LHAC looks to Expand for the 2023-2024 Season
Tagged under: District 5, District 6, District 9, Gameday Hub, News
Phil Myers | March 8, 2022
The Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference (LHAC) voted unanimously to double its membership for the 2023-2024 season by inviting 14 more school districts to join the existing 13. The current thirteen LHAC schools are Bedford, Bishop Guilfoyle, Bishop McCort, Central, Central Cambria, Chestnut Ridge, Forest Hills, Greater Johnstown, Penn Cambria, Richland, Somerset, Westmont, and Bishop Carroll (who co-ops with McCort for football).
The five District 5 school districts from the West Pac invited have already had their respective school boards approve joining the LHAC in February . Those five schools are Berlin, Conemaugh Township, Meyersdale, North Star, and Windber. The other nine schools invited have yet to have their school boards approve the move. There are eight District 6 schools which include Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte, Bellwood-Antis, Huntingdon, Penns Valley, Philipsburg-Osceola, Tyrone, and Hollidaysburg (who was invited for all sports except football). Clearfield from District 9 was also invited to participate.
The league will be regionalized probably into a north, south, east, west configuration to create yearly rivalries and minimize travel. There will, of course, be league championships. It is a goal of the new league to include academic competitions too. A committee of athletic directors from the expanded league will be formed to work on those new sections of the conference. It is hoped that the anticipated proposals will be designed by April with approval of the alignment to come in May.
LHAC chairman and Somerset’s current athletic director Scott Close said in his released statement, “A special thank you to those members of the expansion committee who took a small idea that started back in June and massaged it into what could be a great conference. I think the opportunities that this creates for the student athletes of the LHAC is wonderful.”
The Mountain League will more than likely cease to exist as Clearfield and most of the District 6 schools invited to join the LHAC are all that made up that league. In recent years the Mt. League has lost members which leaves for a tough time scheduling game. Central and Bishop Carroll both have left in the last few years and both went to the LHAC. Meanwhile, preliminary word has it that the West PAC will continue playing other sports but not football as the schools remaining do not play football anymore. A couple other West PAC football schools have moved into other conferences. It also remains unclear as to what would happen with the West Pac/Heritage crossover series that takes place at the end of the football season.
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