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article in today's mirror: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/conte ... ml?nav=751

i dont see how d6 would allow the 3 teams to move and dont think it makes sense (other than to get into an easier district). these schools are in the heart of cambria county, a d6 county and there are plenty of small schools around for them to play. its not the districts fault that they choose to play in a conf with somerset county teams.

its almost like they are giving up, saying d6 is too hard. the schools certainly dont have many distict championships (in any sport). blacklick valley does have 3 in boys bball (late 80's). Conemaugh valley has at least two (girls bball maybe 2005 and volleyball maybe 2003). portage has two in baseball (72 and 86).

Zonebreaker, I respectfully disagree based on past precedence.

If these schools league affiliation isn't important and geography/location is, then.....Why are Laurel Valley and Ligonier Valley (located in Westmoreland County) in District 6? ANSWER- League affiliation

Why is Indiana (located in the heart of Indiana County) in District 7? ANSWER- League affiliation

Why was Fannett-Metal (Franklin County) released by Dist. 3 to play in Dist. 5? ANSWER- League affiliation

So....based on past history, why would District 6 not honor those schools league affiliations?

Its a good idea. District 5 could use more teams. District 6 is one of the biggest in the state. Its not going to hurt them at all. Well, maybe their pride. Just wait until the other schools start to ask as well. For many of the Johnstown schools, Somerset is a lot closer than Altoona.

If Portage plays in D5, Gousey won't be able to say, "We're the best public school football team in District 6" anymore.

If Portage wins 5A, then Gousey will then have to wait until a week after the 5A championship game to whine, when they lose by 5-6 TDs to a WPIAL A champ like CLAIRTON, a PUBLIC SCHOOL by the way...What will be the excuse then? Will Portage want to secede from District 5, and form their own district, where they will only allow teams who they can beat into the district? Pretty soon, Portage will be petitioning the PIAA to exclude all class A teams who have beaten Portage or an opponent to who Portage has lost.

Did I read the Mirror article correctly where Gouse said something like, "There are schools in District 5 that are more our size"...ARE YOU SERIOUS??? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. Class A is class A, all schools in that classification are virtually the same size, ENROLLMENT NUMBERS determine classification. What a weak argument, Gary.

Just say it like it is, Gary: "We REALLY want to move to District 5A because are sick and tired of getting clobbered in football, not only by McCort, but by Bellwood, Purchase Line, etc. We want to beat up on our regular WeakPac opponents and win some championships. I want that on my resume before I retire."

I too thought the comment about schools "more our size" was ludicrous..?? wasn't going to comment on it first.
"Oh God, I agreed with Wpialpin head on something"...Help me!

Maybe gouses comment was a little deeper than it appears on the surface.Maybe what he wanted to say was there are no privates pretending to be "A" in district5, but he didn't want to stir the pot!

Perhaps Portage should just move itself to Somerset County.

Another absurd moment in high school sports in our area.

The PIAA should just eliminate Districts 5 and 8.

I have to agree with everyone with the size Portage being about average for single A. Besides the Bishops there would no longer be Bellwood Antis to deal with. As I have stated before Somerset, Cambria and Indiana county along with the LV's until Ligonier People get their wish and go WPIAL (boy will that lead to a bunch of butt kickings) makes more sense thatn the current D6 and D5 lines. The only way this would happen is if the PIAA redaws the lines. with the east/west line no longer being the approx. middle of the state it is time to make such changes.

Head Roadie wrote:Zonebreaker, I respectfully disagree based on past precedence.

If these schools league affiliation isn't important and geography/location is, then.....Why are Laurel Valley and Ligonier Valley (located in Westmoreland County) in District 6? ANSWER- League affiliation

Why is Indiana (located in the heart of Indiana County) in District 7? ANSWER- League affiliation

Why was Fannett-Metal (Franklin County) released by Dist. 3 to play in Dist. 5? ANSWER- League affiliation

So....based on past history, why would District 6 not honor those schools league affiliations?

I don't think the precedence comes into play because the situations are different, but first I don't understand why d6 would allow the move, considering:

1) Lowering d6's Single A team total by 3 teams would lead to a lower number of state bids in several sports
2) More teams ultimately equates to d6 titles being more meaningful so why would you want less.
3) Letting 3 teams clearly within the d6 boundaries and with no pressing need to leave would open the door for others to possibly leave and further hurt the district. A school like southern huntingdon has a better case imho.
4) All of these westpac teams are clearly inside the d6 boundaries, not on the very border of d6/d5.
5) All of these teams have other similarly-sized schools CLOSER to them than the d5 schools would be.

The last two points hit on why this situation is different from the ones you mentioned. Indiana is towards d7 but the same could be said about portage and cv being towards d5. However, a big difference is that Indiana had a legitimate reason to move since all of the schools surrounding it were not in its classification. It is on island and really doesnt fit into either district. Ligonier Valley and Fannett-Metal are at the edge of d7 and d3 and are surrounded by much bigger districts in d7 and d3 (AAA and AAAA). Moreover, its not like d3 and d7 are hurting for schools. The school district that I have often wandered about its placement, though, is curwensville. It's in a d6 county (clearfield) and the closer similarly-sized schools are in d6 (mo valley, purchase line,...). Anyone know if it always was in d9 or if it moved or when?

Why aren't these 3 schools (Portage,Blacklick,CV) in the heritage conference.This conference is in our area anyhow and they all play each other in the playoffs too.Tell Gouse to petition to go to the Heritage Conference.