PIAA cracks down on ‘redshirt’ years taken by junior high athletes

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, February 22, 2023 | 6:15 PM

The PIAA is cracking down on junior high athletes who take unofficial redshirt years.

Under a new rule interpretation approved Wednesday, students who pass eighth grade and voluntarily repeat that grade will start using up their eight semesters of high school eligibility. The rule change impacts students currently in sixth grade or younger, not those already in junior high or high school.

The redshirt issue was brought to the PIAA board by District 1, which includes suburban Philadelphia schools. The board approved the rule change unanimously.

“The District 1 individuals felt that there was a good percentage of folks that are repeating the eighth grade — basically redshirting — and they don’t think it’s appropriate,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said.

The rule takes effect July 1.

Athletes already are limited to six seasons beyond the sixth grade and four seasons after eighth grade. But until now, they could repeat the eighth grade, sit out the season, enter high school a year older and still comply with those limits.

Now, they can’t.

The PIAA in recent months considered a stricter approach that would’ve limited students to 12 consecutive semesters of athletic eligibility after the sixth grade. That would’ve impacted athletes repeating seventh or eighth grade.

However, Lombardi said the authors of the rule change felt that idea “was a little too far.”

“You were going down to a student when they were maybe 11 or 12 years of age,” Lombardi said. “My understanding is they’re not seeing (redshirts) at that age. They’re seeing it at the eighth grade.”

Under the new interpretation, an athlete’s eight semesters of high school eligibility will begin when the student “has completed the eighth grade and has been identified by their school for promotion,” whether the student moves to ninth grade or not.

Girls wrestling reaches 100

Days after reaching the 100-team threshold set by the PIAA, girls wrestling moved another step closer to becoming a sanctioned sport Wednesday. The PIAA board voted unanimously to adopt girls wrestling on a first-read basis.

City League athletic director Karen Arnold made the motion to approve and was seconded by North Allegheny athletic director Bob Bozzuto, who represents the state’s AD association. The sport must pass two additional votes at future board meetings, with the final vote requiring a two-thirds majority.

“We are very hopeful that the energy and the strength we have about 101 schools doesn’t stop there and we could continue to get as many as possible,” Lombardi said. “Currently, we have 472 schools that are sponsoring boys, and would like to have a similar number for girls.”

Organizers from Sanction Pa., the group leading the girls wrestling efforts, visited Tuesday in Harrisburg with state legislators to commemorate the 100-school milestone.

“It’s an honor to be able to reach this milestone this quickly,” said North Allegheny coach Daniel Heckert, who addressed the PIAA board via Zoom. “One hundred wasn’t the end. It’s a benchmark. We plan to continue to keep pressing forward. We want to see these numbers continue to grow.”

Advocates are hopeful the PIAA will hold state championships next winter, but Lombardi said the timeline is undetermined.

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.