Pennsylvania State Representative Rob Matzie, out of Beaver County announced Friday that he plans to introduce legislation to look at the “policy, practices, finances and structure with view toward comprehensive overhaul,” of the PIAA.
This comes a day after news broke that Aliquippa would have to, once again, jump a classification to 5A football.
Matzie is the vice chairman and longest-serving member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight committee.
“This is an issue we worked on two years ago, but after Aliquippa was successful in their appeal, I believed the issue was solved,” Matzie said. “The board, in reversing the initial decision, gave the impression that they would be open to changes to the formula. They indeed did, making it worse by removing player safety as a consideration. Now that this issue has reared its ugly head again, it’s time for the legislature to act.”
He says there is a flaw in the PIAA classification formula that the PIAA uses to determine what level a school will compete at.
He says Aliquippa voluntarily agreed to play in a higher classification but now are being, “pigeonholed by the association into that classification used for the formula, regardless of the school’s actual enrollment size.”
Matzie says the PIAA’s formula can hurt students that go to schools that don’t have the ability to have a large roster or the money to compete with larger district’s budgets.
“I would wage this fight for Aliquippa or any student athlete in our commonwealth,” Matzie said. “Simply put, it’s unfair, unsafe and a dangerous disadvantage to our kids. What’s most disturbing, is that I believe that this rule comes off as ignorant at best and arrogant at worst. Legislative action is necessary, and necessary now. Be assured, however, this is just the beginning. It’s been nearly 25 years since the last thorough review of the PIAA. It’s well past time for the legislature to have another look.”
The Quips won the Class 4A state title this fall and were runners-up in 2022, so now the PIAA plans to move them up to 5A under its competitive-balance rule.
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