Eastern Crossroads Conference officially forms

[adambetz]

Inaugural members are Eastern Hancock, Lapel, New Castle and Shenandoah.

Centerville and Northeastern strongly linked. Delta and Jay County the rumored 7th and 8th.

[adambetz]

TEC and ACAC both down to 6.

ACAC had plans in the works for an 8th, football only, member and I wonder if that still goes through.

TEC should probably just invite Monroe Central and Wes-Del, and I wonder if the TEC remainders voted down the MEC merger due to EH and Doah being included.

HHC down to 5 unless they've added a team I've forgotten to replace Shelbyville. Are Bloomington South and Columbus North suddenly desperation options?

[Frozen Tundra]

I’m hearing Jay County doesn’t want in and that’s why they’re not included on the release Eastern Hancock made public.

[Indiansreloaded]

The release that I saw stated that formal invites were given to Centerville, Delta, and Northeastern.  The conference lineup looks good but all are 2A schools except New Castle which is 4A.  Delta is a 3A school right now but has been a 4A in the past so the question is do they want to join a heavy 2A conference?

[Gipper]

5 minutes ago, Indiansreloaded said:

The release that I saw stated that formal invites were given to Centerville, Delta, and Northeastern.  The conference lineup looks good but all are 2A schools except New Castle which is 4A.  Delta is a 3A school right now but has been a 4A in the past so the question is do they want to join a heavy 2A conference?

I don’t think a 4A school has any business with a bunch of 2As.  I like how the Hoosier Crossroads and Northwest Crossroads have survived with a similarly sized members, with one exception: Andrean, which is 2A.  They don’t play like it though…

[Indiansreloaded]

39 minutes ago, Gipper said:

I don’t think a 4A school has any business with a bunch of 2As.  I like how the Hoosier Crossroads and Northwest Crossroads have survived with a similarly sized members, with one exception: Andrean, which is 2A.  They don’t play like it though…

I agree with you that's why I don't think it would be a good move for Delta to accept the invite.  I'm not sure how this new conference will benefit New Castle.   The more I look at the schools in the conference Lapel will be the furthest east school.  Delta would be the most northern school unless Jay County would join.  New Castle is in the middle and the remainder of the schools would be in the Richmond area.  Travel time may come into play for some of the schools.

 

[Frozen Tundra]

52 minutes ago, Gipper said:

I don’t think a 4A school has any business with a bunch of 2As.  I like how the Hoosier Crossroads and Northwest Crossroads have survived with a similarly sized members, with one exception: Andrean, which is 2A.  They don’t play like it though…

New Castle was the tenth smallest 4A school as of two years ago when the IHSAA released enrollment numbers. Based on the rate they’re shrinking, they’ll be in 3A the next two years unless they finally bottom out.

2015-2016/2016-2017: 1,119 students

2017-2018/2018-2019: 1,023 students 

2019-2020/2020-2021: 970 students

2022-2023/2023-2024: 875 students 

[Frozen Tundra]

15 minutes ago, Indiansreloaded said:

I agree with you that's why I don't think it would be a good move for Delta to accept the invite.  I'm not sure how this new conference will benefit New Castle.   The more I look at the schools in the conference Lapel will be the furthest east school.  Delta would be the most northern school unless Jay County would join.  New Castle is in the middle and the remainder of the schools would be in the Richmond area.  Travel time may come into play for some of the schools.

 

I’m kind of surprised Rushville wasn’t a target. Maybe they still could be. Their enrollment numbers align better than New Castle’s and Delta’s.

[crimsonace1]

7 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

I’m kind of surprised Rushville wasn’t a target. Maybe they still could be. Their enrollment numbers align better than New Castle’s and Delta’s.

I'm told Rushville and Connersville were invited, but chose to stay in the EIAC. 

Jay County has said "no." So, if the three accept invites, they'll be a seven-team league. 

