LHAC going up in flames?

[longball5]

One of the keys to the ICC has always been as an all-sport league…not just football. Scheduling!

[Nemesis]

As I said before, no way Bellwood makes that move.

Who would they beat next year in that section??

What makes you so sure? What is the incentive for Bellwood-Antis to stay in the ICC?

[Colonel Mustard]

I'm pretty sure Somerset would want to be in Division 4 in the above scenario. They wanted out of the LHAC and Close seems to be leading this whole thing. Its very interesting and something needs to be done. Still think it will be tough getting this many schools to agree on anything.

[reugenev]

The problem with the suggested new alignments still does not account for enrollment disparities and relies more on geography! Do you really think Portage belongs in a section with Greater Johnstown, Central and PennCambria??? Somerset, one of the largest districts in new LHAC, wants to play the A and AA schools in Somerset county??? Really??? Bellwood, obviously, wants to preserve the Tyrone rivalry, but not at the expense of giving up a weaker ICC schedule, which still allows them to continue the Tyrone game! As currently suggested, no way these projections fly with the smaller schools, who still have to contend with the lower enrollment private schools!

[Colonel Mustard]

The smalls are the ones without many options. Someone will be unhappy, but what else are they going to do? The LHAC doesn't really need to do anything, so I guess its honorable of them to even consider this (though there is obviously a benefit to them as well). Maybe this leads to more consolidation, which would probably be a good thing.

[longtimefan1sttimecaller]

The more I look at things the more it seems like sports are going to drive school consolidations or at least force co-ops so that smaller schools can get into a conference. It does seem that the LHAC originally started this expansion talk to help out the conferences where football scheduling was an issue (WestPac & Mountain League). The District 6 chairman is quoted in the Altoona Mirror article as how important it is that schools aren't left out on islands to compete as independents forced to travel long distances to fill their schedules. I'm just wondering what happens to the non-football schools in the WestPac such as Blacklick Valley and Ferndale? I know Blacklick is entering a co-op with United for football but would the Heritage let them pull a Carroll and play their other sports in the Heritage? Ferndale is the standard bearer for non-sensical boundaries where it could easily be absorbed by Westmont or Johnstown but they also send their kids for football to Conemaugh Valley so do they get to play their other sports in the Super LHAC?

The District 5 WestPac schools are a whole different issue. Shanksville and Shade are already in a co-op for boys basketball with more sports seemingly to follow next year. They used to co-op for football but now send their kids to different districts (Shanksville to Berlin and Shade to Conemaugh Township). If you created a Somerset County East school out of Berlin, Shade, and Shanksville you'd end up with a district similar in land area to Bedford, with an enrollment (1,360) the exact same size as the new River Valley school district. It would slot them enrollment wise in between Cambria Heights (1,296) and Richland (1,473). Meyersdale could become Somerset County South by merging with Salisbury and Turkeyfoot who both already send their kids for football giving them an enrollment of 1,337. Somerset could easily absorb Rockwood and I'm guessing they would gladly take the tax revenue Seven Springs provides. Obviously these would be hard sells to the school boards and public of these areas but it's becoming a numbers game and with the state quickly approaching a crisis with the amount of teachers retiring/entering the profession I think the whole landscape will see massive changes over the next 5 years.

While we're thinking of changes.. what about abolishing districts and going to regions like Ohio and Maryland? If you're going to make people mad.. might as well go big.

[reugenev]

The first dominoes have fallen. WJAC reporting that North Star and Meyersdale are joining the LHAC. Who’s next!

[knowitall]

CV’s board meets tomorrow night. On the agenda is a vote to join the____________ Athletic Conference.

Will the blank be filled with Laurel Highlands or were they the unnamed team that met with the Heritage Conference last week?

[Awdhaemel]

Slight adjustments to regions/Divisions
Region 1:
PC
Hollidaysburg
Bellefonte
Clearfield
Central
Johnstown
Somerset

Region 2:
Penns Valley
Huntington
Bellwood
Tyrone
BG
PO
BEA

Region 3
Richland
Forest Hills
Westmont
Chestnut ridge
Bedford
Central cambria
Bishop mcCort

Region 4:
North star
Berlin
Conemaugh valley
Conemaugh township
Meyersdale
Windber

[Rumorman78]

In your break own into 4 divisions, how has joining the LHAC helped your division 4 teams? It looks like the old WEST PAC.