{"id":78646,"date":"2016-09-13T19:48:27","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T19:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78646"},"modified":"2023-04-12T20:08:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T20:08:05","slug":"sportstalk-shop-new-piaa-classifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-new-piaa-classifications\/","title":{"rendered":"The SportsTalk Shop:  The New PIAA Classifications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The biggest topic of conversation has been the shift from four classifications to six, with many schools moving to new groupings, approved by Pennsylvania\u2019s governing body over high school sports\u2014the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.piaa.org\/\">PIAA<\/a>.\u00a0 We had a chance recently in studio to discuss this big shake-up with local media members\u2026<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wsRZXP6g6SI\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Coming up on this Thursday\u2019s live show at 7 pm on RCN-TV (the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcn.com\/atvn\/sports-talk\/\">podcast <\/a>will be available the next day), District XI Football Chair Jason Zimmerman, along with local head coaches, will be on \u201cRCN SportsTalk\u201d to discuss and debate the advantages of these new alignments.\u00a0 They will also outline the changes to the regular season schedule, the playoff criteria, the reasoning behind moving some teams and not others and many more issues.<\/p>\n<p>Viewers will have the benefit of calling into the show live or emailing us (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) questions and concerns about the radical change\u2014including the usually lengthy procedure for these alterations, which took place in a surprisingly quick fashion.<\/p>\n<p>Among the areas of confusion that we\u2019ll hope to clear up on this show include: identifying where the different teams \u201clanded,\u201d why a particular school is sometimes in different classifications for different sports (including different grouping for boys and girls sports), the number of teams that will qualify for the postseason and many more issues.<\/p>\n<p>To help clarify some of the confusion ahead of the show, here is a rundown of where the various schools fall for a couple of the most-covered PIAA sanctioned sports.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>FOOTBALL CLASSIFICATIONS\u2026<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>CLASS 6A:<\/strong><br \/>\nAllen, Dieruff, Easton, Emmaus, Freedom, Liberty, Nazareth, Northampton, Parkland, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mt. East, Pocono Mt. West and Stroudsburg<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS 5A:<\/strong><br \/>\nEast Stroudsburg North, East Stroudsburg South, Southern Lehigh and Whitehall<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS 4A:<\/strong><br \/>\nBangor, Bethlehem Catholic, Blue Mountain, Central Catholic, Northwestern Lehigh, Pottsville and Saucon Valley<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS 3A:<\/strong><br \/>\nJim Thorpe, Lehighton, Northern Lehigh, North Schuylkill, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Palisades, Pen Argyl, Salisbury, Tamaqua and Wilson<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS 2A:<\/strong><br \/>\nCatasauqua, Mahanoy Area, Minersville, Palmerton, Panther Valley, Pine Grove, Minersville and Schuylkill Haven<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS A:<\/strong><br \/>\nMarian, Nativity, Shenandoah Valley, Tri-Valley and Williams Valley<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>BOYS BASKETBALL CLASSIFICATIONS\u2026<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>CLASS 6A:<\/strong><br \/>\nAllen, Dieruff, Easton, East Stroudsburg South, Emmaus, Freedom, Liberty, Nazareth, Northampton, Parkland, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain Easton, Pocono Mountain West, Stroudsburg<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS 5A:<\/strong><br \/>\nBangor, Blue Mountain, Allentown Central Catholic, East Stroudsburg North, Pottsville, Southern Lehigh and Whitehall<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS 4A:<\/strong><br \/>\nBethlehem Catholic, Jim Thorpe, North Schuylkill, Northwestern, Pen Argyl, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Tamaqua and Wilson<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS 3A:<\/strong><br \/>\nCatasauqua, Minersville, Northern Lehigh, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Palmerton and Pine Grove<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS 2A:<\/strong><br \/>\nMahanoy Area, Marian Catholic, Moravian Academy, Panther Valley, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley and Williams Valley<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLASS A:<\/strong><br \/>\nLincoln Leadership, Medical Academy, Nativity, Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg, Tri-Valley and Weatherly<\/p>\n<p>As I mentioned months ago on this blog, I myself am taking an optimistic \u201cwait-and-see\u201d approach to see how this new classification system shakes out.\u00a0 There are some clear advantages for student-athletes and some of the local school sports programs. However, there have also been a number of coaches in the state who have raised concerns about this year\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n<p>Again, you will have the opportunity to call or email the show directly and our guests will be able to address your questions and concerns on this Thursday\u2019s program.\u00a0 We hope you\u2019ll join us for this important show and let us know your thoughts!<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The biggest topic of conversation has been the shift from four classifications to six, with many schools moving to new groupings, approved by Pennsylvania\u2019s governing body over high school sports\u2014the PIAA.\u00a0 We had a chance recently in studio to discuss this big shake-up with local media members\u2026 Coming up on this Thursday\u2019s live show at&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[722,595,721],"class_list":["post-78646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","category-the-sportstalk-shop","tag-lehigh-valley-basketball","tag-lehigh-valley-football","tag-piaa-new-classifications"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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