CURWENSVILLE, Pa. – Curwensville could be leaving the D9 League in football and the AML in all other sports as soon as the 2021-22 school year.
(Photo by David Johnson)
Multiple sources have told D9Sports.com that the Inter-County Conference (ICC) has accepted the Golden Tide athletic teams for all sports for the 2021-22 school year, and Curwensville superintendent Ron Matchok has confirmed that the district has received verbal confirmation that it was accepted into the ICC.
“We have not received our official confirmation yet,” Matchok said in a text to D9Sports.com Thursday, Oct. 31.
The move to the ICC would mean Curwensville would be leaving the D9 Football League as well as the AML and play all its sports in the ICC.
The ICC is currently a 16-team conference consisting of the following schools broken into a North and a South Division – North: Bellwood-Antis, Claysburg-Kimmel, Glendale, Juniata Valley, Moshannon Valley, Mount Union, West Branch and Williamsburg. South: Everett, Fannett-Metal, Forbes Roads, McConnellsburg, Northern Bedford, Southern Fulton, Southern Huntingdon and Tussey Mountain.
Of those schools, 12 are football-playing members including Bellwood-Antis, Juniata Valley, Tussey Mountain, Southern Huntingdon, Everett, Clayburg-Kimmel, Northern Bedford, West Branch, Mount Union, Moshannon Valley, Glendale and Williamsburg.
Curwensville currently plays three of those schools as part of the Moshannon Valley League, which it is also a member in a number of sports including Moshannon Valley, Glendale and West Branch – Harmony is also a member of the MoValley League but is not currently a member of the ICC.
“All other sports except football already played some teams in that league because of our local Mo Valley League,” Matchok said.
Curwensville was formerly a member of the ICC, at least in football, previously joining the league, which was originally formed in 1937, in 1975 before leaving the league following the 1980 season and then rejoining the league 1987 before leaving it again following the 1998 season to join the AML in football. It remained in the AML in football until the 2018 season when the AML and KSAC joined together to form the D9 League with the Golden Tide becoming a member of the D9 League Small School South.
Matchock told D9Sports.com that a committee on the Curwensville School Board made an initial request to join the ICC in writing a few years ago and then followed up on that request this year.
He said the full Curwensville School Board would not generally have to approve the move.
“Athletic Leagues are not typically approved by school boards unless they would oppose or request to vote on it,” Matchock said.
Matchock said one of the reasons Curwensville is making the move is travel time.
“It reduces travel time significantly for our kids, especially during the week for school nights,” Matchock said.
According to Matchock, the move wouldn’t happen until the 2021-22 school year in order to be fair to the D9 Football League and the AML.
“From a professional standpoint, it allows us to give our current league a one-and-half-year advance notice,” Matschock said.
