The new school, a merger of Indian Valley and Lewistown high schools that was approved by the Mifflin County School Board last week, will be in place next school year if current Mifflin County School District plans move forward. At current, there is no indication that anything will interrupt those plans, but with school mergers, anything can happen.

But here is what has happened: Indian Valley and Lewistown, both members of the Mountain League, were booted out of the Mountain League in 2012-2013, although the new school will have Mountain League schedules in most, if not all, sports for the next school year.

With the new school, which will be a mid-sized Class AAAA school in football and basketball, thrown out of the Mountain League, it is highly likely that the Mid-Penn Conference will accept the new school as a full member at the start of the next cycle.

On Thursday, the Mid-Penn Conference, as anticipated, accepted State College as an all-sports member; the Little Lions had been a football-only member since 2004. With Mifflin County between State College and Harrisburg, it makes adding Mifflin County a little more palatable to the Mid-Penn.

So palatable, in fact, the conference has included the Mifflin County school in its 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 schedules as a league member, despite the fact that no formal action has been taken on the Mifflin County matter.

In fact, the Mid-Penn, meeting at the same time as the Mountain League and unaware of the ML’s actions, would likely have passed the alignments that included Mifflin County had it not been for requests by Trinity and Steelton-Highspire to change basketball divisions. The conference will vote electronically next Wednesday on the alignments once Steel-High and Trinity resolve the issue. Assuming the Mifflin County school is included in those alignments, as they were on Wednesday, that’s a pretty good indication Mifflin County will have smooth sailing to Mid-Penn membership.

Sometimes I just provide links.

Sometimes I make people mad with my rankings or opinions.

Sometimes I even have someone agree with me.

But always, always, I wish the very best for everyone – athlete or not, coach or not, parent or not – because to think anything less would make me less than I can and should be.

I thank everyone for their patronage of RodFrisco.com this year. But far more than that, I wish everyone – Christian or otherwise – a very happy, safe and wonderful Christmas and holiday season.

Merry Christmas to all.

Fairly light menu, to be honest. The biggest news of the meeting occurred on Thursday night when the Board passed, on a first-reading basis, a proposal to advance the start of fall sports practice and playing dates by one week from the current PIAA calendar. The measure, if eventually passed in full by the Board of Directors, would be implemented for the 2012-2013 school year.

First, let’s make one thing clear: The proposal has not become PIAA policy yet. The measure must pass a second reading in January by a majority vote and by a two-thirds majority vote in March if it makes it that far. Thursday’s vote was 18-13, which shows the measure has support, but not the kind of overwhelming support required to implement the change. Frankly, it’s an uphill fight for the proposal; it will take 21 affirmative votes to pass the proposal.

A quick look at the financial game reports for fall sports shows that PIAA gate receipts are well behind last year’s fall sports receipts. Compared to last year’s receipts, PIAA is more than $23,000 behind last year’s total (football is not included in that number).

Updates will appear below the bar. The most recent update is at the top

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As expected, not much going on. The Board is down to a discussion stage on a number of matters that will not require Board action. I’m off to Hersheypark Stadium. Frisky out.

Lots of discussion on an important by-law: How the PIAA will count enrollment toward cooperative sponsorships. The PIAA is proposing to count 50 percent of a sending school’s enrollment toward a co-op rather than the current 100 percent. This seems like a reasonable and a good step toward alleviating the problem of bumping a host school up in classification.

Some Board members are bartering for an even greater reduction in percentage – District 5 rep Virgil Palumbo is asking for 25 percent – in orderto bring the percentage more in line with the actual number of students to go from a sending school to a host school.

There is a counter-argument that such a move would give a competitive advantage to the small number of schools that can engage in co-ops. And the proposal is tabled.

District 5 rep Virgil Palumbo makes a new proposal to lower the percent of enrollment used in a co-op to 25 percent. The measure passes on a first-reading basis, 22-7. The original proposal remains on the table.
Back in regular session.

Just finishing up a hearing for a Danville athlete. Will return to regular session shortly.

Recently, I’ve made it a habit to attend the PIAA’s sports steering committees (that’s where the seed is planted for changes in PIAA championships), and had every intention to attend last week’s football steering committee, but some other business intervened and I skipped it. Wish I hadn’t.

At that meeting, the football steering committee voted 11-0 with two members absent to propose move up the first date of football practice starting with the 2012-2013 school year.

