Lehigh Valley Conference unanimously approves expansion to include six MVC schools

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

The Lehigh Valley Conference principals voted 12-0 on Wednesday morning at Whitehall High School to approve expansion and include the six Mountain Valley Conference schools.

A teleconference has been set for 11 this morning to discuss more details of the expansion which would bring the total number of schools in the Lehigh Valley Conference to 18. LVC president and Whitehall High principal Chris Schiffert and MVC president and Stroudsburg principal Jeff Sodl, who is also a Whitehall grad, will be available on the teleconference.

The MVC members -- East Stroudsburg North and South, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain East and West and Stroudsburg -- will join with the 12 existing LVC members in time for the 2014-15 school year. Lehighton is currently a MVC member, but will be leaving at the conclusion of the current school year for the Anthracite League in football and the Schuylkill League in most other sports.

Sources indicate that discussions will continue about the divisional alignments in each sport where complete agreement is expected to be more problematic.

According to one source, a preliminary divisional alignment for football had two divisions with nine members apiece. One would include the existing MVC members, with Allen and Dieruff staying with them, and Bethlehem Catholic joining those eight. The other division would include the rest of the LVC -- Central, Easton, Emmaus, Freedom, Liberty, Nazareth, Northampton, Parkland and Whitehall.

However, all alignments and schedules will continue to be discussed once the MVC schools get together with the LVC members.

The approval of LVC expansion ends a process that began in April when the MVC extended invitations to 10 of the 12 Lehigh Valley Conference schools -- everyone but Bethlehem Catholic and Central Catholic.

Later, the LVC worked out some of its internal issues and declared that Becahi and CCHS would be included in anything involved with the league moving forward.

The LVC went through a lengthy process during the summer of changing its by-laws to make the vote on expansion possible.