KENNEBEC VALLEY
ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

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OUR HISTORY

The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference (KVAC) is composed of twenty-seven (27) high schools located in five counties in Central/Southern/Coastal Maine.

Current members of the KVAC are:  Bangor, Belfast Area, Brewer, Brunswick, Camden Hills Regional, Cony Middle/High, Edward Little, Erskine Academy, Gardiner Area, Hampden Academy, Lawrence, Leavitt Area, Lewiston, Lincoln Academy, Maine Central Institute, Medomak Valley, Messalonskee, Morse, Mt. Ararat, Mt. Blue, Mt. View, Nokomis Regional, Oceanside, Oxford Hills Comprehensive, Skowhegan Area, Waterville and Winslow for a total of 27 schools. The KVAC has both Class 'A' and Class 'B' schools and plays opponents within conference as well as with the Western Maine Conference (WMC), the Mountain Valley Conference (MVC) and the Southwestern Maine Activities Association (SMAA).

The KVAC drew its name as the original members of the conference all bordered the Kennebec River. Over the years, the conference has expanded beyond the reaches of the Kennebec and throughout the coastal, mainland and foothill communities of Central and Western Maine.

In conjunction with the MPA and its member schools, the KVAC administers the following sports: Football, Soccer, Field Hockey, Golf, Cross Country, Cheerleading, Basketball, Indoor Track, Skiing, Swimming, Wrestling, Ice Hockey, Baseball, Softball, Tennis, Outdoor Track, Lacrosse and Unified Sports in Basketball, Bocce, Volleyball and Track & Field. Member schools and athletes compete for team and individual conference championship status between the end of the regular season and the start of the Maine Principal's Association (MPA) playoffs.

Membership drastically changed in the early-mid 2000s when schools switched regions and classes. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Class A membership included Waterville, Lawrence, Skowhegan, Mt. Blue, Messalonskee, Cony, Medomak Valley, and Gardiner as Eastern Maine schools and Brunswick, Morse, Mt. Ararat, Oxford Hills, and Leavitt as Western Maine schools in sports like basketball. The five Western Maine schools were moved into Eastern Maine for the 2001–02 season. As enrollment at EM schools in more northern parts of the state were dropping and schools like Stearns, Caribou, and later Presque Isle were moving down to Class B (all the way down to Class D in the case of Stearns), the KVAC changed again. Edward Little and Lewiston, former members of the Southwestern Maine Activities Association, joined in 2003. That move was followed by the decision to move those schools to Eastern Maine from Western Maine. The KVAC also gained former Class A members of the Big East/Penobscot Valley Conference from the Bangor area in 2005 when that league was forced to disband due to loss of membership. Five schools, Bangor High School, Brewer High School, Nokomis Regional High School, Old Town High School, and Hampden Academy, joined the KVAC. Bangor, Brewer, and Hampden continue to be members of the Class A division, while Nokomis moved to Class B, and Old Town moved to Class B, but left the KVAC to return to the Big East/PVC. Erskine has jumped between Classes A and B since 2005 but moved back to B in 2013. Gardiner moved to Class B in 2007. Leavitt and Nokomis dropped to B in 2009, with Leavitt moving to the West. Morse dropped from EM Class A to WM Class B in 2011. Rockland District High School merged with nearby Georges Valley High School in 2011 to form Oceanside East/West High School. Oak Hill High School was a Class B member until 2012 when they moved to the Mountain Valley Conference, a Class B/C league in the western mountains. Erskine moved to Class B in 2013, and Maranacook to Class C. Spruce Mountain High School of Jay, a former member of the Mountain Valley Conference, joined the league for the 2014–15 school year but has since left the league. In 2023, Maranacook left the KVAC to join the Mountain Valley Conference.

Throughout all of the changes in the league, member schools have experienced lots of success in Maine Principal's Association Championship events. Schools from the KVAC most often represent at least one school(s) in a championship in each of the three sports seasons and also have numerous student-athletes receive state level awards and recognition.

Today the KVAC remains one of the largest and most respected athletic conferences in the state.

updated 6/2023