In short, there has been much cursing and gnashing of teeth about the 16-week football season in Pennsylvania: Too long, runs deep into December, affects boys’ basketball and wrestling. All true, IMO. But the 16-week season has also allowed all PIAA districts to conduct their respective football championships as they wish (with just a few exceptions) and especially allows the WPIAL to retain its one-day, four-game championship day at Heinz Field.

As District 3 football chairman John Ziegler said at Tuesday’s meeting, “There’s no putting the 16-week genie back in the bottle.” Actually, it was something even a little more folksy, but I forgot to write it down.

As a result, the football steering committee is making a pitch to move up the start of football practice by a week statewide. As the 11-0 vote shows, the issue, which has been raised before and mumbled (rather than shouted) down, now has some serious support. In 2012, that would change the starting practice date from Aug. 13 to Aug. 6 and the first playing date from Aug. 31 to Aug. 24.

Ergo, the question: What’s worse, football on Aug. 4 or football on Dec. 11? And the other question: What’s worse, affecting 8 football teams and hundreds or basketball and wrestling teams or all of the state’s football teams?

District 3 knows where it stands on the issue: Heck, no.

District 3 will vote against the matter when it it raised at Thursday’s PIAA Board of Directors meeting in Hershey. And remember, there are 8 PIAA Board members who either represent, are associated with or live in District 3.

District 3 committee member Don Seidenstricker, the head football coach and AD at South Western High School in Hanover, summed up District 3′s basic position with the following: “This is insanity.”

He’s right, of course. The entire football season should be 15 weeks max (I prefer 14 weeks by shortening the regular season to nine games and expanding classes to six or seven, which these days is a bigger pipe dream than scoring the Mega Millions jackpot).

But the reality is this: Until some folks on the PIAA Board are willing to say “no” to their own, 16 weeks is the present and the future for Pennsylvania football. And an early start to the season, distatseful as it might be to many, the early start is the only solution to this mid-blowingly political problem.

CLASS AAA GIRLS
Championship: Hempfield defeated Upper Merion 25-15, 27-25, 25-23
Pool play
Notes: Hempfield wins its third PIAA girls volleyball title, including AAA titles in 2006 and 2004. … Hempfield’s 77 game points are the second-most by a state champion in a three-game championship set. … Upper Merion’s 63 game points are the second most by a losing team in a three-game set behind Holy Name’s 64 in 2009. … Hempfield is now 3-1 in championship matches and is 9-5 in state finals games … Upper Merion was making its first state finals appearance.

CLASS AA GIRLS
Championship: merion Mercy Academy defeated West Allegheny 25-12, 25-17 and 25-10
Pool play
Notes: Merion Mercy won its fourth straight PIAA Class AA championship with its straight set triumph over West Allegheny, which was making its second PIAA championship match appearance. In fact, West Allegheny was the last team other than Merion Mercy to win a state title in 2006. … Since then, Merion Mercy was won not only four straight matches but 12 straight games. … Merion’s four straight titles is the most since Norwin won nine straight from 1976 through 1984; Norwin is the all-time PIAA leader in girls volleyball championships with 12, but hasn’t had one since 1988. … West Allegheny is now 1-1 in championship game appearances.

CLASS A GIRLS
Championship: Holy Name defeated Clarion Area 25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 25-22
Pool play
Notes: Holy Name wins its second Class A championship in three years, winning the 2008 championship. … Clarion was making its first championship game appearance … With the titles by Merion Mercy and Holy Name, private schools have won 11 of the last 15 girls’ volleyball state championships.

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From bill on Contact us #

Rod, Wonderful effort—-a grand display by you to keeping good things going. Can we send a donation or tribute? …

Well, first of all, many thanks to the otherwise anonymous Bill. Comments like that help keep my enthusiasm level high.

But Bill did bring up that rather sensitive subject of money. This gives me an opportunity to make a little pre-emptive announcement.

As a dot com, I cannot accept donations toward the site. I run a (very) small business, subject to the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and those fine folks at the Internal Revenue Service. So any income I derive through the website must come in the form of either sales or sponsorships.

I am on the cusp of seeking both. Soon – very soon – I will have some RodFrisco.com gear available for sale. No, you won’t have a slick, four-color brochure to peruse. I will have just one product to start: Simple, white T-shirts with the red-and-black RodFrisco.com logo across the front.

I will make those shirts available for sale via the website in a week or so; I still have to set up my PayPal account and install it on my site.

