It is the largest high school athletic conference in Maine, and next year the Penobscot Valley Conference’s geographic reach will spread even farther, into Washington County with the recent acceptance of Washington Academy of East Machias as a member.

Washington Academy, a longtime staple of the Downeast Athletic Conference, originally expressed interest in joining the PVC last spring.

That private high school has experienced considerable growth in recent years, while many other schools in the DAC (Calais, Narraguagus of Harrington, Jonesport-Beals, Shead of Eastport, Lubec, Machias and Woodland) have lost enrollment.

That fact of Down East life has widened the enrollment gap between WA and the smaller DAC schools.

According to the statistics used in the most recent Maine Principals’ Association reclassification, involving enrollments as of April 1, 2006, Washington Academy had 359 students, compared to Narraguagus (268), Calais (260), Woodland Jr./Sr. High School (188), Shead (131), Machias (120), Jonesport-Beals (84) and Lubec (48).

That has resulted in some DAC schools opting not to play the Raiders in some sports, making it more difficult for WA to find full schedules for its varsity teams.

In boys basketball, for instance, WA will play just 16 games instead of the typical 18-game regular-season schedule this winter, and that schedule doesn’t have games against fellow DAC members Shead, Jonesport-Beals and Lubec. The WA girls team will play an identical schedule, except for a third matchup against Calais for a total of 17 games.

Instead of playing Shead, Jonesport-Beals and Lubec, the WA basketball teams will have non-conference home-and-home series against Sumner of East Sullivan, George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill, Searsport and Hyde School of Bath.

The move to the PVC, a 31-team league that spans from Deer Isle-Stonington to Fort Kent and includes schools in Classes B, C and D, will enable the Raiders to play more schools with similar enrollment.

“They came to us and represented themselves very well,” said PVC president Mike Archer, athletic administrator at Orono High School. “They have good facilities, and they’re competitive in everything.”

The PVC accepted Washington Academy’s application for admission after lifting a moratorium on adding schools that had been in place in recent years.

One reason the moratorium was lifted was the recent move of four Class A schools formerly in the conference – Bangor, Brewer, Hampden Academy and Nokomis of Newport – to the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference where they play full Class A schedules in all sports.

Archer indicated that Calais also has expressed interest in joining the PVC but has yet to make a formal application for membership.

While WA’s move to the PVC will begin during the next school year, it won’t include the fall soccer season, as the PVC already had completed its 2008 soccer schedule before WA’s admission was approved.

Archer said the PVC would help the Raiders fill at least part of their soccer schedules for next fall before fully incorporating them into the 2009 soccer schedule.