PIAA Executive Director Bob Lombardi has announced that he will retire at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Mark Byers, who has been with the PIAA since 1999. The PIAA board approved Byers yesterday.
Lombardi joined the PIAA in 1988 and has been the executive director since 2012.
Lombardi told the board that his proudest accomplishment is leading the current staff, which he said was the “best in the country”. He talked about poor sportsmanship, the unwillingness to adhere to PIAA rules, and the unrealistic goals of the families of student athletes (forgetting that “sports are meant to be fun”) as his biggest disappointments. “Today,” he said, “just because a kid shows something at a young age, every mom and dad thinks their kid is going to Pitt, Penn State, Alabama, USC or wherever.”
Lombardi’s last day on the job will be December 31st.
