PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi to retire as state’s top high school sports administrator

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 | 2:24 PM

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High school sports have changed in many ways since Bob Lombardi joined the PIAA nearly four decades ago, including a few troubling trends he shared Wednesday while discussing his plans to retire as executive director.

He was dismayed by a lack of sportsmanship, an unwillingness to adhere to rules and a forgetfulness that high school sports were meant to be fun — not necessarily a means to a free college education.

“If kids show an aptitude that they’re not too bad, every mom or dad thinks they’re going to Pitt or Penn State or Alabama or USC or wherever,” Lombardi said. “And the scholarships aren’t there. They ought to take all of the money they invest in taking a kid all over the country (for youth sports) and put it in a bank account and pay for the four years of college.”

Known for his candor, Lombardi joined the PIAA staff in 1988 and was promoted to executive director in 2012.

In announcing his retirement, the PIAA highlighted the 69-year-old Lombardi as “the founding father of the PIAA’s Annual Officials Convention, which celebrated its 30th year in 2025.” The event started with 75 attendees and grew to include more than 1,000 each year.

Lombardi oversaw a six-classification expansion in football, basketball, baseball and softball in 2016 and helped the PIAA to sanction three new sports — competitive spirit, girls wrestling and girls flag football — in his tenure as executive director. He also was involved in rewriting the PIAA transfer rules and implementing a novel competitive-balance formula.

His retirement is effective Dec. 31.

The PIAA board appointed chief operating officer Mark Byers to succeed Lombardi as the state association’s top administrator. Lombardi said his proudest accomplishment as executive director was leading the current 15-person PIAA staff he called the best in the country, including Byers, who joined the office in 1999.

“Handing this over to Mark will be a labor of love,” Lombardi said. “He’s tremendous. There’s not a better administrator in the country, and there’s nobody who can come in here and do this job like he can.”

Lombardi was asked what he sees nowadays in high school sports that needs to be changed. He shared three ideas.

On sportsmanship: “The lack of good sportsmanship and the lessons learned from athletics are very disappointing. The language of a foul nature and the behavior that we’re seeing in contests and on sidelines and in stands is reprehensible.”

On adherence to rules: “Rules are made for a reason — to follow them. It’s important. They’re the lessons learned in athletics. They also translate into life behavior and being a good citizen.”

On the spirit of sports: “I think many people have forgotten … it’s supposed to be fun. Why did you get involved? Because I liked it. Have you ever seen that little kid that’s 1½ or 2 years old just learning to run … and has a big smile on their face? That’s what we all started with years ago. We were playing. I don’t know if that’s there.”

Lombardi earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from East Stroudsburg, where he played on the men’s soccer team, and later received a doctorate in sports administration from New Mexico. He and his wife, Julie, have two daughters.

Before joining the PIAA, Lombardi worked as a teacher and coach in the Wayne Highlands School District in Honesdale, near where he grew up. Last summer, he became the first PIAA administrator to serve a one-year term as board president for the National Federation of State High School Associations.

A fast-approaching milestone birthday was his motivation to retire this winter.

“In five weeks, I will be 70 years old,” Lombardi said. “This is a young man and young woman’s business. We have a tremendously capable staff. They don’t need an old fart like me hanging around and getting in the way.”

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.