During the off-season between the 2015-2016 high school football season and 2016-2017 high school football season the National Federation of State High School Football Association came out with three changes to their rulebook. The PIAA follows the National Federation of State High School Football Associations rule book and thus will also be adopting these rules.
The only major rule change for the 2016 PIAA high school football season is the removal of any type of legal clipping. Clipping is the act of contacting an opponent, other than the ball carrier, in the back and at or below the waist. Prior to the 2016 football season, it was legal to perform this action in a specific part of the field called the free-blocking zone, however it is now illegal to clip on any part of the field.
The two minor changes to the PIAA rule book for 2016 are that players are now allowed to wear completely clear and completely white mouthpieces and all player gloves now need to meet either the SFIA specification or the existing NOCSAE test standard when manufactured.
