In what might be the most shocking move so far of the off-season, Glades Day has apparently asked for and gained approval to join the Southeast Football Conference, an independent football conference founded four years ago to provide teams a leveled playing field.
The move which was first confirmed by Florida HS Football via the Southeastern Football Conference, was also confirmed 10 minutes later by Adam Lichtenstein at The Palm Beach Post.
According to Lichtenstein’s report, the reason for Glades Day’s move to the Southeastern Football Conference was due to scheduling. The school cited the lack of available teams that are in the FHSAA state series that would be willing to place the team on the schedule.
With the move, shock waves were sent across the entire state as the seven-time state champions made the move without much warning to others including some within the South Florida coaching circles.
Hoping this isn't true https://t.co/2A7Y47vIew
— Coach Donald Hanna (@dhan561) January 21, 2016
@FlaHSFootball wow….they're a really well coached team. They will do very well there.
— Coach (@Coachcourcy75) January 21, 2016
The school will be placed in the conference’s North Division which will also include Archbishop Curley, Benjamin, King’s Academy, Pine Crest and St. Andrews. The South Division will include Coral Shores, Florida Christian, Immaculata-LaSalle, Marathon, Miami Country Day and Ransom Everglades.
With the exit of Glades Day, Class 2A and District 2A-8 will leave Dade Christian, International School of Broward, Champagnat and Village Academy as the only schools left in the district.
In other moves with the Southeastern Football Conference, five teams have apparently left the conference, unknown if those schools intend on rejoining district play or forming a new conference. The schools that are now absent from listing on the Southeastern Conference Football website include Coral Springs Charter (2015 conference champion), St. John Paul II, Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian (2014 conference champion), Westminster Academy and Pompano Beach.
Adam Lichtenstein at The Palm Beach Post later confirmed, after our initial report was published, about the move by St. John Paul II looking to get reinstated into an FHSAA district. Likely destination for St. John Paul II is District 3A-7, if approved.
Can also confirm that Saint John Paul II is leaving the Southeastern Football Conference and intends to join FHSAA, per the school's AD.
— Adam Lichtenstein (@ABLichtenstein) January 21, 2016
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UPDATED at 6:30 PM EST, January 15, 2016
