TVC Board of Control votes to add Fort Frye, Marietta, and Warren
By: Noah Cavin
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – The Tri-Valley Conference has voted to accept an expansion plan that will add Fort Frye, Marietta, and Warren to the conference in the 2027-28 school year.
The following statement was released from the Tri-Valley Conference Board of Control.
“The Tri-Valley Conference (TVC) Board of Control voted on Wednesday, February 11, to approve the admittance of Fort Frye, Marietta, and Warren high schools into the conference.
The measure will now move forward to the superintendents of the Tri-Valley Conference member schools for final approval. If approved, the new alignment will take effect beginning with the 2027-28 school year. Under the proposed structure, the conference will be organized into three divisions:
Hocking Division
Belpre, Eastern, Federal Hocking, Southern, Trimble, and Waterford
Ohio Division
Alexander, Meigs, Nelsonville-York, River Valley, Vinton County, and Wellston
Muskingum Division
Athens, Fort Frye, Marietta, and Warren
Further updates will be provided following the superintendents’ decision.”
The realignment has been received well among current TVC coaches.
“When it got brought up at the end of the year at our all-conference meeting, everybody was like, hey, that’s great,” said Eastern Head Coach Jason Jackson.
There have been talks of expansion recently, with some teams attempting to join the TVC in years’ past. Nelsonville-York Head Coach Rusty Richards said that the conference got it right.
“There’s been a lot of back and forth and a lot of talks and a lot of discussions through the years on how people should divide it,” he said. “I think they got it. I think they got it right the way they’re doing it right now. I sort of like that, because it’s not a whole lot of change.”
The realignment makes travelling and scheduling far easier, per Jackson.
“When you look at the map, realistically we could play football a half hour from any of the schools in this part of Southeast Ohio, and not have to have a bus trip over, at the most, 45 minutes,” he said.
This move makes expansion a possibility, with schools like Jackson and Gallia Academy rumored to be in the sights of the conference for the future, which makes sense according to Jackson and Richards.
“Any good conference is going to want to try to expand,” said Jackson. “Nobody wants to have a conference where you only got three schools, four schools. A good rule of thumb is that if you can get your schedule with five teams within your conference, or six teams even, you’ve only got to worry about, you know, those non-conference schedules where you’re only looking to fill four games.”
“They definitely do want to expand,” said Richards. “I think the ultimate goal is two (more) schools. Who’s those two schools? I’m not sure. I think you probably got to go with your Jacksons and Gallias just cause, it’d almost give that old SEOAL feel, just like it was before, but it’d just be with the TVC bylaws.”
The conference Richards is referring to is the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League, which was formed in 1925 and lasted for 92 years. The conference had 20 different teams as members in its existence, including Athens, Nelsonville-York, Jackson, and Gallia Academy.
“I’m gonna miss Athens being Week 10, I ain’t gonna lie,” he said, “But we’ll have them on the schedule. I can promise you that.”
Per Southern High School Principal Daniel Otto, the final votes from superintendents should be complete by the end of next week.