Basketball coaches from the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) are miffed. They claim that some schools against whom they vie for championship titles have a competitive advantage. Mike White suited up to cover their concerns in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The complaint — echoed by fans and administrators — stems from the fact that public schools can accept players only from their own geographic districts. The counterpart Philadelphia Catholic League sports teams, however, can recruit from anywhere, thereby attracting team members from a wider talent pool.

The criticism has been levied against schools that include Archbishop Wood in Warminster.

Its girls’ squad won the 2022 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) championship on Mar. 24, playing the only other contender to survive elimination, Lansdale Catholic. Wood’s website says it draws students from 25 different ZIP Codes across three nearby counties.

Phila.-area leagues have won 40 state championships since 2012, with most of the victors hailing from Catholic or charter schools.

“This is really the only level of basketball where there’s inequity,” said one coach whose team fell to a Philadelphia Catholic League opponent. “NBA teams don’t play Division I college teams. Division I teams that have scholarships don’t play Division III teams for championship. …You have to acknowledge and handle it because it hurts kids.”

One suggested solution is separate championships.

More on this controversy is at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.