The schools that participate in Eastern Maine Class A athletics will work as one in several sports for at least the next two years, with the approval of joint schedules between the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference and the five remaining Class A schools in the Big East/Penobscot Valley Conference.

Schedules for basketball, baseball, and softball were approved Thursday during a meeting of conference athletic directors in Pittsfield. A joint KVAC-PVC soccer schedule was approved earlier this year.

The alliance between the KVAC and Big East/PVC was prompted by the fact that the Big East/PVC Class A ranks have been thinned to five teams in recent years, meaning those schools – Bangor, Brewer, Hampden Academy, Nokomis of Newport, and Old Town – were left to play each other three times per season in some sports as well as fill out their schedules with Class B opponents in soccer, baseball, and softball.

The latter reality left those teams at a distinct disadvantage against the KVAC in having access to the Heal Points that determine seeding for postseason play because the KVAC offers a full Class A schedule in the four sports.

Under a two-year plan, the 19 KVAC/Big East A basketball schools have been divided into nine-team North and South divisions, with Class A newcomer Erskine Academy of South China as an independent team that will play each of the 18 other teams in the KVAC-Big East alliance once per season, according to Morse of Bath athletic director Brian Hatch, co-chair of the KVAC basketball committee.

The North division consists of Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, Nokomis, and Old Town, along with KVAC teams Lawrence of Fairfield, Messalonskee of Oakland, Mt. Blue of Farmington, and Skowhegan.

In the South are Brunswick, Cony of Augusta, Edward Little of Auburn, Gardiner, Leavitt of Turner Center, Lewiston, Morse, Mount Ararat of Topsham, and Oxford Hills of South Paris.

“I looked at the same map they used to justify moving the Class A tournament from Bangor to Augusta and then drew a line,” said Hatch. “We tried to make it equal for everyone.”

Each team will play other teams in its division twice, Erskine Academy once, and then play one crossover game during Christmas vacation against a team from the other division to complete an 18-game, all-Class A regular-season schedule.

“We’re happy with it, and to have the opportunity to play a full Class A schedule,” said Brewer High athletic director Dennis Kiah, who attended Thursday’s meeting along with fellow Big East/PVC athletic directors Steve Vanidestine of Bangor, David Shapiro of Hampden, and Carl Parker of Nokomis. “We’ve got varsity, junior varsity, and freshman schedules all built in. They were very accommodating.”

Kiah said that under the agreement Big East/PVC student-athletes also will be eligible for selection to KVAC all-star teams and scholar-athlete honors.

“They really wanted to do something right for the kids,” said Kiah, “and that was refreshing.”

The fact the KVAC-Big East basketball alliance has 19 schools instead of 20 made developing a schedule challenging, Hatch said. Had there been 20 teams, two 10-team divisions could have been established, with each team playing the other teams in its division twice for an 18-game schedule.

But with an odd number of teams, scheduling for basketball could have become problematic without the cooperation of Erskine Academy. Not only is Erskine centrally located among the 19 schools, but it also will be a first-year Class A program beginning next fall after moving up from Class B through the recently completed reclassification conducted by the Maine Principals’ Association.

Additional scheduling factors included accommodating the move of the Eastern A tournament from early March to February vacation week, as well as travel considerations in an age of rising fuel prices.

“Brian called me two or three months ago wondering if we’d be willing to do this,” said Erskine athletic director Doran Stout. “I talked to my coaches about it, and I talked to some other coaches, and we couldn’t find a reason not to do it that way.

“Our travel was going to increase anyway from what it was when we were in Class B, but this way it won’t be much different than it would have been if we were in one of the two divisions. Our coaches also like the fact that they’re going to be able to see everybody.”

Creating a schedule for Eastern A baseball and softball was less problematic, with nine teams in the North division playing each other twice to complete a 16-game regular-season schedule. The North will be comprised of the same schools as in basketball, with the exception of Erskine replacing Mt. Blue, according to Kiah.

The KVAC South baseball schedule has yet to be completed, with school officials still contemplating ideas to accommodate a 10-team division.

The KVAC-PVC Class A soccer schedule was completed earlier this year, based on two 10-team divisions. Waterville is the 20th soccer school, having remained a Class A program in that sport while dropping to B in basketball, baseball, and softball. The PVC teams will comprise one five-team subdivision of the North and will play each other twice before filling out their schedules against teams from the other North subdivision.