EKL extends invitation to Mill Valley, St. James Academy
A 10-year plan came to fruition for St. James Academy on Wednesday when it was invited to join the Eastern Kansas League — along with Mill Valley — for all sports starting in the fall of 2016.
St. James athletic director Mark Huppe said the school “readily accepted” the offer. Mill Valley athletic director David Ewers, meanwhile, said his school is looking into the invitation.
“For St. James, the benefit will be a very high status league that we are getting into,” Huppe said. “We think we are in the best league in the metropolitan area. We think the league is the perfect fit for us, with two of our sister schools in there in Bishop Miege and (St. Thomas) Aquinas.”
St. James has been independent for the first 10 years of operation, which has involved a slew of scheduling issues that the Thunder hope to avoid with the switch to the Eastern Kansas League.
“We have had trouble scheduling quality opponents, and just scheduling in general is difficult when you’re an independent,” Huppe said. “This will also give our student athletes some recognition because none of them have been all-league or all-conference at anything. The rivalries that develop within a league are also something we wanted.”
Although Huppe was not at St. James when the school opened, he said that president Andy Tylicki has been campaigning for this move from the start. Huppe said Mill Valley joined the cause during the last three or four years and the Eastern Kansas League was the only league either school has applied to join. St. James and Mill Valley made their final pitch to the league in September.
Mill Valley has been a member of the Kaw Valley League since the school opened in 2000, but elected to play an independent schedule in football this past season. That meant Mill Valley only played other Kansas Class 5A schools from the league. If Mill Valley leaves, the Kaw Valley League will still have seven teams: Basehor-Linwood, Bishop Ward, Bonner Springs, Lansing, Piper, Tonganoxie and Turner.
The addition of St. James and Mill Valley would expand the Eastern Kansas League to 10 teams. The other eight are Bishop Miege, Blue Valley, Blue Valley North, Blue Valley Northwest, Blue Valley Southwest, Blue Valley West, Gardner Edgerton and St. Thomas Aquinas.
This story was originally published November 14, 2014 at 3:35 PM with the headline "EKL extends invitation to Mill Valley, St. James Academy."