If you like the site, please consider purchasing one as a way of supporting the site. They will be sold a small profit, the monies of which will be used to support the site.

I do not plan on making RodFrisco.com a subscription site … ever. That’s not a great business decision, to be honest, but I have always believed that the information on the site should not be for sale. I just want readers throughout the state and beyond to have a vault of information that they can access 24/7 without the annoyance of logging in or even paying a small fee for the privilege.

The simple fact is I love covering and commenting on Pennsylvania high school sports and have since I wandered into The Progress of Clearfield 37 years ago looking for a job answering phones (thanks, Fred Kavelak!). It’s a passion, and passion doesn’t have a price.

The T-shirts will, though. But it will be a reasonable one. Look for the announcement soon.

And thanks to all who have viewed the site (just about 400,000 and growing since February).

FIELD HOCKEY

Class AAA Quarterfinals
Hempfield 2, Council Rock North 0
Emmaus 1, Penn Manor 0
Mt. St. Joseph 2, Northampton 1
Cocalico 3, Hershey 2, OT

Class AA Quarterfinals
Wyoming Seminary 4, Malvern Villa Maria Academy 2
Crestwood 2, Palmyra 1
Lehighton 2, Selinsgrove 1
Conrad Weiser 5, Indian Valley 3

GIRLS SOCCER

Class AAA Quarterfinals
Conestoga 2, Central Bucks West 1
Archbishop Wood 2, Pennridge 1 (Wood wins 4-2 in penalty kicks)
Norwin 1, State College 0
Peters Twp. 1, Pine-Richland 0, 2OT

Class AA Quarterfinals
Midd-West 2, Malvern Villa Maria 1 (Midd-West wins 5-3 in penalty kicks)
South Park 2, Danville 1
Mars 6, Bradford 0
Merceyhurst Prep 3, Beaver 0

Class A Quarterfinals
Loyalsock 2, Southern Columbia 1 (Loyalsock wins 4-2 in penalty kicks)
Warrior Run 2, Delco Christian 1 (Warrior Run wins 5-4 in penalty kicks)
Sewickley Academy 2, Richland 1, 2OT
Springdale 2, Shady Side Academy 1

BOYS SOCCER

Class AAA Quarterfinals
Central Bucks East 2, Lower Merion 0
Central Dauphin 3, Conestoga 2, OT
Landisville Hempfield 3, Pennsbury 0
Pittsburgh Central Catholic 3, Peters Twp. 2, OT

Class AA Quarterfinals
Lancaster Mennonite 4, Lewisburg 3, 2OT
Archbishop Wood 4, East Pennsboro 1
Palmyra 3, Mars 1
Hampton 4, Belle Vernon 0

Class A Quarterfinals
South Williamsport 2, Mountain View 0
New Hope-Solebury 2, York Catholic 0
North Star 2, Seton-LaSalle 0
Mercyhurst Prep 3, Beaver County Christian 1

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Pool play matches results were not made available by PIAA; only qualifiers to the state championships Friday and Saturday at Central York are listed

CLASS AAA POOL PLAY
Pool A at Council Rock South HS: 1-1 Upper Merion, 3-3 Carlisle, 1-4 Avon Grove, 11-1 Parkland (Avon Grove and Upper Merion advance)

Pool B at Liberty HS: 2-1 Delaware Valley, 3-2 Dover, 1-2 Unionville, 12-1 Cardinal O’Hara (Dover and Unionville advance)

Pool C at Carlisle Area HS: 3-1 Hempfield, 12-2 Philadelphia Central, 1-3 Mount St. Joseph Academy, 6-1 Altoona (Mt. St. Joseph and Hempfield advance)

Pool D at Slippery Rock University: 7-1 Pine-Richland, 8-1 Schenley, 7-2 Seneca Valley, 10-1 McDowell (Seneca Valley and Pine-Richland advance)

CLASS AAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP POOLS (at Central York HS Friday and Saturday)
Pool E: Avon Grove, Dover, Mount St. Joseph, Seneca Valley
Pool F: Upper Merion, Unionville, Hempfield, Pine-Richland

CLASS AA POOL PLAY
Pool A at Council Rock South HS: 1-1 Merion Mercy Academy, 12-1 Archbishop Wood, 3-2 Susquehannock, 11-1 Southern Lehigh (Merion Mercy and Southern Lehigh advance)

