The future landscape of high school football in Schuylkill County changed dramatically Wednesday night.
The Pottsville Area School Board, at its regular monthly meeting, unanimously approved the Crimson Tide joining the Anthracite Football League, starting with the 2016 season.
Pottsville will compete in Section I of the Berks Football League for the next two seasons - 2014 and 2015 - before becoming the AFL's 12th member in 2016.
The addition of Pottsville will allow the AFL to form two divisions, a Class AAA/AA division and a Class A division, and opens the door to even more expansion.
"It's good for us all-around. It's a good fit for us," Pottsville athletic director Eric Rismiller said Wednesday. "Our population is decreasing, and our enrollment is going down the next couple of cycles.
"When they sent us the invitation, I talked to Scott Krater, the chairman of our athletic committee. I talked to Tom McGeoy, our football coach. Everyone I talked to felt this was the best option for our kids."
The move to the AFL is a return home of sorts for Pottsville.
The Crimson Tide played a schedule that included several Schuylkill County teams in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the Eastern Football Conference was king. Pottsville played several seasons in the Wyoming Valley Conference in the late 1990s, and was a member of the East Penn League in 2000-01 before joining the then-named Berks Inter-County League in 2004.
The Tide have compiled a 35-27 record (.565) in their 10 seasons in the Berks League, winning a share of the Section I title in 2004, '05 and '10. Pottsville has struggled the past three seasons, going 8-13 in league play.
"I have nothing but praise for the Berks League. They've been great to us," Rismiller said. "In 2005 and 2006, it was smash-mouth football week in and week out. It really prepared us to reach the state finals.
"Based on fan base, though ... we aren't drawing people from the Berks League, never really have."
Pottsville's declining enrollment and the poor attendance at home games were two of the reasons the school board listed for joining the AFL at its meeting Wednesday night.
Pottsville has an enrollment of 383 boys in grades 9-11 for the 2014-16 PIAA cycle. Rismiller said school officials have projected a decline of approximately 20-25 boys for the 2016-18 cycle, putting Pottsville in the same enrollment neighborhood as current AFL members Blue Mountain (363), Jim Thorpe (327) and Lehighton (320).
"We will be joining the Anthracite Football League come the next two-year cycle, based on two items," said Krater, who is the board vice-president. "One is the reduction of our student population. The second is to renew some of the old rivalries and also to get people in the stands.
"We've noticed over the last several years declining attendance. We'd like to get some more fans in the stands."
In turn, that will generate more revenue at home games, said board member Charles Wagner.
"Also, note there was nothing slighting the Berks League," Krater continued. "It's a great league. It's just that I think the time is right for us to move into the league here. There are several teams here with our classification, so there's enough there for a schedule."
The move would save Pottsville Area money in only one way, travel expenses to some away games, Krater said.
Krater made the motion. It was seconded by Cindy Petchulis, and carried unanimously by the board members present: John Boran, president, and members Dr. Christina DiCello, Patrick Moran, Karen Rismiller, Gary Cortese and Wagner.
For the Anthracite Football League, the addition of Pottsville is the latest step in the growth of the league.
Started as the Anthracite 8 in 2002, the league was renamed the Anthracite Football League when North Schuylkill joined original members Jim Thorpe, Mahanoy Area, Marian, Minersville, Panther Valley, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley and Tamaqua in 2006.
The AFL approved the addition of Blue Mountain and Lehighton in 2012, and the Eagles and Indians will begin competition in the league this fall. Now, Pottsville gives the league a 12th team.
"We as a league are extremely excited with Pottsville joining our football league," said AFL president Steve Toth, the principal at Tamaqua Area High School. "We discussed expansion earlier this year. All of our members felt it was something to look into. We sent out some invitations, and Pottsville was the first to jump on board.
"I can't tell you how excited we are to have them in our league. I'm happy to have them, and all of the school districts in our league are happy to have them as well."
The addition of Pottsville also cools some tensions between the AFL's smaller schools, who were upset with having to play Class AAA schools Blue Mountain and Lehighton on a yearly basis.
A two-division format that includes Pottsville, Blue Mountain, Lehighton, Jim Thorpe, Tamaqua and North Schuylkill in Division I and Mahanoy Area, Marian, Minersville, Panther Valley, Schuylkill Haven and Shenandoah Valley in Division II is a likely solution to that problem.
"There will be a two-division proposal that will be put forth in front of league members," Toth said. "It has to be ironed out with the league members.
"It opens up a little bit more fluidness with our scheduling. Having an odd number of teams now involved, it made scheduling a little bit tricky for our ADs. We want to make sure that any team brought in, and future teams, that the divisions allow for a competitive schedule on their part, and for the league to remain competitive as well."
Toth wouldn't name all of the schools the AFL extended invitations to, but one is Mount Carmel, which currently plays in the Pennsylvania Heartland Conference. Athletic director Greg Sacavage confirmed Wednesday that his school is in the investigation stages, and hopes to have a decision in the next couple of weeks.
Toth said adding Mount Carmel is a goal of the Anthracite Football League.
"Coal region football includes Mount Carmel," Toth said. "They're part of our history, and there has been long-standing rivalries with people and districts in our league. They are somebody on our backdoor, maybe not in the same district as schools that compete in the AFL, but the history that goes back with Mount Carmel and teams from Schuylkill County in long-tenured.
"We'd love to reconnect with that school, and a couple of other schools that are in our local geography. We want to do something that hasn't been done since PIAA went to its classification system, and that's create a local football league that produces local rivalries."
Rismiller said the Tide's move to the AFL was contingent on Pottsville having no Class A teams on its AFL schedule, and being able to retain its annual "Lump of Coal" rivalry game with Reading.
Having five non-league games will also enable Pottsville to keep some of the Berks League teams on its schedule, along with old-time Eastern Conference foes like Berwick, and possibly Mount Carmel and Shamokin.
The loss of Pottsville would create two six-team divisions in the Berks League, so each of those teams would also have five non-league games.
"I hope our fans understand that right now, Pottsville has the best of both worlds," Rismiller said. "We get to keep Reading, and have options of picking up Berks teams in non-league dates. We're not going to lose a lot.
"We gain local rivalries and, the big schools, we keep those intact."