It's official: The Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference is coming. The new league, which is comprised of 25 schools from seven counties in central Pennsylvania, begins play in every sport in the 2008-09 academic year.

Plans for the PHAC began in 2005, and the league officially became a reality at a meeting of the school's superintendents, principals and athletic directors on May 8. The member schools are: Benton, Bloomsburg, Central Columbia, Danville, Hughesville, Jersey Shore, Lewisburg, Loyalsock, Midd-West, Mifflinburg, Millville, Milton, Montgomery, Montoursville, Mount Carmel, Muncy, St. John Neumann, Selinsgrove, Shamokin, Shikellamy, South Williamsport, Southern Columbia, Sullivan County, Warrior Run and Williamsport.

"I'm extremely excited," said Lewisburg athletic director John Vaji, who chaired the organizing committee. "It's going to open up some avenues for schools to pick up some new nonleague games ... and still keep long-standing rivalries. It's just win-win for all the schools involved."

According to league bylaws, schools must be a member of the league in any sport that competes in PIAA Class AAA, Class AA or Class A. Currently, Williamsport competes in Class AAAA in five sports: football, girls basketball, boys basketball, softball and baseball. The Millionaires will be PHAC members in everything else.

The creation of the PHAC effectively means that there are now just two leagues in District 4 -- the PHAC and the Northern Tier League -- with a few exceptions. Locally, Lourdes Regional, East Juniata and Line Mountain are not members. Lourdes competes in the Schuylkill League and All-America Conference, East Juniata participates in the Tri-Valley League and All-America Conference, and Line Mountain plays in various leagues depending on the sport.

Currently, Line Mountain is a member of the Susquehanna Valley League for field hockey and softball. But with the dissolution of the SVL due to the creation of the PHAC, the Eagles will need to find a new home in those sports.

Final divisional alignments within the PHAC will be decided at a meeting on May 25.

According to Vaji, the number of divisions in each sport will depend on the number of schools. If there are 11 or fewer schools in a given sport, there will be one division; if there are between 12 and 17 teams, there will be two divisions; if there are 18 or more teams, there will be three divisions.

League officials want the divisions to be balanced, so there will be roughly the same number in each division. Teams also can request to move up or down to different divisions, as long as the divisions are balanced.

Vaji said division champions won't play one another at the end of the season, so there won't be an overall champion.

"You can crown (a champion) in each division," he said. "More teams will be able to experience success."

One change that's in effect is the time period for junior high basketball. In the past, the member schools played junior high girls basketball at different times, with some competing in the fall and others competing in the spring.

Under the PHAC, junior high girls basketball will start in October and go into January. The boys will begin in December and play into March. Currently, the junior high boys season starts in November.