Altoona makes pitch to WPIAL Board of Directors to join District 7 in all sports

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 16, 2017 | 9:51 PM

The WPIAL Board of Directors on Monday listened to a proposal by officials from Altoona School District who are interested in joining the WPIAL in all sports.

Altoona already is a member in football.

After listening to the proposal from the principal and athletic director, the WPIAL asked Altoona to provide some additional information about the move. The WPIAL also will provide Altoona with some more information.

“They made a good proposal,” WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley said. “They are coming back in November, and we'll possibly make a decision.”

The Blair County school makes long trips to find opponents of a similar size all sports. While the closest WPIAL schools to Altoona are Latrobe, Norwin and Hempfield, those trips are about 1½ hours along Route 22. Altoona makes trips to the Harrisburg area, State College, Erie and the WPIAL for other sports.

“They are very interested in joining us,” O'Malley said. “They've attempted before.”

Saints await decision

The WPIAL board also discussed a case where five players competed for the Imani Christian football team this season, but the school failed to file transfer paperwork to the WPIAL on time. That decision on their eligibility will announced Tuesday morning.

Approved, denied

The WPIAL approved the transfer of basketball player Destiny Roberts from Oakland Catholic to Derry. Roberts, a sophomore, transferred to Oakland Catholic last year.

• The WPIAL denied the request of Lincoln Park student Kaliey Olenick for an additional year of athletic participation. Olenick is 19 years old.

“She did not fall in the criteria to grant her an additional year,” O'Malley said.

• The board also accepted the procedural plans from Ellwood City, Beaver County Christian, Valley, Highlands and South Park for different incidents this fall.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.