You could take your pick between two perspectives regarding the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s vote this week to expand the number of divisions for a number of high school sports, beginning with the 2016-17 school year.

The PIAA board of directors, which has representatives from all 12 of the state’s districts, voted 26-4 to expand from four to six classifications in football.

They also voted to expand basketball, baseball and softball from four to six classifications.

Boys and girls soccer, along with girls volleyball, will increase from three to four divisions. Lacrosse will have two classes sorted by size.

The first perspective — the bigger picture — embraces the idea that more divisions will send more schools into divisional playoffs while ensuring more matchups between schools of equal size. Presuming that two primary objective of sports are winning and fair play, it’s not surprising that the majority of the PIAA board voted for the changes.

The other perspective — the devil’s in the details — might be reflected in the four “no” votes, all from Districts 7 and 8, better known as the WPIAL and City League, comprising all of Southwest Pennsylvania including most of Butler County.

The region’s naysayers raise some valid issues.

WPIAL administrators have argued that football expansion would negatively impact travel, especially for the largest and smallest schools. The voiced worry that long-running rivalries might end, and district championship games at Heinz Field might have to be played elsewhere.

They also point out that the realignment does not address private or charter schools.

The big-picture proponents won the day, and they did so in big-picture fashion. The board opted to suspend the customary three separate votes in consecutive meetings for such a major change.

Mars athletic director and football coach Scott Heinauer, who was one of the three WPIAL representatives to vote no, said he and the other opponents will do their best to adjust to the changes.

“There’s not a whole lot anybody can do,” Heinauer said. “We’re going to look for the good in it. It’ll be interesting to see where all the teams lie with basketball, softball and baseball being six classes.”

It’s difficult to maintain focus on the bigger picture at this point, when all those devilish details must be worked out. But the PIAA must keep in mind the reasons for the changes as they pursue and refine the association’s members during this realignment.