Nov 20, 2018 3 min read

Attendance remained low for the four WPIAL high school football championship gamess held Saturday at Heinz Field.

The total attendance for the finals in Class 6A, 4A, 3A and A was a combined 13,612, averaging out to 3,403 per game. That is an improvement from last year’s all-time low of around 12,000 fans. Those numbers were impacted in part by inclement weather.

It is still a major reduction from the crowds that the WPIAL used to draw for the title games. In 2011, there were nearly twice the amount of people (26,249). When Heinz Field opened and began hosting in 2001, there was a record-setting attendance of 39,031.

Final attendance numbers haven’t climbed over 20,000 since 2011, a major shift in the 33 years that championships have been played at either Three Rivers Stadium or Heinz Field.

Is it a lack of interest with the dilution of talented teams after moving to six classifications?

Could it be that casual fans would rather sit at home and watch the games on television?

And maybe the most pertinent question is, could the continual drop in attendance force the WPIAL to ponder other locations to hold the district championships?

At this point, with no signs of continual growth, all of those concerns are justified.

C-H stadium renovations

The Chartiers-Houston High School football stadium is in the process of being renovated.

A new turf field is being installed and expected to be finished, weather permitting, by Dec. 7, according to athletic director Kurt Kesneck. The district also is replacing the track in May. The total cost of the project is approximately $620,000.

“It was becoming worn out and we were going to start seeing some safety issues,” Kesneck said about the previous turf, which lasted 12 years. “We will keep everybody off of the field until February, but it is used year-round by everybody from youth leagues to our athletes. It is amazing how much it is used.”

New faces,

new places

Many area basketball teams that began practice this past Friday are under new direction of first-year coaches.

In girls basketball, Washington has Ron Moore, South Fayette got Bryan Bennett, Ringgold hired Lindsy Muchnock, California picked Chris Niemiec and Belle Vernon hired Ronnie Drennan.

In boys basketball, Monessen, Belle Vernon, Avella and California have more familiar faces but just in different places.

After spending decades at Monessen, Joe Salvino is now at Belle Vernon and Dan Bosnic replaced him. Aaron Balla is at California. Former Washington girls coach Mike Maltony is the boys coach at Avella.

Teams can begin scrimmages the day after Thanksgiving. The regular season begins Dec. 7.