AUGUSTA — A major decision regarding the future of conference championship contests for schools within the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference was made at the conference’s monthly meeting Wednesday, March 6 at the Augusta Civic Center. 

Local schools that are members of the conference are Belfast, Camden Hills, Medomak Valley, Mount View and Oceanside. 

Other conference members are Bangor, Brewer, Brunswick, Edward Little, Cony, Hampden Academy, Gardiner, Lewiston, Erskine Academy, Leavitt, Maranacook, Lawrence, Maine Central Institute, Morse, Lincoln Academy, Messalonskee, Mount Blue, Winslow, Mount Ararat, Oxford Hills, Waterville, Nokomis and Skowhegan. 

At the meeting, athletic directors representing the conference’s 28 schools heard a proposal that would eliminate conference championship contests in soccer, field hockey, basketball, ice hockey, baseball, softball, tennis and lacrosse.

Though the conference championship events crown conference champions in the aforementioned sports, the results of the games do not impact a team’s overall seasonal record or the amount of heal points used to determine playoff rankings. 

The motion was passed with 20 schools in favor of eliminating the games, four opposed and three abstaining. 

Though the conference has 28 members, only 27 were present at the March meeting. Mount Blue was not at the meeting, according to minutes from the meeting. 

With the passing of the proposal, conference championship games will be eliminated at the start of the 2019-20 academic school year. Conference championship events will still take place this upcoming spring season. 

Another important measure that was voted on at the March meeting was the possibility of discontinuing the conference’s honors banquet. 

That motion was unanimously passed 27-0 meaning the banquets will be eliminated immediately. 

At next month’s meeting, the conference will discuss each school awarding one $500 scholarship to a student-athlete at each conference school in the name of the conference. 

A motion to begin charging admission fees for regular season conference indoor track meets was unanimously passed with prices being set a $4 for adults and $2 for students and seniors. 

Reach George Harvey and the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.