Sewickley Academy draws WPIAL discipline for promotional video highlighting athletics

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, December 20, 2021 | 9:38 PM

In an attempt to boost middle-school enrollment, Sewickley Academy inadvertently ran afoul of PIAA recruiting rules with a multi-part video highlighting the school’s academics, arts and athletics.

As one video, there wouldn’t be an issue.

But because the three were presented separately, the WPIAL found Sewickley Academy had violated PIAA rules with the sports-specific video. The situation was likely a first for the WPIAL and may provide a teaching moment for other schools in an age of social-media use and online videos.

“The learning point for us is that any commercial you make, you’d better include all three A’s,” Sewickley Academy athletic director Win Palmer said.

The WPIAL board on Monday placed the school’s athletic department on probation for two years and admonished its athletics administration but agreed no further discipline was warranted, WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said.

“Whenever a school puts out a public (advertisement), it has to be encompassing of their entire school,” she said, “not one particular item about athletics.”

The videos themselves weren’t new.

Palmer said they were developed during the 2019-20 school year — before the pandemic — and uploaded to YouTube. He said the online videos later were broken apart and shown on TV, which brought them to the WPIAL’s attention.

The WPIAL had asked Sewickley Academy for a written response, which the board accepted Monday.

“It was never intended to be a recruiting video for athletics,” Palmer said. “It was designed for middle school kids, to show them the (educational) opportunities available.”

Since the school pulled the videos, the WPIAL considered the situation resolved, Scheuneman said.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Sewickley Academy