WPIAL reveals football conference alignment for 2020, 2021 seasons

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WPIAL reveals football conference alignment for 2020, 2021 seasons

Chris Harlan | Monday, January 20, 2020 6:14 p.m.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Clairton’s Isaiah Berry (4) hoists the WPIAL championship trophy with teammates after defeating Sto-Rox in the Class A final Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, at Heinz Field.

The WPIAL has witnessed a decline in football attendance, so it took steps Monday to address those concerns.

The board approved an updated conference alignment that keeps the six classification format preferred by 70% of schools, but also attempted to quiet complaints about unwanted travel. To make that happen, the WPIAL created some conferences that are smaller and more geographically friendly, but also promised to provide nonconference opponents closer to home.

“We’re trying to promote football, and the way you promote it is to get people at the games,” said WPIAL associated executive director Amy Scheuneman, who oversaw the football realignment. “People aren’t going to drive two hours to go to a football game. But you might get someone who’s only 10 minutes away to take that drive over. Hopefully, we’ll spark some interest.”

The WPIAL effort included some new ideas.

The football committee has traditionally tried to balance the number of teams in each conference but didn’t take that approach this time. Instead, the WPIAL approved an alignment that, at times, is unbalanced.

In Class 2A, for example, the WPIAL created one eight-team conference, two with six teams and one with seven.

Class 4A also has an unbalanced look.

“Everybody wants to see closer games,” Scheuneman said. “For that to happen, we have to adjust how we make the sections.”

Class 6A has eight teams in one conference. Class 5A, 4A, 3A and A are all divided into three conferences. Class 2A has four.

With only 18 teams, the WPIAL could have reduced Class 5A to two conferences. Likewise, Class 2A could have seen its 27 teams crammed into three nine-team conferences.

The conferences approved Monday were very similar to a sample alignment shown to coaches and school administrators on Jan. 8 during a meeting at North Hills. However, there were a few late changes made by the football committee:

• In Class 4A, Hampton and Mars were shifted away from Beaver County schools and into a conference with traditional rivals from north and east of the city. To make room, the committee moved McKeesport into a conference with Thomas Jefferson, Belle Vernon, West Mifflin and others.

• In Class 3A, the committee switched Keystone Oaks and North Catholic for travel purposes. A similar decision was made in Class A, where Fort Cherry and Bishop Canevin traded spots.

Football schedules will be released by the first week of February. Those schedules will include nonconference opponents handpicked by the WPIAL rather than assigned at random, another decision made to reduce travel.

WPIAL playoff brackets and the number of postseason qualifiers in each classification won’t be decided until after the PIAA reveals updated state playoff brackets.

Monday’s reveal was weeks in the works. The WPIAL presented two realignment proposals to member schools Jan. 8 and asked administrators to vote. More than 70% of responses favored Proposal 1, a plan that maintained six classifications divided by enrollment.

Proposal 2, a more radical approach, would have divided WPIAL teams into 20 conferences by geography. Teams of different enrollment size would have shared the same conference, but a majority of schools rejected that idea.

“A lot of people who voted for (Proposal) 2 said they didn’t mind (Proposal) 1,” Scheuneman said. “(Proposal) 1 was an improvement over previous cycles.”

2020-21 WPIAL football alignment

Class 6A (8 teams)

Section 1

BaldwinCanon-McMillanCentral CatholicHempfieldMt. LebanonNorth AlleghenyNorwinSeneca Valley

Class 5A (18 teams)

Section 1

Bethel ParkMoonPeters TownshipSouth FayetteUpper St. ClairWest Allegheny

Section 2

ConnellsvilleFranklin RegionalGatewayLatrobePenn-TraffordWoodland Hills

Section 3

Fox ChapelKiski AreaNorth HillsPenn HillsPine-RichlandShaler

Class 4A (22 teams)

Section 1

AliquippaBeaverBlackhawkChartiers ValleyMontourNew Castle

Section 2

ArmstrongGreensburg SalemHamptonHighlandsIndianaKnochMarsPlum

Section 3

Belle VernonLaurel HighlandsMcKeesportRinggoldThomas JeffersonTrinityUniontownWest Mifflin

Class 3A (20 teams)

Section 1

AmbridgeAvonworthCentral ValleyHopewellKeystone OaksQuaker Valley

Section 2

BurrellDeer LakesDerryEast AlleghenyFreeportNorth CatholicValley

Section 3

BrownsvilleElizabeth ForwardMt. PleasantSouth AlleghenySouthmorelandSouth ParkYough

Class 2A (27 teams)

Section 1

Apollo-RidgeLigonier ValleySerra CatholicShady Side AcademySteel ValleySummit Academy

Section 2

Beaver FallsEllwood CityFreedomLaurelMohawkNeshannockNew BrightonRiverside

Section 3

Beth-CenterChartiers-HoustonCharleroiFrazierMcGuffeyWashingtonWaynesburg

Section 4

BrentwoodCarlyntonSeton LaSalleSouth SideSto-RoxWestern Beaver

Class A (24 teams)

Section 1

Bishop CanevinClairtonGreensburg Central CatholicImani ChristianJeannetteLeechburgRiverviewSpringdale

Section 2

AvellaBentworthCaliforniaCarmichaelsJefferson-MorganMapletownMonessenWest Greene

Section 3

BurgettstownCornellFort CherryNorthgateOLSHRochesterShenangoUnion

#WPIAL boys and girls volleyball section alignments for 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years #HSSN pic.twitter.com/ZFbFopyaD9