River Valley Conference (Iowa)

Last updated

River Valley Conference
Conference IHSAA / IGHSAU
Founded2013
Sports fielded
  • 20
    • men's: 10
    • women's: 10
No. of teams15
RegionEastern Iowa
Official website www.rivervalleyconference.org
Locations
River Valley Conference (Iowa)
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50km
31miles
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The River Valley Conference (RVC) is a high school athletic conference whose members are located in smaller communities in eastern Iowa. The conference roughly spans from Johnson County, Iowa to the southwest, to Dubuque County, Iowa to the northeast. The RVC was founded in the 2013-2014 school year. [1]

Contents

Member Schools

There are 15 full members of the River Valley Conference. Most of those schools are in Class 2A, Iowa's second smallest enrollment class. Maquoketa and Beckman joined the conference in the 2022-2023 school year to bring the total to the current 15 schools.

InstitutionLocationMascotColorsAffiliation2025-2026 BEDS [2]
North Division
Anamosa Anamosa Blue Raiders  Public287 Decrease2.svg
Beckman Catholic Dyersville Trail Blazers  Private170 Decrease2.svg
Bellevue Bellevue Comets  Public156 Decrease2.svg
Camanche Camanche Storm   Public221 Decrease2.svg
Cascade, Western Dubuque Cascade Cougars  Public186 Increase2.svg
Maquoketa Maquoketa Cardinals  Public360 Decrease2.svg
Monticello Monticello Panthers  Public234 Decrease2.svg
Northeast Goose Lake Rebels  Public197 Decrease2.svg
South Division
Alburnett Alburnett Pirates  Public222 Increase2.svg
Durant Durant Wildcats  Public177 Increase2.svg
Mid-Prairie Wellman Golden Hawks  Public275 Decrease2.svg
Regina Catholic Iowa City Regals  Private188 Increase2.svg
Tipton Tipton Tigers  Public226 Decrease2.svg
West Branch West Branch Bears   Public209 Increase2.svg
West Liberty West Liberty Comets  Public310 Increase2.svg
Wilton Wilton Beavers  Public222 Decrease2.svg

Sports

The school fields athletic teams in 20 sports, including: [3]

Although the member schools field freshman — and in some cases, junior varsity — teams in many of the above-mentioned sports, conference championships are determined at varsity levels only. Some schools do not offer all 21 sports. Bowling, Soccer, Swimming and Tennis are the most common exclusions.

History

The River Valley Conference traces its history to 2008, when it was formed as the Cedar Valley Conference. That year, the seven original schools left the former Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference, which was dissolved. Four member schools from the old EIHC — Clear Creek-Amana, Mount Vernon, Solon and Williamsburg — were growing in size and placed in the WaMaC Conference. The seven remaining schools joined North Cedar High School, (which had been in the Big East Conference) in forming the new CVC.

Starting with the 2013-2014 school year, former Big East members Bellevue, Camanche and Northeast were placed in the CVC, along with Cascade and Monticello. [4] The events that eventually resulted in the changes began in the early 2010s, when Camanche began petitioning to leave the Big East for the CVC, and CVC member schools denied them admission, citing travel distances. The Iowa Department of Education eventually was asked to help resolve the dilemma. Not all CVC athletic directors and coaches welcomed the Iowa Department of Education's decision, expressing concerns about travel distances, loss of classroom time and gate receipts for some contests. [5]

As a result of the changes, the CVC was renamed the River Valley Conference for the 2013-2014 school year. [6]

In January 2017, Anamosa, a member of the WaMaC Conference, announced it would be joining the RVC, effective in 2018-2019, bringing the league to 14 schools. [7]

In the late summer of 2021, it was expected that two more WaMaC members – Maquoketa and Dyersville Beckman Catholic – would join the RVC, after both schools announced their intention to leave their current conference. [8] When the move takes place for the 2022-2023 school year, North Cedar also will leave for the Tri-Rivers Conference, bringing the league total to 15 competitors.

References

  1. "River Valley Conference - Iowa High School Sports".
  2. "IHSAA: Classifications".
  3. River Valley Conference
  4. Batterson, Steve (May 30, 2012). "Iowa Ruling Splits Up Big East Conference". Quad-City Times . Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  5. Coss, Matt (May 29, 2012). "Conference affiliation: Cedar Valley Conference to become 13-team league". Muscatine Journal . Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  6. "River Valley Conference - Iowa High School Sports".
  7. Linder, Jeff, "Western Dubuque will join Mississippi Valley," Cedar Rapids Gazette , January 10, 2017. Accessed 01-10-2017.
  8. Coss, Matt, "Maquoketa opts to leave Wamac, applies for RVC membership," Quad-City Times , August 11, 2021. Accessed 09-13-2021.