There has been a lot of movement and rumors of movement in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference, or TRAC, in the past several years. In just the past six years alone, Amboy, Fulton and Peru St. Bede have left the TRAC to join other conferences. Morrison is also leaving at the end of this school year. Mercer County recently announced they would be leaving the Lincoln Trail Conference at the end of this school year and will join the TRAC. All of the movement has left the TRAC with 13 schools that will be competing in the 2023-2024 school year. With Mercer County taking Morrison’s spot in 2024, the conference would remain at an odd number of 13. Well, that number might change, as well. On Wednesday night, the Bureau Valley School District Board of Education approved the administration’s request to apply for membership to the Lincoln Trail Conference and accept membership if the school is invited to join the conference.
According to shawlocal.com, Bureau Valley superintendent Jason Stabler said they have been exploring opportunities to better serve their student-athletes in the wake of the smaller schools already leaving the Three Rivers and their own school district’s continued declining enrollment. Bureau Valley has been a member of the TRAC since 1999 but Stabler says he’s anticipating his school district’s enrollment will be in the 250’s the next five years. Bureau Valley is currently in the Three Rivers East Division with the average enrollment pushing 500 per school. The average enrollment of the Lincoln Trail Conference for 2023-2024 is 215, with Knoxville the highest at 328 and Annawan the lowest at 92.
The Lincoln Trail has merged with the Prairieland Conference to form a new football-only league this fall divided into “small school” and “large school” divisions. Enrollments range from 175 to 275 in the small school division to 140 to 584 in the large school side.
