Unified Allderdice boys soccer players, parents speak out, take aim at WPIAL, PPS officials for bumbling PIAA eligibility rule

Photo courtesy Allderdice Dragons boys soccer

Allderdice High School boys soccer team were going about their usual business, training and preparing for the final stretch of the season which would resume with a what was planned as a key WPIAL Class 3A, Section 3 match on Saturday afternoon at Belle Vernon (12:30 p.m. kickoff).

Dragons Head Coach David Thyberg had to break some bad news to his players on Wednesday, shortly after recieving word that City League (PIAA District 8) soccer teams were informed by WPIAL and Pittsburgh Public Schools officials, more than halfway through the season, that the section matches that they’ve already played and were scheduled to play, would no longer count and they would not be eligible to complete in the upcoming WPIAL playoffs, despite sitting in third place with a 5-2-1 record against section competition.

“When coach told us, it was so disappointing. We worked so hard to get to this point. We trained hard.  We’ve been competing together as a team for the past two months. We won games,” Allderdice senior captain Jacek Piekut told Pittsburgh Soccer Now in an exclusive interview.

“Now, it doesn’t matter?”

Piekut and his teammates along with the coaching staff at Allderdice, as well as players and coaches for the Dragons girls team and the other City School who have been competing in the WPIAL, Obama Academy, were all stunned by this development, as it was the first they they were made aware of a rule that was voted on in early 2023 by PIAA schools and officially passed by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Board of Directors in early July 2023. (Official vote by member schools voted 799-27 to enact the rule effective July 1, 2023).

Pittsburgh City Schools make up PIAA’s District 8.  The WPIAL (PIAA’s District 7) have for a number of years, primarily due to lack of schools within the City League who field soccer teams, has included Pittsburgh City Schools soccer teams in its section competition as associate members. Ahead of this season, during the new realignment cycle, Allderdice and Obama’s boys and Obama’s girls soccer teams were placed in sections in WPIAL’s Class 3A, while Allderdice girls remained in Class 4A.

The rule that was passed in July 2023, states specifically that teams from member schools are eligible to participate in PIAA District Championship tournaments and Contests only in the PIAA District in which they are a member.

WPIAL boots City Schools’ Allderdice and Obama Academy soccer teams, to be in compliance with PIAA’s 2023 ruling

What makes learning the news from coaches and school administrator even more difficult for Piekut and his teammates, according to reports from Allderdice players and parents who have spoken out thus far and shared their concerns with Pittsburgh Soccer Now, that PPS Director of Interscholastic Athletics, Karen Byers Arnold, voted in favor of the rule, and failed to prepare the PPS soccer and tennis teams accordingly.

In order to stay in compliance with this rule, the WPIAL’s Vince Sortino informed Allderdice and Obama Academy’s soccer teams — nearly a year and three months later — that they are not eligible to compete in the WPIAL, and in the postseason.

The rule change came soon after WPIAL member school Butler took the PIAA to court over its desire to compete in the District 10 football playoffs. Butler now plays an independent schedule with no opportunity for a postseason in either district.

Sortino told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Thursday that the ineligibility was noticed only recently.

Sortino stated in the email that the two schools were included in WPIAL section alignments at the City League’s request (as they have been in previous years), but due the rule passed in 2023, schools which are not from the same district can no longer request an exemption to compete in different districts as associate members.

Yet, for a bulk of the 2024 season, which started in August, Allderdice and Obama coaches and players were oblivious — going about their business, training and competiting against quality, fellow high school soccer programs from the same region.

On Friday, Byers-Arnold shared a letter with Allderdice players and parents.  Pittsburgh Soccer Now has obtained a copy of this letter.   Although Allderdice and Obama cannot compete in the WPIAL moving forward, they still concievably have a path to the PIAA playoffs.

With two teams competing in Class 3A on boys side, Allderdice and Obama, then this begs the question, will they now compete against each other for a chance to advance to the PIAA playoffs?

Or, is it too late?

That appears to be where things are headed on the boys side.

