Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Photo of Heinz Field courtesy of Aliquippa AD Dr. Jennifer J. Damico. Published January 9, 2024 11:20 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) It was recently announced that the PIAA intends on moving the Aliquippa Quips to 5A for the 2024 football season. State Representative Rob Matzie tells Beaver County Radio, him and the PA Athletic Oversight Committee are preparing legislation to bring some reform to the PIAA.

It’s been 25 years since the state legislature has taken a look at PIAA.
At that time, 13 recommendations for how they should operate were made,
and the PA Athletic Oversight committee was formed. The committee holds a hearing with the PIAA every year, where they talk about mainly finances and issues, but the committee ultimately has no governance.

The PIAA removed a rule that kept safety in the equation for determining how far teams can play up. Matzie says the PIAA removed the rule without telling anybody, and nobody knew until this week. The removal of the role effectively makes it so that the safety of players is not considered when making a team such as Aliquippa play up against teams that have over double the players they do. “What kind of message are we sending our kids?”, Matzie said. The PIAA will only consider success and transfers.

Southern Columbia has one seven straight titles, but has a “boundry list” that allows them to effectively recruit from nearby areas without punishment. St. Joes Prep, a 6A school in Philadelphia, currently dominates the 6A division and openly recruits players from other states. 6A is the highest division of the PIAA, so they are not met with any consequences.

The PIAA has repeatedly alleged that Aliquippa is recruiting. At least one Aliquippa player, who has attended the district since kindergarten, was allegedly named a transfer. “I’m not sure what type of leg Aliquippa is going to have to stand on”, Matzie said. “They may have to go to court”. Families and people close to the situation, including Matzie, say that some of these alleged transfers are people just trying to keep a roof over their head.

Matzie says legislation is in place and they preparing to put pressure on the board of the PIAA. The first bill will state, “if you are using a rule to determine classification every two years, that rule can only be used by following the exact census of students in the school.” Under current census data, Aliquippa would be classified as a 2A school, in the past they were 1A, but chose to play up in 2A for many years.

The PIAA is an independent non profit organization, in which schools pay dues to, and doesn’t fall under any department of the state. Matzie calls them “quasi-government” and says he believes approximately 90 percent of their funding is coming from tax payer dollars.

Matzie would like to see a super majority implemented into the PIAA, which could give the PA Athletic Oversight Committee voting and veto power against the PIAA. He believes state legislation has the power to perform a takeover on the PIAA, adding “They got comfortable”, and “I’m gonna poke the bear”.