Principals Athletic Conference

The Principals Athletic Conference (PAC-7) is an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) athletic league, formed in 1989, made up of seven schools from Stark, Summit, and Wayne counties. The PAC-7 is home to some of the biggest rivalries in Northeast Ohio high school sports: the Triway Titans vs. the Orrville Red Riders, ^[1] the Fairless Falcons vs. Tuslaw Mustangs in "The Blue Cup", ^[2] and the Manchester Panthers vs. the Northwest Indians. ^[3]

Current members

All-time members of the Principals Athletic Conference (PAC-8)

School	Nickname	Location	Colors	Type	Tenure
Canton South	Wildcats	Canton	Red and Gray	Public	2022-
Fairless	Falcons	Navarre	Navy, Silver	Public	1989-
Manchester	Panthers	New Franklin	Red, Black	Public	1989-
Northwest	Indians	Lawrence	Red, Gray, White	Public	2017-
Orrville	Red Riders	Orrville	Red, Black, White	Public	2016-
Triway	Titans	Wooster	Purple, White	Public	2005-
Tuslaw	Mustangs	Tuscarawas	Blue, Red, White	Public	1989-

Former members

School	Nickname	Location	Colors	Type	Tenure
Coventry	Comets	Coventry	Blue, Gold	Public	1989-2005
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy	Royals	Cuyahoga Falls	Blue, White	Private	2001-2024
East Canton	Hornets	East Canton	Blue, Gold	Public	1989-2005
Indian Valley	Braves	Gnadenhutten	Red, Blue	Public	2007-2017
Sandy Valley	Cardinals	Magnolia	Red, Gray	Public	1989-2001
Timken	Trojans	Canton	Blue, Gold	Public	2005-2015
Tuscarawas Valley	Trojans	Zoarville	Red, Black	Public	1989-2017

Former affiliate member

School	Nickname	Location	Colors	Type	Tenure	Sports
Loudonville	Redbirds	Loudonville	Red and Gray	Public	2017-2021	Football

Recent history

• In January 2013, Northwest High School (Lawrence Township) and Orrville High School applied for membership in the PAC-8. ^[4] Both were turned down after a league discussion.
• In February 2015, both Indian Valley and Tusky Valley announced that they would leave the PAC-8 in the 2016-17 school year to join the Inter-Valley Conference. ^[5]
• On February 25, 2015, the Canton City School District unanimously approved a proposal to consolidate their school district into one high school, which effectively closed Timken as a traditional high school and removed them from the PAC. Timken began to house Canton's freshmen, the Timken Early College High School, and several tech programs while sophomores, juniors, and seniors attend Canton McKinley High School. ^[6]
• On February 18, 2015 four schools asked to join the PAC: Canton South, Northwest, Orrville, and Loudonville.
• On March 4, 2015, two schools were invited to join the PAC: Orrville and Northwest. Both accepted the invitation. ^[7] The league would like Orrville to join for 2016-17, bringing membership back up to eight after a year at seven, then would add Northwest for 2017-18 year when Indian Valley and Tusky Valley leave. ^[8] On April 18, 2015, it was announced that the PAC accepted Loudonville's bid to join the league. Loudonville is expected to join the PAC as a football-only member for the 2017-2018 school year. ^[9]
• On July 1, 2020 the Canton Local School Board voted unanimously to join the Principals Athletic Conference. Canton South left the Eastern Buckeye Conference and joined the PAC-7 in August 2022. In 2022, Loudonville stepped down as a football only member and joined the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference. ^[10]
• In May 2023, CVCA announced they would form the 'North Coast Conference' in 2024 along with Elyria Catholic, Holy Name, Padua, Beaumont, Lake Catholic, and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. ^[11]
• In July 2024, Coventry confirmed that they had accepted an offer to leave the Metro Athletic Conference and rejoin the PAC, with no set timeline for rejoining. ^[12]

See also

• Ohio High School Athletic Conferences

References

1. Dorksen, Aaron (March 11, 2011). "Orrville-Triway Rivalry to Add Another Chapter: Rivals Rally From Off Years, Reach District Final Tonight". Wooster Daily Record . Retrieved March 11, 2011.
2. Easterling, Chris (November 1, 2014). "Fairless beats Tuslaw to win Blue Cup for second straight year". FridayNightOhio.com . Retrieved March 10, 2015.
3. Tichenor, Alex (October 5, 2018). "High school football / Northwest 14, Manchester 12: Indians end Panthers' 19-game PAC winning streak". Akron Beacon Journal . Retrieved April 26, 2019.
4. Harpster, David (January 30, 2013). "Northwest, Orrville apply for membership in the Principals Athletic Conference". IndeOnline.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
5. Metzger, Roger (February 21, 2015). "Five high schools to join Inter-Valley Conference". Times Reporter. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
6. "School Board Unanimously Approves "One Community, One School"". Canton City School District. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
7. Dorksen, Aaron (March 4, 2015). "Orrville, Northwest Extended Invitations to Join Principals Athletic Conference". Wooster Daily Record . Retrieved March 7, 2015.
8. King, Steve (March 17, 2015). "Steve King: Prinicpals [sic] Athletic Conference plans its future". The Suburbanite. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
9. Dorksen, Aaron (April 18, 2015). "Loudonville to join PAC for football only in 2017-18". The Daily Record. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015.
10. Popovich, Mike (July 2, 2020). "Canton South to Join Principals Athletic Conference in 2022". Canton Repository . Retrieved August 10, 2020.
11. Shapiro, Todd (May 31, 2023). "Elyria Catholic finds home in new conference (UPDATED)". The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
12. Leonard, Michael (July 18, 2024). "Coventry High School to join Principals Athletic Conference. When will it exit the MAC?". Akron Beacon Journal . Retrieved January 7, 2025.