High School Basketball Starts Later Every Year

At one time, Pennsylvania high school basketball started practice on November 1, then after a week of practice scrimmages were held with other schools and after two weeks or so the regular season started. But when high school football in the state implemented playoffs, the starting date for basketball was pushed back.  This year, practice starts on November 27.  At one time, Thanksgiving Basketball Tournaments were big, now they can't exist.  The first regular playing date this season is December 11, whereas the 1917-1918 Hazleton team was playing their fourth game of the season on December 12.  As a senior in high school in 1955, the traditional opener for many high school teams was the Alumni.  We looked forward to lining up and playing against the heroes we had seen play when we were growing up. Back in those days, high school teams could play non-scholastic teams such as the Alumni as regular season games.  When coaching at Bishop Guilfoyle High School in Altoona for the 1966-67 season, we had two college freshmen teams on the schedule, St. Francis College and St. Vincent's College.  We lost to St. Francis, but we beat St. Vincent's.  In fact for the next season, we added the Naval Academy Freshmen team to our schedule.  But it was that year, 1967 that the PIAA changed the rules and restricted high school teams from playing such opponents and the game with the Naval Academy was never played.  Also at one time, teams could play more games than they do now.  With the length of the football season, most high school teams today have to play three games in a week to get in a schedule of 22 regular season games.  That means less practice time, whereas football still has week of practice before each game.
When  coaching Susquehanna Twp. High School in 1979-80, we played 38 games, finishing 35-3.  The most wins we can find when researching the records for a State Championship team is the 1977 Elk Lake team that finished 36-0.  Our feeling is that the current  football season is too long and at least a week should be cut from the schedule.  Many times, the final weeks of football playoffs are played in snow and cold weather.  Plus, at many schools, kids are forced to choose between one sport or the other since the seasons overlap.  As Grantland Rice probably said  "December was never designed by nature to be football season!" (Bill Gaffey, pahoops editor)