Tornado football denied in bid to leave WPIAL
BUTLER TWP — Butler football remains a part of the WPIAL — for now.
The Golden Tornado's bid to leave District 7 — in football only — to join District 10 suffered a blow Monday when the WPIAL Board of Control voted to deny the request.
“We sympathize with the situation Butler's in and discussed their request at length,” Tim O'Malley, WPIAL executive director, said. “But on advice of our counsel, we had to say no. If Butler wanted to pull out of the WPIAL in all sports, that would be a different story. But we know they don't want to do that.”
Butler is seeking a way to re-energize a football program that has not had a winning season since 1997 and only one playoff appearance in the past 21 years. The Tornado are coming off consecutive 0-10 seasons.
Its varsity numbers dwindled into the 20s this past season, although numbers are generally up in the junior high, freshman and sophomore classes.
“We were hoping they (WPIAL) would be more understanding of our situation and would give us their support,” Butler football coach Eric Christy said. “This doesn't sound very supportive. I see where they are coming from, though. They don't want to set a precedent where any team struggling in one sport can just leave.
“If they let us leave, maybe another school's boys soccer team wants out, somebody else's basketball team ... I guess they just can't afford to go there,” Christy added.
Butler has until Jan. 3 to inform the WPIAL whether the Tornado want the WPIAL to give them a schedule, O'Malley said.
“That is strictly their option,” O'Malley said of Butler. “Every school chooses whether it wants a WPIAL schedule in any sport. They can choose not to take one and schedule their own games. But if they're a WPIAL member and don't play a WPIAL-mandated schedule, they can't be eligible for the playoffs.”
Butler athletic director Bill Mylan remained in contact with District 10 — which geographically covers Slippery Rock and points north to Erie — Tuesday in hopes of getting a football schedule from that district, despite not being an official District 10 member.
“I'm not sure what their policies are in that regard,” Mylan said. “That's what we're trying to determine. Our hope now is that District 10 allows us in as a non-member. If that doesn't happen, we're down to two options: stay in the WPIAL and continue with our regular schedule or become independent in football.”
Albert Gallatin, a high school in Fayette County that struggled in WPIAL football for years, became an independent in recent years and has schools from Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland among teams on its schedule.
Mylan would not rule out a similar path for Butler.
“Our goal is to come up with a more competitive schedule in football in order to build the program and generate more interest in it among our athletes and the community,” he said. “I can't say we definitely won't play a WPIAL schedule next year, but we are leaning the other way.”
Should Butler football opt to become an independent, it would have to do so for at least the next two seasons.
“We operate on two-year cycles,” O'Malley said. “If Butler opted out now, it could return to (WPIAL) football after two years. There is no animosity here. We have no issue with Butler. This is just a tough situation. Our Class 6A teams keep getting better and we can't give the third-largest school in the WPIAL a Class A schedule.”
Christy remains confident Butler's football program can reverse its fortunes regardless of how its 2020 schedule turns out.
“The community, the parents, the players and coaches, we all just have to unite together,” he said. “We have to light a fire under this program. It's up to all of us to do that.”
