trend in recent years, particularly in the lower classifications. All 10 WPIAL titles in Class AA and Class A girls basketball since 2010 were won by private schools. In Class A boys basketball, seven of the last eight champions were private schools.
When almost half of the programs in the new Class A are private schools, those numbers aren’t changing any time soon.
Sure, Monessen is likely the top program in Class A boys next season, but the road to the state playoffs will be even more difficult for schools like West Greene or Avella. My hunch is there will be more transfers to private schools at a lower level because the road to a title could be much easier than in larger classifications, which could include as many as 25 teams.
The same goes for girls basketball. Of the nine public schools projected to play in Class A next season, only four have a winning record this season and only two ever won WPIAL titles. Say what you want about the private/public debate, but there’s a competitive advantage and anyone you speak with at the WPIAL office will agree.
Now, the majority of playoff teams in Class A will be private schools. Get ready to hear the debate intensify when the quarterfinals are four private schools with players from all over Southwestern Pennsylvania. You’d be able to hear a pin drop at the championship games if the officials weren’t blowing their whistle at the slightest sign of contact.
That brings us to narrowing the enrollment gap, which certainly happened in football, but does it translate to basketball? In boys basketball, McGuffey, which is in a rebuilding season and is currently winless in Section 5-AAA, was bumped up to 4A. With a male enrollment of 242, it will likely be in a section with a school like Waynesburg, but the biggest school in 4A is Armstrong, which has 462 male students. In the last two-year cycle, the gap was less than 200 students.
By making change for the sake of change, the move might have created more issues. Kudos to private schools such as North Catholic, which had its girls basketball program play up in classification to 4A, but the problems will continue to grow and the debate will only intensify.
Six classifications was a necessary for football, but it came at a steep cost to basketball across the state.
• It looks like some administrators in Wisconsin want to take the fun and excitement out of high school sporting events.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association – the state’s governing body for high school athletics – announced a strict policy saying students making any action directed at opposing teams or spectators with the intent to “taunt, disrespect, district or entrice unsporting behavior” is unacceptable sportsmanship and won’t be tolerated.
On the surface, it’s an admirable move. Some student sections take it too far, but more often than not, it’s all good fun and is a big part of what makes high school athletics great.
The problem is who makes the decision about whether a cheer is unacceptable? Can students distract a player at the free-throw line? Would that be taunting or disrespectful? Where do we draw the line?
Why don’t we just keep fans away and force high school athletes to play in an empty gymnasium? If the mission is to eliminate any possible altercations, wouldn’t a quiet gym offer the best environment?
Sadly, parents can cause more trouble than students, and players should be able to handle hearing “airball” after badly missing a shot. It’s all in good fun, folks.
Lance Lysowski can be reached at llysowski@observer-reporter.com.