CINCINNATI -- Purcell Marian and Roger Bacon football have accepted invitations to join the Miami Valley Conference as associate members starting in the 2019-20 school year, school officials told WCPO Monday afternoon.
The schools will continue to be members of the Greater Catholic League Co-Ed Central Division for all of the other athletic programs.
The Purcell Marian and Roger Bacon football teams will continue to play their GCL Co-Ed schedules this season.
“While we will always be extremely proud of being a part of the GCL, we are excited about the future and all of the opportunities it holds,” Roger Bacon Athletic Director Steve Rossi said in a statement.
Purcell Marian Interim Athletic Director DJ Dowdy said the MVC plans to soon have a meeting to go over scheduling, which would include the divisional alignment for the conference (Scarlet and Gray divisions).
Roger Bacon Assistant Athletic Director Brandon Spaeth said he sees the move from two angles: as a 2011 Roger Bacon graduate and as an athletic administrator.
"If you sit down and look at all the facts, this is the best move for us moving forward from each standpoint," Spaeth said. "I am very excited about creating new rivalries and playing competition against schools that are more our size."
Both schools were offered associate members in mid-April. Roger Bacon and Purcell Marian officials have expressed their desire to leave the Greater Catholic League Coed Division because of travel and competitiveness issues, particularly in football, according to the Journal-News.
Roger Bacon and Purcell Marian, originally Purcell High School, have played football in the Greater Catholic Leaguesince October 1931. Roger Bacon and Purcell had played football since 1928 but the GCL did not form until Oct. 6, 1931.
