Zeise is right: "Shorten the PIAA football season"

... health of players major concern 

For Pitt or Penn State to win a national championship in college football this year, each team would play a maximum of 15 games.

For a high school football team in Pennsylvania to win the state championship, it would have to play 16 games, more than a college player.

That makes no sense.

Zeise argument 

Post-Gazette reporter Paul Zeise wrote earlier this week that playing 16 games is hard on the players from a health standpoint. From that perspective, Zeise makes a number of salient points about how the PIAA should prevent that from occurring, especially since they have increased the number of classifications from four to six.

I agree with his argument, though I am not sure what this would mean logistically to try to change the system.

Argument for 13 -- instead of 16 -- games

Here is the gist of his argument:

'It is ridiculous that high school football players are asked to play 16 games to win a championship, though. There is no good reason for the regular season to be longer than eight games, and for teams that make the playoffs and advance to the state championship, to play more than five additional games ,,, Teams that win the state title should play no more than 13 games, which is the number of games many NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision teams still play,"

This is logical and could be possible, but many coaches will disagree with it. Zeise admits that the teams in the WPIAL [Western Pa. Interscholastic Athletic League] will not like the change because that will reduce the number of teams that will make the playoffs.

[Indeed, many coaches, players and fans of the WPIAL would rather play just their own playoffs, and forget about the state playoffs. That could happen in the future.]

Other reasons to not play 16 games 

I will take it a step further. Practicing in this area with the Nordic weather often means that the conditioning of the players in November and December is not at the same level that it was in August, September, and October. Zeise points out -- using his son's experience as an athlete at North Allegheny High School on two occasions -- that most of the athletes are playing through injuries that cannot heal.

Weather is a major concern on a number of levels, though since Hershey installed all-weather turf, those arguments are not a strident.

Basketball and wrestling 

One other consideration is the overlap of seasons that has resulted from the football scheme, which used to last into mid-December but will now end in early Dec. Basketball players will sometimes miss five to eight games because of the late playoffs.

This would also include wrestlers who will not be in shape until December, but since that is not really a team sport per se, that is not as much a concern as with basketball.

Another idea unrelated to topic

Since the inclusion of more games for championships, why not use other venues instead of just Hershey? At one time, Mansion Park in Altoona was used, but then the powers in the PIAA exerted control and moved everything to Hershey. One thing that could energize fans and increase attendance, which has been pretty dismal primarily because of the weather, could be using Hershey along with other venues. 

Conclusion

The major reason for not playing 15 or 16 games is because of the health of the players. They have been playing more games than the Div. I football players, which makes no sense. 

With six classifications, the PIAA can now have an alignment in which players will can still win a title without risking their health. Playing 13 games is reasonable. Those who play eight games in the regular season could include a ninth date, just as teams do with the tenth date. 

Football is a tough sport physically since it is a contact sport. The PIAA should ensure that players' health should be the major concern.

Zeise column

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/zeise-is-right/2016/08/26/Paul-Zeise-It-s-time-to-shorten-the-PIAA-high-school-football-season/stories/201608260199