Berkshire County ADs Advance Football Realignment for 2016
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The Berkshire County high school athletic directors on Wednesday voted to recommend a new football league alignment for the 2016 season.
The plan still needs approval by the county's principals and the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference, but Drury athletic director Chris Barbarotta and Wahconah AD Jared Shannon on Wednesday afternoon expressed confidence that the version approved by the county's ADs on Wednesday largely will stay in tact.
Barbarotta's Blue Devils are slated to play in a five-team division that includes McCann Tech, Lee, Mount Greylock and Mohawk Trail Regional.
Four other Berkshire County schools would be grouped in a six-team league that includes Hoosac Valley, Pittsfield, Taconic, Wahconah, Northampton and South Hadley.
Monument Mountain is slated to join a five-team league that includes Amherst, Belchertown, Easthampton and Ludlow.
Barbarotta said the alignment is only scheduled to be in place for one year. The PVIAC is scheduled to do an all-sport realignment year.
"Everyone feels like we can live with it because it's a year, and if it works great, and if not, we can fix it," he said.
For his part, Barbarotta thinks the new alignment works on a couple of different levels for Drury.
"We're thrilled with it," he said. "We feel like we can compete with everyone in our league."
McCann coach Bob LeClair agreed.
"I think it's great," LeClair said. "We're going to be in with three other Berkshire County schools. I think it's not going to just be good for us. It's going to be good for everybody.
"It looks like this is going to be a lot of fun, playing against teams in the same division all the time. I think this is going to be good for everybody, not just Berkshire County."
Drury and Hoosac Valley already have an understanding about preserving the historic rivalry game between the two schools, Barbarotta said.
But Drury also has the potential of creating a new cross-town rivalry with the McCann Tech Hornets.
"We would love to establish a sports rivalry with McCann," Barbarotta said.