The PIAA has passed a new rule the organization hopes will curb student-athletes from reclassifying or “redshirting” by repeating eighth grade for no reason.
The PIAA approved a third and final reading of new language in its period of participation rule. The new language essentially states that student-athletes who repeat eighth grade for no reason will lose a year of eligibility in high school.
The PIAA board of directors voted 29-0 to pass the new rule. When asked what prompted the PIAA to come up with the new rule, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said, “District 1 [Philadelphia area] individuals felt there was a good percentage of folks who are repeating eight grade and basically redshirting. They don’t think that’s appropriate. So they brought [the new rule] forward.”
The new rule does not affect any current student-athletes in grades 7-11 who might have repeated eighth grade. Lombardi said the new rule pertains only to students currently in sixth or seventh grade. There are athletes at WPIAL high schools right now who have repeated eighth grade for no reason, including a few top basketball players.
But Lombardi said, “This rule was not designed to ‘catch’ anybody now. It’s for the future.”
Under the old rule, a student-athlete had six “seasons” of eligibility at the start of seventh grade and four “years” of eligibility at the start of ninth grade. There is a difference between seasons and years. For example, it wouldn’t matter if an athlete didn’t play sports as a freshman and sophomore. They would still have only two years of eligibility.
Most public schools will not permit a student to repeat a grade unless they fail or have other extenuating circumstances. But some athletes were playing in seventh and eighth grade and then transferring to a private, Catholic or charter school to repeat eighth grade. The athlete wouldn’t play sports in eighth grade at the new school, thus retaining four “years” of eligibility when starting high school.
The new rule states a student will only get “eight semesters” of eligibility after successfully completing eighth grade. It also states “a repeat of eighth grade after successful completion of the credits requirements or meeting the school’s promotional requirements, will trigger the start of the student’s eight consecutive semesters of eligibility.”
When asked if student-athletes will now just repeat seventh grade instead of eighth, Lombardi said, “The initial conversation, I believe, was to consider all the way back to sixth or seventh grade, making it a 12-semester rule. I don’t want to speak for the author [of the rule], but it appeared they thought 12 semesters was a bit too far.
“My understanding is you’re not seeing this [repeating a grade] at seventh grade. You’re seeing it at eighth grade, when someone is changing schools, putting the clutch on and getting redshirted.”
Girls wrestling in PIAA future?
It’s highly likely that girls wrestling will soon become a sponsored sport by the PIAA and WPIAL.
The PIAA board of directors passed on a first-reading basis a rule to sponsor girls wrestling. The rule must pass two more readings, but that appears to be a formality, judging from Lombardi’s comments and those from others on the board. If the rule passes two more readings, it is not certain when the PIAA will start to sponsor wrestling.
“When we will start is up to the [PIAA] board,” Lombardi said. “Passing it on a first-reading basis is important, just to get it out so our districts can go back to the schools and see when they would like to start. We have a number of schools that have only one, two or three girl wrestlers. All of this needs to be hashed out so we can make qualifying procedures equitable across the board.”
A year ago, the PIAA passed an “emerging sport” rule, which essentially says a new sport can be sponsored by the PIAA if 100 schools formally approve a varsity program for that sport. A group called SanctionPA started an initiative in 2020 to get more Pennsylvania schools to sponsor girls wrestling. Pennridge in eastern Pennsylvania became the 100th school to approve girls wrestling just last week. Lombardi said there are now 101 schools that will have a girls wrestling program.
Of the 101 schools that will have girls wrestling, 14 are from the WPIAL. They are: Burgettstown, Canon-McMillan, Connellsville, Fort Cherry, Kiski Area, Laurel, Moon, Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Penn Hills, Pine-Richland, Plum, Seneca Valley and Southmoreland.
“We are very hopeful that the energy and strength that we have now [for girls wrestling] doesn’t stop and we could continue to get as many schools as possible,” Lombardi said. “I think currently we have 472 schools that are sponsoring boys wrestling. We would like to have a similar number for girls.
“We want to set it up in the same first-class way we do all of our events so that it stands the test of time.”
Home basketball games
The PIAA announced that teams at the top of the bracket in the boys and girls basketball playoffs will get a home game in the first round. All games in other rounds will be at neutral sites.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: February 22, 2023, 9:49 p.m.
Updated: February 23, 2023, 11:06 a.m.
