Butler files lawsuit against PIAA in fight over District 10 football playoffs

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, March 31, 2022 | 6:39 PM

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The WPIAL has no grounds to ban the Butler football team from the District 10 playoffs, says a lawsuit the school district has filed against the PIAA.

The suit was filed last week in Butler County Common Pleas Court on behalf of the school and the parents of two varsity football players, Lance Slater and Mac Schnur, who object to the WPIAL’s decision. Butler argued in its complaint that a team’s playoff eligibility can be removed only in instances of misconduct, which wasn’t the case here.

“All of a sudden the WPIAL decided to impose a penalty on Butler,” district solicitor Thomas Breth told the Tribune-Review. “The constitution, the bylaws, the policies and procedures are very clear regarding the eligibility criteria to make the PIAA playoffs and the reasons why you could lose that eligibility, and Butler has done none of those things.”

The school district has asked the court to intervene.

Butler’s complaint also accuses the WPIAL of maintaining a double standard by letting some City League teams compete in the WPIAL playoffs as associate members and argues that the PIAA should allow struggling teams to play in a lower classification for players’ safety.

“They will force lower classification school districts to play up and they say that’s a competitive issue,” Breth said. “But they won’t permit the reverse and let school districts play down if they’re just not competitive.”

PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi declined to comment on active litigation.

Butler is a member of the WPIAL but played football in District 10 as an associate member the past two years in hopes of turning around a long-struggling program. However, after the Golden Tornado took part in the District 10 playoffs last season, the WPIAL insisted that wasn’t permitted and the board voted to officially ban Butler from qualifying for the D10 postseason in future years.

The WPIAL says Butler can play regular season games in District 10 but not playoff games.

The dispute centers around a letter sent Jan. 15, 2020, by then-WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley giving Butler permission to play football in District 10 as an associate member. Current WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman has since said the letter contradicted the wishes of the WPIAL board and was sent without board approval.

According to Butler’s complaint, the letter from O’Malley in part says: “The WPIAL Board of Directors has no issue with Butler seeking to play its own independent football schedule. Furthermore, if Butler wishes to become an Associate Member of PIAA District X in the sport of football only for purposes of being assigned or playing football games within that District, … the WPIAL Board is not opposed provided that all involved are aware that Butler is not relinquishing its membership in WPIAL.”

The letter noted that the “WPIAL does not know if this will allow Butler to play through PIAA District X for PIAA playoffs/championship purposes,” and appeared to leave that decision to District 10 and the PIAA.

The WPIAL board had voted in December 2019 to deny Butler’s request, a couple of weeks before the letter reversed course and allowed the team to become an associate member. The WPIAL board revisited the issue this January and again voted to deny Butler’s request, leading to the lawsuit.

“They’re disavowing that letter,” Breth said. “They’re saying that somehow the executive director acted on his own accord.”

Butler in its court filing said the letter was emailed to Butler athletic director Bill Mylan with copies sent to WPIAL board president Scott Seltzer, league attorney Brian Simmons and Scheuneman, who was the assistant executive director at the time.

“If Tim O’Malley did something that he didn’t have the authority to do, which is what they’re now saying, why does it take two years?” Breth said.

Butler appealed the WPIAL’s decision to the PIAA board and that appeal was denied Feb. 23 on what Lombardi called “constitutional and jurisdictional” ground.

In that hearing, Lombardi said entire schools can ask to join another PIAA district – an option Butler could pursue – but allowing individual teams to pick and choose an easier path to the state playoffs would be detrimental to the PIAA.

Butler left WPIAL football before the 2020 season after enduring two winless years in a row. The Golden Tornado had gone 15-78 combined in the previous decade. The school saw player participation dwindle and administrators were concerned the program would eventually fold.

School administrators have said they worried about player safety while facing big-school teams such as Central Catholic. In District 10, Butler found an easier schedule.

The team finished 5-5 last fall and competed against Erie McDowell in the Class 6A playoffs. McDowell won, 40-21, and advanced to the state playoffs.

Butler’s administration has said the team didn’t join District 10 to win a title, but that playoff eligibility is an important motivator for a team trying to improve.

Butler football coach Eric Christy addressed the WPIAL board during its March 14 meeting and offered a compromise: If Butler was allowed to compete in the District 10 playoffs the next two seasons, the team would return to WPIAL competition in 2024.

The WPIAL board rejected that offer.

“The administration tried desperately to find some common ground with both the WPIAL and the PIAA,” Breth said. “They rejected any efforts to compromise on the issue. The Butler board is very committed to doing what they believe is in the best interest of their student athletes.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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