Centerville-Abington Community Schools is looking for solutions to help keep the Tri-Eastern Conference together while also exploring what it would mean to join a new athletic conference.
Clay Bolser, CACS’ athletic director, presented an update about recent discussions on the TEC’s future at the school district’s Sept. 24 board meeting.
“I want people to understand this isn’t about that we just think we’re so much better than everybody,” Bolser said. “The landscape of athletics, the landscape of education in general, has just changed, and communities are not the same. … We just have to be able to adapt and proactively think of how we’re going to address the situations.”
Bolser explained how, over the past few years, several eastern Indiana schools have discussed forming a new conference that could include the Bulldogs.
While not ruling out that opportunity, Centerville has been trying to keep the TEC in place while studying how new schools could join the TEC to increase competition, he said.
Committing to stay in the TEC could leave Centerville with no conference to join if it dissolves and/or new alignments are finalized, Superintendent Mike McCoy said.
Football has been a driving force for the conversation. Over 20 years, Centerville has won against four specific schools by an average of 35 points, including a season when the Bulldogs went 0-10. Bolser said those disparities become a player safety issue and reduce the tough competition that teams face, which can affect their abilities to advance to state competitions.
In the most recent TEC discussions, options for adding Shenandoah, Eastern Hancock, Monroe Central and Wes-Del were considered. Member schools voted down conference expansion ideas 5-4 during a recent meeting. Knightstown, Lincoln, Hagerstown, Tri and Winchester voted no, while Union County, Union City, Northeastern and Centerville voted yes.
As reported in the Sept. 24 WWN, those votes became public at Northeastern’s Sept. 17 school board meeting, when the Knights’ athletic director, Ryan Halloran, said Northeastern has begun exploring opportunities to join a new conference. He noted Centerville as an ally in those discussions.
One option being explored would be a mix of five 2A schools and three 3A schools. Centerville, Northeastern, Eastern Hancock, Shenandoah, Lapel, New Castle, Jay County and Delta are in an early discovery phase.
Changes in school enrollment trends are making new alignments possible. Bolser noted that New Castle’s enrollment is currently around 800, which is much less than in previous decades.
Most Centerville varsity coaches Bolser polled are in favor of a new conference, but two are opposed. Bolser said it’s important to consider coaches’ opinions while evaluating options.
“We are a founding member of the Tri-Eastern Conference, and that’s why we wanted to make sure that we put the best foot forward in trying to keep that connection together,” Bolser said.
McCoy also discussed challenges with finding junior varsity games, limited play time for some athletes, and the risk of making a change when other conference memberships are uncertain. He said he’s not necessarily in favor of leaving the TEC, but said staying could be “a roll of the dice.”
Centerville’s board took no action.
A version of this article will appear in the October 1 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.