The Lisbon School will be looking at joining River Valley Conference for junior high athletic competitions in the future.
The decision is being made to help Lisbon students have closer competitions, noted Lisbon activities director Eric Ries.
Schools in the River Valley Conference include Regina, Tipton, West Branch, West Liberty, Wilton, Durant and Mid-Prairie.
For Lisbon junior high athletes, some of the competitions are more than an hour away from the school in the Tri-Rivers Conference, with Prince of Peace, Marquette and Easton Valley being more than an hour away. The furthest school in the River Valley Conference is Mid Prairie with 54 miles away from Lisbon, with the average distance being closer to 35 miles for many of the schools.
As well, the average size of schools that Lisbon would be competing against would be much larger. Currently, Lisbon is one of the larger districts in the conference, with 134 students.
That means Lisbon has more athletes out for different sports than some of their competitors, and that can lead to morale issues for both teams. From the competitors perspective, with only eight members on a team, those players get to exhaustion much faster, as they’re playing for the entire game, where Lisbon’s second or third string players might not get as much time on the court.
Lisbon would be the smallest school in the River Valley Conference.
Ries said the district is only looking at the junior high level at the moment, as that is where the district is seeing the biggest need for more equitable competitors for the programs which have large numbers of athletes out.
Lisbon looking at joining River Valley conference for junior high activities
October 21, 2021
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.