Conference upheaval has been running rampant at the college level for the last several years.

It’s trickling down to the high school level, too.

It was announced last week that Buckeye Trail would be leaving the Pioneer Valley Conference for the Indian Valley Conference, starting in the 2016-17 school year.

The Warriors are joining the likes of Conotton Valley, Claymont, Tuscarawas Valley and Indian Valley in heading for the IVC. Trail and Conotton will both remain part of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.

“We really didn’t look into the IVC,” Trail Athletic Director Steve Tellep said. “We were asked to come and talk about a new league. We were just kind of exploring our options and they extended an invitation to us.”

The new-look IVC, which will still include the likes of Garaway, Ridgewood, Malvern, Hiland, Tuscarawas Central Catholic, is planning to split into divisions, but Tellep won’t know where the Warriors fall until the planning meeting next month.

“The travel in this league will be much better for us,” Tellep said. “Some of the trips are now just 25 or 30 minutes away. All of the logistics were considered.”

The Warriors will honor all of their commitments to the PVC and contracts throughout the spring and next school year. They’ll remain eligible for league titles and their athletes will still be able to be recognized.

So, with the Warriors on their way out and River having left after last school year, what’s the status of the PVC, which will be down to just five members soon?

“We’re going to meet in the middle of March and look at all possible options,” PVC President Don Ullman said.

Ullman believes there are some “logical schools” that would fit in with the PVC, both in terms of size and geography.

“In 2011, we reached out to some schools in surrounding counties in the area,” Ullman said. “We’re going to look at all possible options.”

So, hypothetically, what if those “logical schools” aren’t interested? To me, there’s a chance the PVC could be on its way to extinction.

But, Ullman couldn’t say for sure until all of the remaining schools, which include Monroe Central, Shenandoah, Caldwell, Fort Frye and Frontier, get together and start hashing some things out.

“The member schools will have to decide whether or not they want to go ahead with five schools,” Ullman said. “I think the vision of what we want to do with the remaining schools will be much clearer after we get together and meet.”

According to Ullman, the path for the PVC should be determined by early in the spring.

“We’ll be discussing it a lot in the next three or four weeks,” Ullman said. “By early April, our vision of what the PVC would like to do will be a lot clearer.”

Both Tellep and Ullman said that Trail’s leaving with no hard feelings either way.

“We’re going to miss the PVC,” Tellep said. “There are some really good schools and people involved with that league. It’s definitely a hard move to make, but there are some logistics involved that we had to take a look at.”

Ullman actually learned that Trail was exploring its options in December, but didn’t realize the plans were proceeding as quickly as they did.

“I didn’t forsee Trail leaving,” Ullman admitted. “We’ve had a good relationship with them. I always thought Buckeye Trail was a very, very good fit for the PVC, but we wish them the best of luck.”

BEALLSVILLE CLOSING

Hearing that the Switzerland of Ohio School Board voted to close Beallsville High School during its meeting last week caused great sadness.

I realize the financial help that the move should create for the suffering district, but what about the school and community pride of the native Blue Devils?

We cover upwards of 14 schools at this newspaper, and I am not sure I’ve visited a community that reveres its school and teams moreso than the Blue Devils’ faithful.

Beallsville has long been one of the smallest schools in Ohio. It’s believed they’ve been the smallest public school football team each of the last few years, but Big Blue has always competed well and taken great pride in all of their athletics.

I remember as a young kid watching a John Burke-led basketball team advance to the Division IV regional tournament and then when I was in high school watching the play of Colby Street and the Blue Devils’ football team.

In this position, I covered Charity Street’s antics in basketball and softball as well as the Lady Blue Devils’ 4×8 team becoming the first females in school history to run in the Ohio State Track and Field Championship. Throw in the play of Torri Jarrett and Teryn Jarrett and most recently Dalton Sechrest in football.

Obviously, there’s much more to the athletic lore than those teams and individuals, but those are the ones that jump out the quickest. Beallsville has great tradition.

How good have Beallsville athletics been? The school owns 31 Ohio Valley Athletic Conference titles in eight different sports. That ranks 23rd overall in conference history.

Beallsville might not be open after the 2015 senior class graduates, but the memories of Blue Devils’ athletics will long remain because one thing’s for sure, the folks in that community won’t let the Big Blue pride die.

SETH’S SCOOPS

THE OHSAA confirmed for me that Beallsville student-athletes currently in grades 9-11 are not subject to the OHSAA’s transfer bylaws if they enroll at either River or Monroe Central. However, should they opt for another school, instead of the two remaining Switzerland of Ohio schools, they’d be required to sit out half the season unless they show proof of residency change. Current eighth graders aren’t subject because a student doesn’t begin his or her athletic residency until his freshman season.

SPRING IS coming. I know this because spring training baseball games begin this week in Florida and Arizona. I also know this because baseball and softball teams are getting set for their second week of practice. Track and Field begins on March 9 for outdoor practice. The indoor state meet is set for this Saturday at the University of Akron.