3/7/22
The Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference voted today to extend invitations to 14 area school districts to join the LHAC for the 2023-24 season. Five of the school districts (Meyersdale, North Star, Berlin, Conemaugh Township, and Windber) approved a move to the LHAC in February. The invitation will be on an upcoming Board agenda for the other nine schools. Those nine schools are: Tyrone, Bellwood, Huntingdon, Clearfield, Phillipsburg-Oceola, Bellefonte, Bald Eagle Area and Hollidaysburg (which was invited for all sports except football).
The league will be regionalized to create yearly rivalries and minimize travel, with championships between sections in certain sports, along with league wide championships in individual events. It is also the goal of the league to include academic competitions along with this expansion.
A committee of athletic directors from the expanded league will be formed to work on the new sections of the conference. It is anticipated that proposals will be designed by late April with approval from all schools of the alignment coming in early May.
"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."