The girls side is different, as Obama (3A) and Allderdice (4A) compete in separate classifications, thus would have to follow the process to request a Sub-Regional playoff with the WPIAL.

“This decision seems to be a football decision to punish Butler Football, which was attempting to find a competitive balance for their student athletes, which they struggled to find in the WPIAL,” Jeremiah Dugan, Allderdice Girls Soccer coach told Pittsburgh Soccer Now.

“Unfortunately we (Pittsburgh Public Schools student athletes) have been caught up in this decision. For the past 15 years PPS soccer teams have competed in the WPIAL and had a wonderful experience playing against our friends and neighbors in Western PA. Allderdice Girls Soccer qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs twice will be a highlight of my career and a wonderful experience for our athletes. Not having that opportunity now and learning about it mid season is a gut punch. Our players and families feel betrayed and deserve to be treated better. We will continue to train and play our schedule as planned with the intent on winning every game. On a positive note we look forward to participating in the PIAA playoffs and plan on being a force in that tournament, but we would have preferred to qualify from the WPIAL.”

Taking the City League teams out of WPIAL competition, where the postseason finals are played every year within the City of Pittsburgh, at Highmark Stadium, is another painful twist of irony.

“Last year, we made the (WPIAL) playoffs,” Piekut said.

“Of course we belong in the WPIAL. No serious soccer players would want anything else. We should be competing against the schools in our area as we don’t have anyone in the City Schools, except for Obama (Academy), who we usually play once a year.”

In PSN’s Playoff Projections posted on Sunday, Allderdice’s boys soccer team (6-3-1, 4-2-1 in Class 3A, Section 3), who did not play on Thursday, are currently in 3rd place in the section they’ve been assigned and in line to secure a playoff berth.

Obama Academy’s boys team (4-8-0, 2-8-0 in section), also in Class 3A, but in Section 1, played on Thursday, losing 2-1 at Mars.

Allderdice’s girls team (4-7-0, 2-5-0 in section) have been competing in Class 4A, where they’ve been battling for a playoff spot in Section 3.  Obama Academy’s girls side has been competing in Class 3A and by late season were not in contention for a playoff spot.

“We are talking with the WPIAL, hoping that we can overturn this,” Piekut said.

“We’ll go to court if we have to.”

The City League teams, moreso than any others in Western Pennsylvania, represent a highly diverse group of student-athletes, with many who can’t afford to play for soccer clubs and academies, thus being part of their high school team is their highest level of competition.

“As more and more of youth athletics become financially impossible for most families to afford; HS athletics is one of the only places where some can compete,” Another concerned parent shared on Facebook.

“Instead of providing a timely ruling before the season; this is yet another example of WPIAL and PIAA NOT putting the kids best interest first.”

Both seniors Piekut, who does train and play with Steel City FC, and Thomas, a midfielder who completes/trains with Riverhounds Development Academy, have cherished their experience playing alongside their school classmates.

“It means a lot to us, as City kids.  Playing in the WPIAL puts us on the map,” Piekut said.

Thomas added: “Players on the team hail from many continents. You might hear French, Spanish, Lingala, Italian, Swahili, Czech, Hebrew, Arabic and more. We have ESL players who have a teammate that translates for them. To some, we are ‘city kids’ as folks like to label us in implicitly biased tones. To us, we are a diverse representation of PPS and proudly call ourselves Allderdice Dragons.

Before Saturday’s match at Belle Vernon, when the lineups are announced, Allderdice players will exhibit their unity. In a show of protest, they will not have starters announced and will walk on the field as an entire team.

“We have teammates from so many different backgrounds. We are a diverse group, and we take a lot of pride in being part of this team,” Piekut said.

@PPSnews @PGSportsNow @pghsoccernow @wpial7 @piaa @JohnKrysinsky @TribLiveHSSN @soccer_rabbi @gainey_ed @SummerForPA @SenFettermanPA @DocMcCoyAtDice pic.twitter.com/5SkLZ7AoC3

— Pittsburgh Allderdice Boys Soccer (@DiceBoysSoccer) October 5, 2024