AH girls soccer team prepares for change

The Lackawanna Interscholastic Athletic Association realigned girls’ soccer during its January meeting, making room for Abington Heights to join the league in the fall of 2010.

The Lady Comets will actually participate in two soccer seasons during the 2010 calendar year. They will play their final spring season at the end of the 2009-10 school year, then make the transition to a fall team for the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is in the process of moving girls’ soccer to the spring. After originally declaring that the last spring state girls’ soccer championships would be conducted in 2010, the PIAA reconsidered and allowed two more years before mandating the move.

Delaware Valley, Honesdale and North Pocono, LIAA members in other sports, will continue to compete in the Wyoming Valley Conference in spring girls’ soccer. Abington Heights and Wallenpaupack will make the move immediately after this school year.

The Abington Heights School Board decided late in 2009 to go ahead with the move now and school officials notified the LIAA that the Lady Comets wanted to join the girls’ soccer league.

“In a nutshell, I think the feeling was that if it was going to happen sooner or later, it might as well happen sooner,” Abington Heights athletic director Scott Kaiser said.

Abington Heights, which has won two of the last three District 2 Class AAA spring championships, will play in Division 1 with Wallenpaupack, Scranton, West Scranton, Valley View, Scranton Prep and Western Wayne. Valley View defeated Western Wayne for what was then the South Division title after both teams went 13-1 last season.

The Lackawanna League is switching from two divisions to three divisions with the addition of Abington Heights and Wallenpaupack, according to LIAA secretary Joe Gilhool.

Mid Valley, Holy Cross and Dunmore, which had all been competing with the teams in Abington Heights’ division, will move to Division 3, which will also include Carbondale and Lakeland.