PIAA playoff reform bill advances out of Pa. House committee
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The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) may soon be able to create separate playoffs and championships for public schools and non-public schools.
A proposal to hand the association that power passed a state House committee on a bipartisan basis Monday.
Rep. Scott Conklin (D-Centre), sponsor of House Bill 41, believes his measure would correct what he and other supporters argue is an 'imbalance' in the current system, which pits public schools, which they describe as 'boundary' schools, in the same state playoffs and championship games as non-public schools. They include private, charter and parochial 'non-boundary' schools.
Conklin mentioned that a few other states, including neighboring Maryland, currently use this approach.
'It's worked very, very well,' Conklin said.
He likened his proposal to Penn State football being able to play an Ivy League team in the regular season and being able to 'beat the tar out of them,' but ultimately the two schools won't be vying for the same championship.
Among the reasons Conklin's cited in pushing the measure are that in the past, some high schools were talking about dropping out of the PIAA over the issue. He also highlighted how non-public schools only represent a small percentage of schools in the state, but ultimately win state championships at a larger rate.
A Capital-Star report in May 2024 found that at that time, non-public schools comprised 24% of the high schools in the PIAA, but accounted for a disproportionate amount of state champions in most common sports over the past decade.
Conklin also made the case that his proposal is not meant to 'harm' those non-public schools in any way.
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The PIAA has said that they don't have the authority to make such a change without legislation. A co-sponsorship memo notes it gives the association the power to make changes.
However, the proposal is not a mandate for the PIAA, unlike a previous 2019 plan that would have mandated the PIAA to hold separate playoffs for public and non-public schools in certain sports.
Several committee members spoke out in support of the bill, including Rep. Jeff Olsommer (R-Pike), who said his brother is a football coach at a public high school in the state.
'I can't tell you how many times he's gone into the state playoffs, faced a charter or a private school that is loaded with talent and just gets mowed down. I hear it from the coaches on the staff and his friends of coaches, that this idea that is in this bill that you're talking about, is widely prevalent and thought of as a great idea amongst the coaches, at least, in my brother's circle,' Olsommer said.
The bill passed the House Intergovernmental Affairs and Operations Committee by a 20-6 vote and will be referred to the full chamber for consideration.
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