12/10/2025
How true. Schools like La Salle College and St Joe’s Prep recruit like college programs. Soon their “student athletes” will get NIL deals.
Out of Bounds: Pennsylvania's 6A Playoff Football Problem
Over the past 10 football seasons in Pennsylvania's largest 6A high school classification, no boundary (private, parochial, preparatory) teams have won 40 out of 48 playoff football games against boundary (public) teams including eight state titles in the last 10 years. Doesn't sound like competition does it?
But first, some history.
From 1998 to 2007, public boundary teams dominated Pennsylvania's 4A classification winning seven out of 10 state titles. Everything changed a year later in 2008 when the Philadelphia Catholic League entered the picture, becoming full members of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). Over the next eight years until 2015, the PCL or no boundary teams evened the score, splitting state title ownership 4-4 with boundary teams while legally recruiting and retaining athletes across school district lines. The following year in 2016, the PIAA expanded to six classifications to assist smaller schools with competitive balance. While this expansion may have helped the majority of schools, it certainly didn't help 6A boundary schools or limit the no boundary school's dominance.
I have nothing against no boundary programs. In fact, I admire what the majority of them are able to accomplish. Excellent training programs, high quality coaching, an expected culture of excellence and results. Lots of them. I also don’t have a problem with them recruiting all of the best athletes around or the fact that after years of winning, their reputation does it for them. I get why parents and athletes want to be involved.
But I do have something against a playoff system that permits programs with a significant competitive advantage to compete against programs without. There is no reason that a boundary team who reaches the state semi-final playoff game should get blown out by a no boundary team at the half, time and time again. At this stage of the game, we aren’t comparing apples to apples. We're comparing a larger, faster and stronger roster populated from multiple school districts, to a roster defined by a single school district's boundary.
So now what?
Well, probably nothing if you like the current playoff model or if you're connected to one of the 2,452 males that attend 6A no boundary schools. Or, just the opposite if your connection is to one of the 76,271 males that attend 6A boundary schools. I don't know about you, but the current playoff model and its results affect many more in this classification than it helps.
Solution:
You go about it the same way Rep. Samuel Frank of Lehigh County did in 1972 when he proposed legislation that would enable Catholic high schools to participate in the playoffs against public schools. He reasoned that if Catholic high school teams were already competing against public high school teams during the regular season, why wouldn't they be permitted to compete during the playoffs? Frank's legislation unanimously passed and became law, Act 219 of 1972.
Welp, it isn’t 1972 anymore. House Bill 41, introduced by Rep. Scott Conklin of Centre County tries to do just that. Introduced in January, his legislation seeks to untie the hands of the PIAA and its allegiance to Act 219 of 1972. Conklin's legislation would amend the act adding a clause: Playoffs and Championships -- (a) The association may establish separate playoffs and championships for athletics for boundary and non-boundary schools. Conklin argues the current playoff system gives no boundary teams the ability to field athletes with superior size, strength and speed due to the lack of a boundary creating an unfair advantage and an unsafe environment. Conklin wants separate playoff systems and championships for boundary and no boundary schools. The bill was passed by the house on May 12, 2025 with a 20 to 6 vote where it was laid on the table. If you have interest in the matter, please visit www.palegis.us and locate your legislator or prime sponsor of the bill Rep. Scott Conklin at www.pahouse.com/Conklin/Contact.
I agree with Rep. Samuel Frank that No Boundary schools deserve to participate in the playoffs. However, I think it should be against similar 6A no boundary competition. Pending the outcome of Conklin's legislation, this could certainly be accomplished within the PIAA. If not, athletic associations such as the Pennsylvania Independent Schools, Penn-Jersey or Inter-Academic League seem to make more sense for these caliber type teams.
Neighboring state New Jersey (NJSIAA) already separates the two for postseason play. Just two months ago, New York (NYSPHSAA) okayed a plan for statewide criteria to reclassify non-public schools for postseason play. We see this happening in other parts of the country as well. Tennessee fully separates boundary and no boundary schools during the postseason while states like Georgia, Florida and Louisiana all feature partial separation of boundary and no boundary schools during postseason play.
After ten years of blowouts, it's time to level the playing field.
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