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I haven’t written much on the PIAA’s decision to allow helmets and shoulders pads – but no physical contact – in off-season workouts. It’s because no one can can quite figure the need for helmets and shoulder pads if there’s no contact, unless it’s designed to torture players during especially hot days.
Anyhow, football is the only sport the PIAA stringently regulates in the off-season in terms of how players may “work out.” Let’s be honest. Basketball teams work out by playing basketball games. Wrestlers, especially the top tier kids, do their toughest wrestling in full-blown, grueling summer tournaments. Golfers golf; runners run; swimmers swim. Soccer, tennis, volleyball players, they all “work out” by playing their sports, often at a level far more strenuous that what the athletes endure in high school.
That’s why I’ve always kind of chuckled when people flip out over a wrestler wrestling 50 times in the scholastic season, with up to 20 percent coming in the PIAA postseason; wrestlers have at least that many matches in a two-month summer season.
But back to football. PIAA has all kinds of rules about camps, especially the ever-growing “contact camps” and other restrictions for football that simply don’t exist for other sports. The PIAA has begun to ease those restrictions at a true snail’s pace. The new shoulder pads rule is the latest.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mike White was in attendance at District 7′s annual meeting held recently and filed the following report when the matter of off-season football came up to PIAA executive director Brad Cashman, who spoke to the district’s athletic directors (Mike’s story is italicized):
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A confusing PIAA rule
Some football coaches and athletic directors around the WPIAL are scratching their heads about a new rule the PIAA has instituted concerning offseason workouts. Under the rule, helmets and shoulder pads are allowed for off-season workouts, including 7-on-7 camps.
But physical contact is not allowed in the pads. Individuals who participate in physical contact football in the offseason will be declared ineligible for one year.
A number of WPIAL athletic directors remained confused, even after the rule was explained to them by Brad Cashman, the executive director of the PIAA. Cashman had his annual meeting with WPIAL athletic directors Thursday to give a state-of-the-union-like address and also go over new rules and regulations. Most of the questions from the athletic directors were about the rule concerning helmets and shoulder pads.
They wanted to know what constitutes physical contact. Cashman described it as “skin-to-skin” contact. As Cashman pointed out, the rule allows for physical contact in offseason workouts or 7-on-7 scrimmages if a blocking/tackling shield or dummy is used.
“This rule was put in primarily for safety reasons to help prevent injuries,” Cashman said.
One athletic director questioned the meaning of skin-to-skin contact. When teams participate in 7-on-7 camps and scrimmages in the summer, defensive backs are often taught to “jam” a receiver at the line of scrimmage.
“So a defensive back is not NO DUMMIES HERE
“Not unless a shield or dummy is used,” Cashman said.
When asked if a defensive back “jams” a receiver at the line with a blocking dummy, what is the defensive back supposed to do then? Cashman said “throw down the dummy and then chase after the receiver.”
The PIAA might have trouble policing this one.
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“Throw down the dummy and then chase the receiver”? Brad didn’t say that at the District 3 meeting. If he had, I might have been thrown out for laughing too loudly. And then I would have missed a nice lunch.
Now, I don’t think much of 7-on-7; it’s flag football. But with contact not permitted, it’s about all football has in a competitive sense. But if d-backs at 7-on-7 have to jam receivers with a bag or shield, then toss it to the ground and take off, I might have to show up at a 7-on-7 this summer just for the laughs.
Yeah, Mike’s right. The PIAA just might have a little trouble enforcing this one.
I have no idea why the parents of HS football players and HS coaches are not screaming, yelling, and protesting to get this stupid PIAA No Contact Rule thrown out! This is not fair to the athletes and no other sport in the PIAA has to adhere to any regulation like this that comes close to limiting the athletes off season as this one . This is wrong and we are just putting our PA Football players in a disadvantaged position among other athletes in other states. Parents and coaches you need to stand up to this organization now! This rule is ridiculious and should be thrown out immediately!!