Baldwin-Whitehall and Aliquippa football programs make big moves ahead of WPIAL season

There are two big high-school football decisions that will impact two school districts in our region.

One is about the Baldwin-Whitehall School District – that's taking matters into its own hands.

The other is Aliquippa regarding its classification appeal with the PIAA.

Aliquippa wins PIAA appeal, moves down to 3A from 4A

Football season is a long way from now, but "Quip Town" has scored.

"The first reaction was relief – then joy and excitement," Jennifer Damico, director and student services director with the Aliquippa School District, said.

It was a multi-month "drive", but Damico and the district still ended up in the "end zone" – after a lot of presentation and preparation.

The PIAA overturned its initial decision that kept Aliquippa in Class 4A on Wednesday.

"They look at our success points – you get success points for how often you win," Damico said.

It's something that was not telling the full story, the athletic director said. She mentioned that a lot of kids on Aliquippa's football team play offense and defense – and that long-term health was a worry.

The Quips will now spend the next two seasons in Class 3A. Damico told KDKA it allows the team to play other schools with similar situations.

"We live in a very transient community – housing is very affordable in Aliquippa," she said. "People move in and out all the time. It always affects us – even if those kids that join the team don't necessarily play."

Damico told KDKA that in the most recent cycle, there were nine transfers. By the time the team won a WPIAL 4A championship in November, only four of them remained on the team.

Aliquippa football head coach Mike Warfield told KDKA via cell phone that he respects the fact that the PIAA took time to "listen to evidence" related to transfers that were identified, and apply that to the formula used to determine classifications.

"Unfortunately, you know, football is the only fall sport that we have," Warfield said.  "So, a lot of our kids that, you know, truly aren't quite football players never play or are just physically unable to compete at this level."

Warfield said he enjoys having a lot of those kids on the team and that he encourages them.

The coaches, along with the district, did have to be concerned when playing schools that may be in the same classification in 4A but may not be comprised of similar rosters, he said.

"The main thing is the school district is concerned about the health, safety, and welfare of the student athletes," Warfield said. "Winning games is secondary to them. So, they're always focused on what's best for our kids."

While the head coach said the kids on the team will "always be focused," Damico is happy – like others around the program – that the issue has been settled.

"I'm looking forward to the kids just being able to focus on the game, their preparation, less noise, less controversy," she said.

Baldwin-Whitehall leaves WPIAL, will play as independent

The Baldwin-Whitehall School District has announced that its football team is going to compete as an independent for the next two seasons.

Baldwin's superintendent, Dr. Randy Lutz, told KDKA that the roster's numbers had been small for several years, but that there is a large freshman class incoming.

"Our freshmen would be then juniors," Lutz said. "Hopefully, some of the sophomores that we have would then, of course, be seniors."

Lutz said the move is because the district wants to focus on student safety and development.

About 30 percent of the district's population of students is not from the United States, he added, mentioning there are families with students from places like Nepal and Bhutan who may not be interested in football, inflating the district's enrollment numbers relative to the pool of kids that may be interested in playing the sport.

He added that there have been issues with being outnumbered on the football field in recent years, with some teams having as few as 25 players.

"They're playing offense, they're playing defense, they're also playing special teams," Lutz said.

The superintendent is hoping this will lead to more competitive games in the meantime, until the WPIAL's two-year scheduling cycle comes up, when the incoming freshmen get older.

"We're still gathering information on various teams in various districts, and they're gathering information on us," Lutz said.

Lutz says some players were concerned about the move. There were some player meetings with the head coach and athletic director before this decision was made, he said. Some were worried about not competing for championships because of being out of the WPIAL.

"That's not anything that we've been able to compete for in the last several years anyhow," Lutz said. "…generally, the kids are really excited about it."