The PIAA enrollment numbers for the schools have been published for all the sports. These figures have the school's population by boys and girls, sorta. The actual number used by the PIAA isn't the true enrollment. They ask schools to report the number of students in grades 9, 10 and 11 only. Then there is some 10% figure or something. I'm not certain how this is calculated, exactly. Plus, there might be some adjustments for home school kids too, perhaps.
But the big number then is the second column that shows the Co-op Enrollment. That number is valid as some schools join forces with other schools and they field only one team. In the case of Pittsburgh Public Schools, all the sports teams at Pittsburgh Obama also provide a chance to allow the students at Pittsburgh Sci-Tech and U-Prep too. So, the Obama numbers include the enrollment figures from three schools.
The various sports then have classifications. Some sports, such as football, have six classes from A to 6A. Other sports, as is the case with swimming, there are only two classes, Double A and Triple A. So, the bigger schools end up in Class AAA while the smaller schools are in together in class AA.
The classes set up the sections for dual meets and also play a big role in the district and state championships.
Bigger schools, more students to pick from, generally larger teams and faster cut-times to get into the WPIAL Class AAA meet rather than the Class AA.
Would you rather compete against North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair or else against The Ellis School and Carlynton?
Shows the girls swimming table. Obama Academy is in Class 3A.
Shows the boys swimming table. Obama Academy is in Class 2A.
The ramifications of this are huge. And, it is not only a factor for the girls, but also for the boys. Throughout the year, the boys swimmers go to the dual meets with the Class AAA teams as the boys and girls can't have different schedules -- generally.
The solutions are clear to me and can be spelled out in another time, when I have a few minutes to explain what should be done.