The Hoosier Heritage will likely expand to replace the lost teams, as they'll be down to 5 if Delta leaves. 

[Frozen Tundra]

20 minutes ago, crimsonace1 said:

I'm told Rushville and Connersville were invited, but chose to stay in the EIAC. 

Jay County has said "no." So, if the three accept invites, they'll be a seven-team league. 

The Hoosier Heritage will likely expand to replace the lost teams, as they'll be down to 5 if Delta leaves. 

Thanks for the info!

If the HHC expands, I’m trying to figure out who is within the geographic footprint that is similar in size. The three that come to mind are Anderson, Muncie Central, and Richmond. Southport could be a darkhorse since they’re not in the area and are in 6A, but they need a new home and fit competitively (not in football though).

Edited October 3, 2025 by Frozen Tundra

[crimsonace1]

6 minutes ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Thanks for the info!

If the HHC expands, I’m trying to figure out who is within the geographic footprint that is similar in size. The three that come to mind are Anderson, Muncie Central, and Richmond. Southport could be a darkhorse since they’re not in the area and are in 6A, but they need a new home and fit competitively (not in football though).

Nobody is leaving the NCC for the time being. 

[Frozen Tundra]

1 minute ago, crimsonace1 said:

Nobody is leaving the NCC for the time being. 

Is Yorktown solid with the HHC?

[Playmaker]

2 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Thanks for the info!

If the HHC expands, I’m trying to figure out who is within the geographic footprint that is similar in size. The three that come to mind are Anderson, Muncie Central, and Richmond. Southport could be a darkhorse since they’re not in the area and are in 6A, but they need a new home and fit competitively (not in football though).

It would be Chatard, Guerin, Roncalli, and Brebeuf

[Frozen Tundra]

6 minutes ago, Playmaker said:

It would be Chatard, Guerin, Roncalli, and Brebeuf

Really??? That would surprise me.

[Gipper]

5 hours ago, crimsonace1 said:

Nobody is leaving the NCC for the time being. 

Absolutely not.

[adambetz]

6 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Thanks for the info!

If the HHC expands, I’m trying to figure out who is within the geographic footprint that is similar in size. The three that come to mind are Anderson, Muncie Central, and Richmond. Southport could be a darkhorse since they’re not in the area and are in 6A, but they need a new home and fit competitively (not in 

Circle City

Edited October 3, 2025 by adambetz

[Coach Nowlin]

15 hours ago, Gipper said:

I don’t think a 4A school has any business with a bunch of 2As.  I like how the Hoosier Crossroads and Northwest Crossroads have survived with a similarly sized members, with one exception: Andrean, which is 2A.  They don’t play like it though…

KV plays 2a RCHS and 2a Wheeler every year and used to play NN as well.   KV is 4a and has always been 4a in all my years involved in Football

As everyone is aware classification is just 1 of MANY factors that goes into schools success or lack of success.    

 

[crimsonace1]

15 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

I’m kind of surprised Rushville wasn’t a target. Maybe they still could be. Their enrollment numbers align better than New Castle’s and Delta’s.

At the board meeting last year when New Castle said they were considering a conference change, their longtime broadcaster (and all around great guy) John Harp said "I'd love to get a conference together with Connersville, Rushville, Centerville, Northeastern, Delta" (and I believe he mentioned Richmond and Muncie Central, too, but my memory is fuzzy). Their AD said "I've already been in contact with all of those schools." That seemed to be the genesis of this new league. Obviously, not all were interested, but New Castle was the driving force. Eastern Hancock is an independent in football right now and the quality of opponents in other sports in the MEC varies wildly from very good (like Wapahani) to not-so-good (like Union-Modoc). Even though they'll be a small fish in this pond, they feel they'll be competitive. Lapel has been an independent for quite a while since leaving the ICC, and Shenandoah has also been an independent for a while. And Northeastern/Centerville have largely outgrown the TEC. 

