Berks Catholic, four other Berks schools, moving to lower football classification
Five Berks football programs will be playing in a lower classification next season.
None will move to a higher level because of enrollment changes, though Wyomissing may be forced to move up because of the PIAA’s Competition Formula.
Wyomissing won’t learn its fate until later in the month.
For other schools across the state classification status for the next two cycles became official Tuesday when the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association posted numbers on its website. Classifications are determined by enrollment, but also affected by things such as co-operative sponsorship agreements.
Berks Catholic, Daniel Boone, Fleetwood, Kutztown and Twin Valley will each be moving to a lower classification for the 2022 and 2023 season.
- Boone, Fleetwood and Twin Valley are moving to Class 4A.
- Berks Catholic will be playing at Class 3A. The school qualified at that level for the current cycle but opted to play at Class 4A because it had been moved to Division I of the Berks Football League, where it played larger schools.
- Kutztown will play at 3A, down from 4A.
The changes are significant because classification affects power ratings, which are used to determine qualification and seeding in the District 3 Tournament.
The changes announced Tuesday will not affect divisional alignment for the Lancaster-Lebanon League, the new home for 13 Berks football teams in 2022. Those divisions have already been set for the next two seasons.
Click here to view the PIAA football classification breakdown.
In boys basketball, four Berks schools are moving to a lower classification.
- Muhlenberg moves from Class 6A to 5A.
- Conrad Weiser and Fleetwood are moving to 4A.
- Oley Valley is moving to 3A.
No Berks schools will be playing in a higher classification.
The BCIAA has already determined its division alignments for the next two cycles.
Muhlenberg, the largest of Berks’ four Class 5A teams, will play in Berks 1 with three Class 6A schools: Reading High, Wilson and Gov. Mifflin.
Berks 2 will include three Class 5A schools — Exeter, Daniel Boone and Twin Valley — and two Class 4A schools — Conrad Weiser and Berks Catholic.
Muhlenberg is moving up; Berks Catholic and Exeter are moving down.
Berks 3 will include four Class 4A schools: Fleetwood, Hamburg, Schuylkill Valley and Wyomissing.
Berks 4 will include four Class 3A schools — Oley Valley, Tulpehocken, Brandywine Heights and Kutztown — and one Class 2A school — Antietam.
The divisional alignment in Berks 3 and 4 will not change from the current alignment.
Click here to view the PIAA boys basketall classification breakdown.