PIAA gives Hershey the kiss off

Expect the need for Hershey Kisses to drop dramatically statewide over the next four years.

Those sweet, silvery spheres have often been thrown in celebration when a high school team makes it to a state championship game in Chocolatetown. That won’t be the case going forward after the PIAA Board of Directors Wednesday approved moving state championships in football soccer and two other sports to Cumberland Valley High School, beginning in 2022.

Cumberland Valley’s bid was selected over those from Altoona, Hershey and Penn State.

Cumberland Valley’s stadium seats 8,000, according to published reports.

“Cumberland Valley was very competitive, very attractive, will have a new field, new press box, new scoreboard, media center, etc.,” PIAA executive director Dr. Robert Lombardi said, according to a report by Bob Greenberg of SportsRadio96.7 in Hermitage. ” It gave our schools better conditions to play.”

The football championships have been played continuously at Hersheypark Stadium since at least 1998.

Hersheypark Stadium management has made it more difficult in recent years for District 3 and the PIAA to host events there.

Also, the stadium facility has deteriorated badly. The locker rooms are in dire need of refurbishment and the press facilities are inadequate for big events.

“We are very pleased to host the PIAA Championships at Cumberland Valley,” Cumberland Valley athletic director Mike Craig told abc27 TV in Harrisburg. “This will be great for our community and we are excited to host. We have the support of the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau and our people are up to the challenge. We believe our facilities are second to none and we are pretty centrally located in Pennsylvania.”

“We look forward to working with each venue and their respective management teams,” the PIAA said in a statement. “PIAA would like to thank all the respondents as well as the respective Convention and Visitor’sbureaus that assisted in submitting proposals.”

The girls volleyball and field hockey championships will also be moving to Cumberland Valley from 2022 to 2025.

Girls team tennis and girls singles and doubles championships will continue to be played at Hershey Racquet Club.

The cross country championships will be run at the Parkview CC Course, in Hershey.