Pool B at Carlisle Area HS: 3-1 Brandywine Heights, 2-1 Holy Redeemer, 4-1 Towanda, 5-1 Windber (Windber and Brandywine Heights advance)

Pool C at North Hills HS: 7-1 Freeport, 10-2 Fort LeBoeuf, 7-3 West Allegheny, 8-1 Peabody (Fort LeBeouf and West Allegheny advance)

Pool D at North Hills HS: 10-1 Meadville, 9-1 Punxsutawney, 7-2 Indiana, 6-1 Penn Cambria (Meadville and Indiana advance)

CLASS AA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP POOLS (at Central York HS Friday and Saturday)
Pool E: Merion Mercy Academy, Windber, Fort leBoeuf, Meadville
Pool D: Southern Lehigh, Brandywine Heights, West Allegheny, Indiana

CLASS A POOL PLAY
Pool A at Liberty HS: 1-1 Sacred Heart Academy, 2-1 Lackawanna Trail, 11-1 Nativity BVM, 12-1 Douglas (Nativity and Sacred Heart advance)

Pool B at State College Area HS: 3-1 Holy name, 4-1 Williamson, 5-1 North Star, 6-2 West Branch (West Branch and Holy Name advance)

Pool C at Clarion Area HS: 6-1 Northern Cambria, 7-2 Bishop Canevin, 9-2 Elk County Catholic, 10-1 Saegertown (Northern Cambria and Bishop Canevin advance)

Pool D at Slippery Rock University: 7-1 Frazier, 10-2 Maplewood, 7-3 Elderton, 9-1 Clarion Area (Clarion Area and Maplewood advance)

PIAA CLASS AAA GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

PIAA CLASS AA GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

PIAA CLASS A GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Below are the brackets from statewide girls’ volleyball district tournaments.

DISTRICT 1
Class AAA
Class AA
Class A

DISTRICT 2
Class AAA
Class AA
Class A

DISTRICT 3
Class AAA
Class AA
Class A

DISTRICT 4
Class AA and Class A brackets can be accessed here

DISTRICT 5
Class AA
Class A

DISTRICT 6
Class AAA
Class AA
Class A

DISTRICT 7
Class AAA
Class AA
Class A

DISTRICT 8
Class AAA
Class AA
Class A

DISTRICT 9
Class AAA
Class AA
Class A

DISTRICT 10
All classes; not in bracket form

DISTRICT 11
All classes

DISTRICT 12
Class AAA
Class AA
Class A

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You can join the chat tomorrow here at 7 p.m. And yes, you can make fun of my rankings. A little bit.

Just a reminder: I’ve written and posted precious little on anything but football this fall, but I will begin posting post-season information of district and PIAA fall championships ASAP. As I’ve said since the site launched in February, that’s my primary mission.

Erie Times-News lead scholastic writer Tom Reisenweber, a rising star among the state’s high school writers, authored all three with an assist from columnist John Dudley, who formerly covered high school wrestling for the Times-News. John still does the occasional football game or wrestling match for the paper.

The stories are here, here and here.

The series is not just crafted well, it does an excellent job of opening a window on how PIAA districts operate. There are substantial similarities and differences in the operations of the 12 districts, but once you read through the series, you will have a pretty good idea how districts do their business across the state.

I’ll let the details speak for themselves, but I do want to comment on one important aspect of the stories: Tom and John did an excellent job of skewering the notion that districts are not oligarchies, as they seem to be so often portrayed. That simply is not the case, and the Erie stories do a nice job of exploding that and some other myths. I doubt that was the Times-News’ intent. Rather, that’s what happens when reporters are committed to fairness.

In the last few months, I’ve become more intimate with the operation of District 3, now that I am a paid independent contractor facilitating the field hockey and girls volleyball power ratings. I did not regularly cover District 3 meetings (out of sheer sloth, if I can be so honest) while I was at The Patriot-News, but I can tell you this. The District 3 Committee is dedicated to doing the right thing for interscholastic athletics in District 3.

That occasionally results in disagreement and debate, but it should be comforting that District 3 (as well as other PIAA districts) are not monochromatic either in their outlook or their make-up. I’ve been called an apologist and even a shill for PIAA (and to a much lesser degree its districts) many times over the years. That’s never bothered me because I found out years ago that PIAA is not the smoky, back-room poker game in which it has been so improperly characterized.

This series is worth your time no matter what section of the state you reside.