A Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) decision to force tiny Aliquippa High School’s football team to play against competitors with quadruple the enrollment violates common sense and the principle of fair play. The PIAA may have applied its policies and procedures as written, but this is the kind of absurd outcome that should call those policies into question.

The Aliquippa football program is legendary, having produced more Hall of Famers than any high school in America: Mike Ditka, Ty Law and Darrelle Revis. The past two years have been particularly successful, with the Quips making it to consecutive state championships, including a dominant victory last December.

The only problem? That means they’re too good for the PIAA.

According to the athletic association’s “competition classification formula,” if a team succeeds at the state tournament two years running, plus has more than three transfer players, it incurs a forced promotion to a higher classification. Aliquippa’s success plus five transfers mean it gets bumped from 4A to 5A, where the small Beaver County school will face competition such as Upper St. Clair and Moon, with enrollments over 1,200 compared to Aliquippa’s roughly 300.

By its enrollment alone, in fact, Aliquippa should be in the very lowest classification, 1A. Years ago, the team volunteered to move up two classifications, starting it at 3A. After succeeding there, the Quips got bumped to 4A, and are now on the cusp of 5A — essentially punishing the school for its own commitment to fairness.

Neither of the PIAA’s criteria stand up to much scrutiny, especially as applied here. First, two years of success at states could easily be the result of having one or two star players work through the system: It should require more years of sustained domination to merit a bump.

Second, the transfer criterion is meant to apply to schools, generally private ones, that serve as magnets for talent. Aliquippa, on the other hand, gets new players largely because it represents a population that is poorer and more transient than average. Further, the Quips’ 2022 and 2023 transfers contributed only a few snaps’ worth of play: The program is developing its own star players, not recruiting them.

Compare the Quips to Southern Columbia, a 2A school in the Susquehanna Valley that has stayed 2A despite winning seven straight state championships. Why? Because it didn’t meet the transfer criterion. And because the school’s administration refuses to volunteer to play up, as Aliquippa did.

Indeed, the Quips are a cautionary tale about what happens to programs that try to do the right thing.

The PIAA’s “competition classification formula” is broken. It should take more sustained success to get bumped, and transfers should only be counted if they contribute significantly to a team’s success. The simplest reform of all: No team — especially in a contact sport like football — should ever be forced to play more than two classifications above its enrollment.

As for the boys in Aliquippa, while 5A may not be fair, we expect they’re eager for the challenge.

First Published: February 1, 2024, 10:30 a.m.