Паенсия мектеп спорттарының басқару органы

Governing body for middle and high school athletics

Pennsylvania Catholic or other private schools were not eligible for PIAA membership. As a result, most Catholic schools belonged to another voluntary athletic organization, the Pennsylvania Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association (PCIAA). This organization was founded in 1943 and mirrored the PIAA. However, in 1972, the Pennsylvania State Legislature altered the role of the PIAA and passed Act 219 which stated, "Private schools shall be permitted, if otherwise qualified, to be members of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association." The PAOC is a 17 member oversight committee consisting of administrators, coaches and legislators to review what some had seen as the PIAA's unrestricted authority. The new law also called for several reforms including switching to a competitive process for selecting sites for championship games, eliminating the restitution rule, which required school districts that lose court cases against the PIAA to pay the associations legal fees and that persons involved in interscholastic athletics be provided equality of opportunity and treatment without discrimination.

Traditionally for state championship competition for team sports, Pennsylvania is divided into Eastern and Western regions. Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, and 12 usually make up the Eastern Region; Districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 usually comprise the Western Region. The winners of each region compete against each other for the state championship. However, since the creation of District 12 with the admission of the Philadelphia Public Schools into the PIAA, the East vs. West format has been abandoned for some sports in certain classifications, particularly at the Class AAAA level where there are more large schools in the East. For example, in PIAA football, District 3 schools compete in the early rounds of the state playoffs against Philadelphia schools in some classes, and against Pittsburgh schools in others.

Every two years, the PIAA divides the member schools into two to six different classifications for each sport, depending on the number of male or female students enrolled in each school. The number of statewide member schools participating in a particular sport will determine how many different classifications there will be. For example, boys' volleyball, the sport with the smallest number of participating schools, only has a AA or AAA classification. By comparison, boys' basketball, which has the largest number of participating schools, has A, AA, AAA, AAAA, AAAAA, AAAAAA classifications. The number of A's signify how large or small the school is; Class A is the smallest classification while AAAAAA is the largest. The PIAA tries to place an equal number of schools in each classification.

While some sports' championship games have been held at various venues and cities across the state, most have been held in Hershey, whose proximity to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Interstates 81, and 83 makes it a convenient location for teams from around the state. Hersheypark Stadium hosts the football, soccer, and lacrosse championships; the Parkview Cross Country Course, located across the street from Hershey Park and Hershey's Chocolate World, hosts the cross country championships. The Giant Center hosts the basketball, wrestling, and competitive spirit championships. The Hershey Racquet Club hosts the tennis championships. In 2006, the PIAA announced that they had refused Hershey's application for a contract extension to host the basketball championships at Giant Center. Starting for the 2006–2007 season, the eight championship games will be played at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. The PIAA cited monetary reasons for the move. As of 2014 they had returned to the Giant Center. Even the non PIAA sport of ice hockey hosted the 2005 Pennsylvania Cup championship at Hersheypark Arena. The PIAA football championships have been held since 1988, with the first games being held at various sites across the state. In 1992, the games were moved to Altoona's Mansion Park, in part because playing four games in two days would not affect the artificial turf playing surface on the field. The football championships were moved to Hershey in 1998 to add to the tradition of PIAA championship competition near the state capital. Penn State University in State College hosts the baseball and softball championships. Altoona previously hosted the baseball championships at Peoples Natural Gas Field, home of the Altoona Curve of the Class AA Eastern League. The track and field championships are held at Seth Grove Stadium on the campus of Shippensburg University in Shippensburg.