In years past, the WPIAL granted Altoona, Hollidaysburg and McDowell associate membership to play WPIAL football. “There are no minutes that indicate our board at the WPIAL level voted to allow playoff implications.”īutler administrators accused the WPIAL of a double standard since some City League teams compete in the WPIAL as associate members and are eligible for the WPIAL playoffs. “The letter you received was contrary to a board vote,” Scheuneman said. However, current WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman on Wednesday told the PIAA that the January 2020 letter was sent without WPIAL board approval. About a month later, the WPIAL under then-executive director Tim O’Malley reversed course and sent a letter to District 10 saying the WPIAL no longer opposed Butler’s request. The Golden Tornado had gone 15-78 combined in the previous decade and the school saw player participation dwindle.īutler asked for permission to join District 10 as an associate member, but the WPIAL board denied that request at its meeting in December 2019. The situation dates to the winter of 2019-20.Īfter enduring two winless seasons in a row, Butler administrators decided to withdraw the football team from WPIAL competition. Mylan, Wyllie, superintendent Brian White and attorney Tom Breth represented Butler at the PIAA appeal hearing. But there’s also the part where you gave us permission to do something, we set a course of action with our program, we set goals to get back on our feet, and you’ve taken that away.” “As an athletic administrator, there’s a part of me that understands some of the WPIAL’s stance, I guess. “It’s heart-wrenching for me not to have an answer for our student-athletes when they ask why they’re doing this to us,” Mylan said. Butler already was ineligible for the WPIAL playoffs unless it plays in a WPIAL conference. 18 to ban Butler from future District 10 playoffs. However, after the playoffs were over, the WPIAL board informed the school that it wasn’t allowed to qualify for the District 10 playoffs, saying Butler’s participation there is limited to the regular season. The Golden Tornado football team saw improvement last fall, finished 5-5 and competed in the District 10 playoffs. “To go play one sport in another district and not make the usual, traditional transfer to the district becomes difficult,” Lombardi said, “because districts’ strengths are their schools.”īutler principal John Wyllie said he couldn’t make that decision about moving all sports to District 10 without consulting others in the school district.
The PIAA doesn’t recognize so-called associate memberships, so Lombardi asked Butler’s representatives whether they might consider moving all sports to District 10. PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said the board rejected Butler’s appeal largely on “constitutional and jurisdictional” ground. Butler joined that district for football two years ago, hoping a favorable schedule there might help its long-struggling program. We’re not going to be afraid to be involved in litigation with anyone else.”ĭistrict 10 includes schools from the state’s northwestern corner. “I think it’s a known fact that Butler School District sued the governor. “Our solicitor’s office will proceed with legal action,” Mylan said. Butler is a member of the WPIAL (District 7) but has competed in District 10 football as an associate member for two years.īutler can continue to play regular-season games in District 10 but can’t compete in the postseason, a situation Butler athletic director Bill Mylan called “heart-wrenching.” The PIAA board on Wednesday heard a nearly hour-long appeal from Butler and voted unanimously to sustain an earlier WPIAL ruling that made the Golden Tornado ineligible for playoffs in District 10. Butler intends to take legal action after the PIAA upheld a decision banning the football team from the District 10 playoffs, said the school’s athletic director.
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