As you guys know, I contribute here now pretty much as an interested bystander. Beyond this fall, my interests will shift north and west.
But what I think what we're seeing here at this point is the tail (Fairless) wagging the dog (the rest of the PAC). They were reportedly vocal about their displeasure with being in the same conference as CVCA. If a story is repeated so many times, it becomes gospel. Unless someone here was in the room, this is pure speculation. But there's got to be some truth to it. They went to the East District and perhaps now they want out? Frankly, I've come to the conclusion of "Who can blame them?" Each school has a responsibility to proactively manage their own interests. It seems like the Falcons at least may have a plan.
Ultimately, CVCA decided to do what was in their best interest. Well, they were going to leave anyway, one might say. Perhaps. But I suspect the timeline was moved up.
What is the common denominator is all of this instability at the moment? This appears to be happening due to a great void in leadership. The commissioner appears to be running the conference in absentia. There has been no public statement in nearly 17 months, since
this November 15, 2022 Canton Repository article, which stated the PAC was looking to add a single new member for the 2025-26 school year. This is before CVCA negotiated a departure a year early.
At that time, the Repository story stated:
We are now a year on from when the published timeline for the conference "to act upon membership." Looking back, that Repository article is almost humorous. I had a leader who would often say "Hope is not a strategy." Who puts their home address and email out for public consumption for something like this? It is looking more and more like the conference never had a plan.
So here we are, a year later, and there are daily rumors and speculations about conversations and tea leaves and such. The flavor of today is
@Stizostedion's
post that Manchester is looking elsewhere. Yesterday it was
@ShootNation speculating that Manchester, Fairless and Tuslaw might branch off.
Everyone always said that Koach kept this league together. It's been a fun league with some great games, and it has survived and prospered for 35 years. But like any entity, if it is going to survive into the next generation, someone with some strong leadership skills better step up, because it sure feels like it is at risk of splintering at the moment.
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