The coming school year (2007-2008) will bring to an end many old traditions in Philadelphia sports. But, along with some of those lost traditions will be some new ones, as well as some that are rekindled. The 2008-2009 Philadelphia high school sports year will bring the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL) into the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), where they will join the Philadelphia Public League (PPL), which joined in the 2004-2005 school year.
Although the PCL is actually a member of the PIAA this coming year, they are merely a “paper member”, which means that although the teams will compete under the PIAA rules, they won’t be eligible to participate in the state playoff system. This is done for several reasons, such as getting paper work in order, applying for entry into District 12 and playing for a year under PIAA rules.
Normally, PIAA districts have defined boundaries, in which all of the teams within that district are located within the geographic boundary of that district. The PCL, which includes 8 city teams and 8 suburban teams, will all compete as part of District 12, whose geographic boundary is the city limits. As far as I know, this will be the only district in the state that has teams which are physically located within a different district. Pittsburgh is also unique, as District 8 is completely surrounded by District 7 (WPIAL). The difference here is that District 8 (Pittsburgh City League) has teams from just the city of Pittsburgh, while District 7 is all of the Pittsburgh area teams not in the City League.
The PCL will be split into three different enrollment classifications. In football, the big schools (Judge, Roman, Ryan, Prep, LaSalle, Bonner and O’Hara) will play in the AAAA division. The medium sized schools (North, Wood, Neumann-Goretti, Conwell-Egan and Dougherty) will participate in AAA, while the small schools (West, Kennedy-Kenrick, McDevitt, Carroll and Lansdale Catholic) will play in the AA division. Note: Lansdale Catholic will join the PCL in 2008 season. Each sport has their own classification schedule, so a team in AAA in football could very well be AAAA in basketball or baseball. In football, the current enrollment figures have North as a big AAA team, but after the next enrollment evaluation period, they could very well be moved to AAAA. We won’t know for sure until later this year.
One of the good things about both leagues being part of the PIAA is that it will enable the leagues to once again participate in the Philadelphia City Title series in most sports, including girls sports. The city title series ended in an ugly way after the 1979-1980 school year, when a lawsuit was filed by a PPL coach forced the PCL to either allow the girls to participate or pull the plug on the boys’ title games. Well, the PCL people in charge, in their not quite infinite wisdom, did the latter and the series ended after 60 years. Having both the PPL and the PCL in one district pretty much guarantees that the city title series (to be knows as the District 12 Championship) will be played again, starting in the 2008-2009 school year.
One of the biggest changes in school sports in Philadelphia will be the multiple championships. Back in the day, there was one PPL champion and one PCL champion, and those two champions played for the city title. Now, with three classifications, expect three league champs and three city champs in most sports. I’m not saying that this is right or wrong, but some of us “seasoned” folks have to get used to it. I’ll save the debate about recruiting and transfer rules for a later date, as some of those rules will probably change before the 2008 season rolls around.
It’s a brave new world for the city high school sports teams. Some things remain the same while others change and will continue to change as both city leagues go through their growing pains period of state competition. One thing is definitely certain; This is not your fathers’ Philadelphia Catholic League anymore.
Although the PCL is actually a member of the PIAA this coming year, they are merely a “paper member”, which means that although the teams will compete under the PIAA rules, they won’t be eligible to participate in the state playoff system. This is done for several reasons, such as getting paper work in order, applying for entry into District 12 and playing for a year under PIAA rules.
Normally, PIAA districts have defined boundaries, in which all of the teams within that district are located within the geographic boundary of that district. The PCL, which includes 8 city teams and 8 suburban teams, will all compete as part of District 12, whose geographic boundary is the city limits. As far as I know, this will be the only district in the state that has teams which are physically located within a different district. Pittsburgh is also unique, as District 8 is completely surrounded by District 7 (WPIAL). The difference here is that District 8 (Pittsburgh City League) has teams from just the city of Pittsburgh, while District 7 is all of the Pittsburgh area teams not in the City League.
The PCL will be split into three different enrollment classifications. In football, the big schools (Judge, Roman, Ryan, Prep, LaSalle, Bonner and O’Hara) will play in the AAAA division. The medium sized schools (North, Wood, Neumann-Goretti, Conwell-Egan and Dougherty) will participate in AAA, while the small schools (West, Kennedy-Kenrick, McDevitt, Carroll and Lansdale Catholic) will play in the AA division. Note: Lansdale Catholic will join the PCL in 2008 season. Each sport has their own classification schedule, so a team in AAA in football could very well be AAAA in basketball or baseball. In football, the current enrollment figures have North as a big AAA team, but after the next enrollment evaluation period, they could very well be moved to AAAA. We won’t know for sure until later this year.
One of the good things about both leagues being part of the PIAA is that it will enable the leagues to once again participate in the Philadelphia City Title series in most sports, including girls sports. The city title series ended in an ugly way after the 1979-1980 school year, when a lawsuit was filed by a PPL coach forced the PCL to either allow the girls to participate or pull the plug on the boys’ title games. Well, the PCL people in charge, in their not quite infinite wisdom, did the latter and the series ended after 60 years. Having both the PPL and the PCL in one district pretty much guarantees that the city title series (to be knows as the District 12 Championship) will be played again, starting in the 2008-2009 school year.
One of the biggest changes in school sports in Philadelphia will be the multiple championships. Back in the day, there was one PPL champion and one PCL champion, and those two champions played for the city title. Now, with three classifications, expect three league champs and three city champs in most sports. I’m not saying that this is right or wrong, but some of us “seasoned” folks have to get used to it. I’ll save the debate about recruiting and transfer rules for a later date, as some of those rules will probably change before the 2008 season rolls around.
It’s a brave new world for the city high school sports teams. Some things remain the same while others change and will continue to change as both city leagues go through their growing pains period of state competition. One thing is definitely certain; This is not your fathers’ Philadelphia Catholic League anymore.
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