LIVERMORE FALLS — The RSU 73 board on Thursday overwhelmingly approved moving from the Mountain Valley Conference to the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference for all sports except football.

The football team will remain in the Campbell Conference.

The vote came following a presentation by Spruce Mountain High School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Lee Hixon, who spoke of what he believes are many advantages for SMHS if it joins the Kennebec league.

Jay representatives Vicki McLeod and newly appointed member Kathryn McAnnich voted against the move.

Tops among the positives for changing sports conferences was the chance for SMHS athletes to become more competitive.

He said only two schools in the MVC are Class B schools, as is SMHS, while the KVAC includes 16 schools with more competitive standings.

“Some SMHS teams may have to sacrifice the first year,” said Hixon, referring to the chance that the teams may not do as well as they have been in the MVC during the first year or so.

He said 72 of the 80 student athletes he polled believe the move will be good for their sports. He said all but one coach agrees with the change.

In answer to Livermore board member Cindy Young’s question about returning to the MVC if joining the KVAC doesn’t work out, he said all decisions can be reversed.

The decision by the KVAC on SMHS joining the league will go before its board in January.

Hixon said during preliminary talks most KVAC schools agreed that adding SMHS would be acceptable.

“We will show what we have to offer and what KVAC would gain with SMHS,” Hixon said.

If all goes as expected, SMHS sports teams will begin playing in the new conference in August 2014.

The KVAC is divided into north and south divisions. SMHS would be assigned to the north division that includes Gardiner, Leavitt, Lincoln Academy, Maranacook, Maine Central Institute, Medomak Valley, Nokomis, Waterville and Winslow.

Various teams will play the same number of games as they did with the MVC, which is generally from 14 to 18 per season.

Some of the MVC teams are Telstar in Bethel, Mountain Valley in Rumford, Dirigo in Dixfield, Carrabec in Anson and several others.

Hixon also said that the distance to the schools in the KVAC is about the same as it is to the schools in the MVC, and dues are the same at $500 per year.

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