Public vs. private debate not exclusive to PIAA: Alabama defends its competitive-balance formula in court

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, June 28, 2018 | 10:56 PM

As the PIAA debates a competitive-balance formula for Pennsylvania high school athletics, another state association is defending a similar system in court.

A Catholic school in Mobile, Ala., has asked a federal judge to abolish the formula created by the Alabama High School Athletic Association intended to address imbalance between public and private schools in that state, according to AL.com.

A judge this week denied St. Paul’s Episcopal School’s request for a preliminary injuction .

Competitive-balance formulas force successful teams into a higher classification with schools that have larger enrollments. In Alabama, private school enrollments already are calculated with a multiplier of 1.35.

A lawfirm representing the Mobile, Ala., school argued that “AHSAA’s new rule penalizes some private schools for being successful and increases private school athletes’ injury risk,” according to AL.com, which noted St. Paul’s won five state titles last school year.

Alabama’s competitive-balance formula only applies to private schools .

The PIAA formula under consideration would apply to all member schools and would factor in both postseason success and the number of athletes who transferred into the school. The PIAA could finalize its formula at the July board meeting.

Here's the official order: Federal judge denies St. Paul's request for a preliminary injunction against the AHSAA. Here's the first story. More to comehttps://t.co/jSq9k4lZBL

— Ben Thomas (@BenThomasPreps) June 27, 2018

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.