The other thing with EH is, while it's a very rural district, it is benefiting from the growth of Greenfield (which is on the fringe of Indy's metro growth on the eastside). Greenfield isn't growing as fast as the Mt. Vernon and New Palestine districts, but it is seeing some growth. However, a lot of those students are finding their way to Eastern Hancock - about 20% of EH's student body lives in the Greenfield-Central district (and another 15% or so lives in the Knightstown district ... 40% of EH's student body is transfer students). 

Of the schools listed, EH, Shenandoah and Lapel were all part of the old White River Athletic Conference, which was at one time a really big, solid league, but gradually lost members to other conferences and soldiered on as a five-team league with Wes-Del and Knightstown for a while from the late 1990s until 2010. This feels a bit like a re-formation of that league. 

[crimsonace1]

16 hours ago, Gipper said:

I don’t think a 4A school has any business with a bunch of 2As.  I like how the Hoosier Crossroads and Northwest Crossroads have survived with a similarly sized members, with one exception: Andrean, which is 2A.  They don’t play like it though…

New Castle's enrollment trends are similar to Rushville's one county to the south. They'll likely be 3A within the next couple of cycles. They'll likely dominate this league in boys basketball, but be competitive in other sports. Lapel - with a LOT of Anderson transfers (about 1/3 of their district's student body comes from out-of-district, and most of those are Anderson transfers) punches way above its enrollment weight. New Castle will be competitive in this league, but they won't dominate it. And that's what you want - a league full of schools that are competitive with each other in most sports. New Castle may have a leg up in boys basketball, but I don't see any other truly dominant teams (possibly Lapel in girls golf). 

[adambetz]

8 hours ago, crimsonace1 said:

Nobody is leaving the NCC for the time being. 

0 current NCC teams could get an invite from the HHC.

[Muda69]

19 hours ago, Gipper said:

I don’t think a 4A school has any business with a bunch of 2As.  

You mean like this?:

https://scoreboard.homestead.com/football/logsFrankfort.htm#load

[Gipper]

[Gipper]

21 hours ago, Indiansreloaded said:

I agree with you that's why I don't think it would be a good move for Delta to accept the invite.  I'm not sure how this new conference will benefit New Castle.   The more I look at the schools in the conference Lapel will be the furthest east school.  Delta would be the most northern school unless Jay County would join.  New Castle is in the middle and the remainder of the schools would be in the Richmond area.  Travel time may come into play for some of the schools.

 

Time travel should be a factor.  We all know. football and basketball are played on the weekends.  But what about the non-revenue sports?

[crimsonace1]

2 hours ago, Gipper said:

Time travel should be a factor.  We all know. football and basketball are played on the weekends.  But what about the non-revenue sports?

New Castle, Shenandoah, Eastern Hancock, Lapel, Centerville and Northeastern are all in contiguous counties. If Delta joins, they'd also be contiguous. 

The travel for Delta and New Castle would be less than in the HHC. Lapel-to-Northeastern will be a haul, but the rest are pretty manageable. It's not like there's a Richmond-to-Lafayette or Lafayette-to-Terre Haute trip in this league. 

[olinecoach]

On 10/4/2025 at 12:23 AM, crimsonace1 said:

New Castle, Shenandoah, Eastern Hancock, Lapel, Centerville and Northeastern are all in contiguous counties. If Delta joins, they'd also be contiguous. 

The travel for Delta and New Castle would be less than in the HHC. Lapel-to-Northeastern will be a haul, but the rest are pretty manageable. It's not like there's a Richmond-to-Lafayette or Lafayette-to-Terre Haute trip in this league. 

Travel would certainly be less for Delta. The 3a-4a sized enrollments + competitiveness + travel time combination balance is hard to find in east central Indiana. That becomes evident when the sectional comes out for football. Some years we've gone as far north as Garrett in the sectional, some years as far west as West Lafayette or Lebanon.