PIAA asks Commonwealth Court for emergency stay to force Aliquippa football to Class 5A

By means of: Chris Harlan

Wednesday, July 3, 2024 | 2:27 PM

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With football season just weeks away, the PIAA has asked the Commonwealth Court for an expedited hearing that would allow Aliquippa to be placed in a higher classification.

The PIAA wants to promote the Quips from Class 4A to 5A under the competitive balance rule, but that move was blocked in May by a Common Pleas judge who granted the school district a preliminary injunction. The PIAA has asked the Commonwealth Court to stay that judge's decision while it appeals.

The Commonwealth Court on Wednesday scheduled a hearing for July 16 to hear the PIAA's emergency request for a stay. PIAA Executive Director Bob Lombardi declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

Football teams across the state will begin acclimating to the heat on August 5, with the first day of practice a week later. Week zero openers are on August 23.

As it stands now, Aliquippa will compete in Class 4A this fall, where the Quips will be defending WPIAL and PIAA champions.

The WPIAL has previously released two separate sets of schedules. The first, released in March, placed Aliquippa in the Class 5A Northeast Conference. However, after Common Pleas Judge James Ross granted the injunction, the WPIAL released updated schedules in early June with the Quips remaining in 4A Parkway.

The PIAA's competitive balance rule focuses on football teams that have been successful in the state playoffs, as measured by a PIAA competitive formula, and have also added three or more transfers in a two-year period. The PIAA said Aliquippa met both criteria.

However, the school district filed a lawsuit challenging the rule as flawed and unfair, arguing that the Quips should not be forced to play against opponents with three or four times as many students. After three days of testimony in a Beaver County courtroom, a judge granted Aliquippa's request for a preliminary injunction.

The PIAA appealed to the Commonwealth Court.

Aliquippa avoided a similar promotion to Class 5A in 2022, in part by raising health and safety concerns during its appeal hearing with the PIAA. The PIAA later specifically removed health and safety concerns as grounds for an appeal, a decision the judge criticized in his May ruling.

Lombardi testified at the hearing that the PIAA had dropped these points as grounds for an appeal, since only teams with exceptional success on the field can advance and therefore are not at greater risk of injury when playing against larger schools.

Aliquippa voluntarily played in two classifications – from Class A to 3A football – before the PIAA adopted the competitive balance rule in 2018. The school's current enrollment qualifies its football team for 2A.

Chris Harlan is a sports reporter for TribLive. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at [email protected].

Keywords: Aliquippa

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