MOUNT CARMEL - Mount Carmel Area sports teams will remain members of the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference, according to an announcement made by Thomas Ditchey, president of the Mount Carmel Area school board, before Monday's regular meeting.
Ditchey made the announcement after the board met in executive session for approximately an hour after the meeting's 7 p.m. starting time.
The Red Tornadoes were invited to become members of the Schuylkill League and Anthracite Football League in 2016.
Pottsville has already committed to the AFL after competing in the Berks Football League. Blue Mountain and
Lehighton will become members of the AFL this fall.
Shamokin Area was also invited but turned the invitation down, also opting to stay in the PHAC.
Mount Carmel coaches of various sports were reportedly split on such a move.
Mount Carmel has been a member of the Schuylkill League and District 11 in previous years, but has been competing in District 4 since the mid-1990s and has been a member of the Heartland Conference since its inception in 2008-09.
Anthracite Football League officials had hoped to attract Mount Carmel, Shamokin and reportedly Berwick from the Wyoming Valley Conference to become part of its Division I. Berwick has yet to make a move to join the AFL and Schuylkill League.
While Mount Carmel's draw as a football program would have been strong, the district's relatively small enrollment could have worked against it in other sports if it would have been in Division I in all sports.
Mount Carmel also wanted to stay a member of District 4 rather than switch back to District 11, in which most of the other AFL and Schuylkill League teams compete.
Another factor working against the switch was that Mount Carmel wanted to keep its football games with its biggest rivals, Shamokin and Southern Columbia. Because both schools remain Heartland members, scheduling would have become a problem, particularly in football, for Mount Carmel Area.