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East Canton High School has applied for admittance to the Inter-Valley Conference beginning in 2013-14, and is waiting to hear a decision from the league.
There are potentially more changes coming for the Portage Trail Conference other than just Southeast and Streetsboro switching divisions next year.
East Canton, a member of the County (small-school) Division, may be leaving the league soon, according to the school's athletic director, Joe Bogdan. The Hornets have applied to the Inter-Valley Conference for all sports.
“We were asked to apply to the Inter-Valley Conference and we did so, along with one other team,” Bogdan said. “We are now in a wait-and-see phase until the ADs make a decision.”
The other school that is rumored to be in contention is Gnadenhutten Indian Valley, currently a member of the Principals Athletic Conference. Bogdan says East Canton could hear a response soon, but he's not aware of a specific timetable.
The change of conferences would not go into effect until the fall of 2013, so there isn’t a rush to get that decision immediately.
Bogdan said he has kept the other PTC officials informed as the process has proceeded, starting from when East Canton applied to the IVC in November to when the school made a presentation to the league in January and all the way to the present day. He also said that the PTC has been good for East Canton.
“We have enjoyed the PTC. It’s a good league with good competition,” Bogdan said. “We’ve enjoyed some success.”
Whichever school will be joining the IVC will replace Bowerstown Conotton Valley. The league currently consists of four schools in Tuscarawas County (Sugarcreek Garaway, Newcomerstown, New Philadelphia Tuscarawas Central Catholic and Strasburg Franklin), and schools in Coshocton (West Lafayette Ridgewood), Carroll (Malvern), Stark (Magnolia Sandy Valley) and Holmes (Berlin Hiland) counties. Hiland does not field a football team, giving the IVC eight football schools and nine schools in every other sport.
The most appealing aspect of the IVC over the PTC for East Canton would be natural border rivalries. As the only school in the PTC from Stark County -- and southern Stark County at that -- East Canton has primarily been without natural rivals since joining the league in 2005.
The IVC offers two border rivalries to the Hornets in Malvern and Sandy Valley.
“We are excited (that we would) get to be in a league with those natural rivalries,” Bogdan said.
East Canton already schedules both Malvern and Sandy Valley for non-league events in most sports every year.
From the PTC's perspective, conference president Nick Hulea told SportsInk.com that the league wouldn't look at scenarios for how the conference adjusts until East Canton formally accepts an invitation to the IVC, if that is ever extended.