The Southeastern Football Conference, the independent league consisting of 16 FHSAA Independent members, will likely be keeping the same number of teams as it welcomes in King’s Academy of West Palm Beach for the 2014 season.
The news, which was first reported by ESPN 106.3 West Palm Beach and later expanded upon by Anthony Chiang at the Palm Beach Post, mentions scheduling as one of the biggest reasons why King’s Academy is making the drop from district play to playing as an independent team.
“One of the biggest concerns that kept coming back up was scheduling,” King’s Academy head coach Heath Nivens told the Post.
King’s Academy will be taking over the spot left open by John Carroll, which returned to district play in Class 3A after dropping out of district play two years ago.
The end result make travel lighter for the Southeastern Football Conference North teams, which now avoid the long hour to two hour trips from Palm Beach and Broward Counties to St. Lucie County.
With King’s Academy dropping out of district play it will leave District 3A-7 with just three teams left. The teams that remain will be Cardinal Newman, Delray Beach American Heritage and Pahokee.
However, the drop of King’s Academy and recent departure of Bishop McLaughlin out of Spring Hill has left Class 3A with only 31 teams in district play going into the 2014 season.
King’s Academy will be placed in the North division of the Southeastern Football Conference to start the 2014 season.
