Mountain Valley Conference (Pennsylvania)
The Mountain Valley Conference (MVC) was an athletic conference consisting of 6 large high schools and 4 school districts from Monroe County and the Lehighton Area School District from Carbon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was part of District XI of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA).
History
There had been widespread discussion about high school league realignment in the Lehigh Valley starting in late 1990 or early 1991.[1] It was in the fall of 1993 that the formation of the Mountain Valley Conference was announced.[2] The new league comprised all the public high schools in Monroe County at the time: Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Pocono Mountain, and Pleasant Valley High Schools, plus Nazareth and Northampton High Schools from Northampton County. Lehighton Area High School would also join the new league, giving it an initial membership of seven schools when competition began with the 1994-95 school year.
After the 1997-98 school year, the MVC added more schools in Lehigh and Northampton Counties: Easton Area, Freedom, Liberty, Parkland, and Whitehall all joined the league.[3] After 2001-02 the seven schools in Lehigh and Northampton Counties left the league to help form the Lehigh Valley Conference.[4] East Stroudsburg school district had opened a new high school near the turn of the century, and Pocono Mountain district opened a new high school in 2002; both new schools were added to the MVC for the start of the 2002-03 school year.[5] MVC membership has been stable from 2002 to 2012.
Starting in 2012, Dieruff High School and William Allen High School joined the MVC as associate members for football only. All schools voted to allow both Allentown teams into the conference with only Lehighton voting against it. The teams will stay a part of the Mountain Valley Conference for a maximum of four years.[6]
Starting in the 2014-2015 school year, the six Monroe County schools became part of the Lehigh Valley Conference, expanding that conference to a large 18-team "super-conference", which was renamed the East Penn Conference.[7] Lehighton left the Mountain Valley Conference in most sports and now participate in the Schuylkill League. They play football in the Anthracite Football League and act as an independent team in field hockey.[8]
High schools
The 7 high school teams in the Mountain Valley Conference (and their locations) were:
- East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers (East Stroudsburg).
- East Stroudsburg North Timberwolves (Bushkill)
- Pocono Mountain East Cardinals (Swiftwater)
- Pocono Mountain West Panthers (Pocono Summit)
- Stroudsburg Mountaineers (Stroudsburg)
- Pleasant Valley Bears (Brodheadsville)
- Lehighton Indians (Lehighton)
Football only:
District
The Mountain Valley Conference was part of District XI of the PIAA.
Final Champions
Fall Sports
- Boys Cross Country: Stroudsburg
- Girls Cross Country: Stroudsburg
- Field Hockey: Stroudsburg
- Football: East Stroudsburg South
- Golf: Stroudsburg
- Girls Tennis: East Stroudsburg South
- Boys Soccer: Stroudsburg
- Girls Soccer: Stroudsburg
- Girls Volleyball: Pleasant Valley
- Scholastic Scrimmage: Stroudsburg
Winter Sports
- Boys Basketball: Pocono Mountain West
- Girls Basketball: Pocono Mountain West
- Boys Swimming: Stroudsburg
- Girls Swimming: Stroudsburg
- Wrestling: Stroudsburg
- Chess: Pocono Mountain East
- Science Olympiad: East Stroudsburg South
Spring Sports
- Baseball: East Stroudsburg South
- Softball: Pleasant Valley
- Boys Tennis: Stroudsburg
- Boys Track: Stroudsburg and Pleasant Valley (tie)
- Girls Track: Stroudsburg
Mountain Valley Conference
National Football League (NFL)
Current NFL Players
- Kyshoen Jarrett, Strong Safety, Washington Redskins (East Stroudsburg South)
Former NFL Player
- James Mungro, Running back, Indianapolis Colts (Super Bowl XLI Champion) (East Stroudsburg South)
- Ken Parrish, Punter, Atlanta Falcons (East Stroudsburg South)
- Jimmy Terwilliger, Quarterback, Minnesota Vikings (East Stroudsburg South)
- Chris Neild, Nose Tackle, Washington Redskins (Stroudsburg)
Arena Football League (AFL)
Former AFL Players
- Kevin Nagle, former Fullback and Linebacker, Colorado Crush and Orlando Predators (Pleasant Valley)
External links
References
- Logic, Jack (1992-01-05). "New Year's List For Reorganization Of East Penn Conference". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- Schuler, Jeff (1993-09-02). "New League Finally Arises After All The Years Of Talk". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- Fox, John Jay (1997-09-25). "MVC's Offer Would Cut EPC In Half". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2012-12-16.
- "FLASHBACK: In '01, LVC was formed — minus Bethlehem Catholic". The Morning Call. 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- Fox, John Jay (2001-12-22). "LVC may suit up in 2002". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- Young, Alyssa (2011-11-14). "Allen and Dieruff high school football announcement coming Tuesday". The Express-Times/Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
- http://www.mcall.com/sports/mc-lvc-mvc-league-merger-20130815,0,2372001.story%5B%5D
- Boyer, Leroy (2012-02-11). "Schuylkill League officials approve addition of Lehighton to league ranks Indian welcome". standardspeaker.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.