Page 5 - PIAA District III 2022 Girls Basketball Championship Program

PIAA DISTRICT III

The state of Pennsylvania is divided in 12 geographic districts for PIAA administrative purposes. Each district has a district
committee elected by member schools from within that District. Every committee elects a chairperson who becomes that
District’s representative on the PIAA Board of Directors. District III has an additional representative on the State Board based
on the number of members schools. District I and District XII also have an additional representative; District VII has two addi-
tional representatives.
District III encompasses the counties of Adams, Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and
York. Within this 10 county-area are 125 member senior high schools.
These member schools elect their District Committee to oversee various interscholastic programs within the District. While
the District Committee must follow all PIAA rules and regulations, each district has autonomy in administering athletic
contests prior to the PIAA interdistrict level.
District III is home to the following leagues Berks County Interscholastic Athletic Association, Christian Commonwealth
Athletic Conference, Lancaster-Lebanon League, Mid-Penn Conference, Tri-Valley League and York-Adams Interscholastic
Athletic Association. A small number of schools retain independent status.
The voting rules of the District mandate that all leagues shall have at least one representative on the Committee as a voting
member. These representatives are elected by the members schools at an Annual Meeting held each April. In addition, a
representative from the Pennsylvania School Board Association, a male officials’ representative, a female officials’ repre-
sentative, a male and female parents’ representative and a girls athletics representative stand as voting members of the
District III committee. There are 16 voting members plus 7 non-voting members on the Committee.
The District Committee develops, organizes and directs 26 District III championships (13 for boys, 13 for girls) in 16 different
sports. Broken down by gender and class, the District conducts 71 team championships and 30 individual championships.
Among the 30 individual championships, the District crowns 168 champions each year.
These championships are a prerequisite to qualification for PIAA championships. In the fall, these include boys and girls cross
country, field hockey, boys and girls golf, football, boys and girls soccer, girls tennis and girls volleyball. In the winter, cham-
pionships conducted are boys and girls basketball, boys and girls swimming & diving, wrestling and competitive spirit. While
there is no PIAA championship for bowling, District III does conduct an individual championship for boys and girls bowling.
The spring championships are baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, softball, boys and girls outdoor track and field, boys tennis
and boys volleyball.
The complete cost of funding these championships comes from the spectator ticket admission fees at District III playoff
events. This money is used to fund sports at which no admission fee is charged and where the cost exceeds the income,
insurance and administrative costs. At the end of each school year, surplus funds are returned to the schools that
participated in the sports that created the surplus. Schools do not pay District dues or provide money to the District in any
form with the exception of an entry fee in golf, tennis, competitive spirit and bowling.
OUR MISSION

 Organize, develop and direct athletic programs that will promote the health and physical welfare of all participants,
both male and female.

 Foster good sportsmanship and safeguard the educational values of interscholastic athletics.
 Develop and enforce rules adopted by the member schools that regulate interscholastic athletic competition.
 Organize and conduct a program of District III championship tournaments in various fields of athletic competition .

REMEMBERING MR. WENDELL HOWER
The District III community mourns the recent passing of Mr. Wendell Hower, a long-time member and former
executive director/secretary of the District III Committee. Mr. Hower devoted his life to his community and
education. A graduate of Franklin & Marshall, where he played on the school’s first undefeated football team
and is enshrined in its Hall of Fame, he began his career as a math teacher at Manheim Township High School.
During this time, he coached and was a PIAA official in football, basketball and baseball. He went on to serve
Manheim Township as assistant principal and athletic director before being named principal, a position he held
for nearly 30 years before retiring in 1996. His tenure on the District III committee began as a Lancaster-
Lebanon League representative in 1973. In 1997, he was elected Executive Director/Secretary, a position he
held until 2019. Mr. Hower also served as president on the Lititz Borough Council and spent 8 years on the Warwick School
Board. We are thankful for Wendell’s guidance and friendship over the many years. Our condolences to his family and friends.

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