Realignment and Jurisdiction

A constant conversation piece in the hockey community is the alignment of high school teams, leagues, conferences, divisions et al. Internet chatter has proposed a myriad of solutions most of which are simple examples of tinkering by geography and student population. The problem with these ideas are that many teams would rather not play the schedules required by these proposals. Non-league games against non-Philadelphia area programs are key for many teams, Pennsbury High School, La Salle College High School, Malvern Prep, and Germantown Academy are a few examples. In addition it is likely that this will have an impact on teams that play, and like to play, crossover games. The concept of local rivalry based on geography is dead. It could be suggested that rivalry now exists based on playing level and strength of programs, not by what school is in the next town over. Geography is simply not the best predictor of good competition. However, as always an argument could be made that allowing the PIAA to finally take jurisdiction, as they will soon do over high school lacrosse, would bring the sense of balance being searched for and allow the sport to grow.