Two of the most prestigious and respected high schools, Fort Smith Northside and Southside have moved to the 7A Central conference leaving two voids in the 7A West Conference. Siloam Springs and Van Buren have filled those slots and will be playing immediately. Two power houses like Fort Smith Northside and Southside will be missed, since they were always a nice challenge.
“You hate to see such high caliber teams leave the conference, but everyone likes new so we’ll see how it goes,” said athletic director Chris Wood.
From the basketball perspective Van Buren won’t play as big as a threat as Siloam Springs. The Wildcats played the Panthers and lost in a nail biting over time game in the Christmas Holiday tournament last season.
“The new conference doesn’t affect us in the way our preparation goes,” said basketball Coach Jimmy Jester. “You have to be prepared day in and day out.”
The Football and Basketball programs are not the only ones who have to put time in consideration into their game plans this season. The volleyball team is also ready to take on the two new additions. Coach Sandy Jones is very confident in her girls this season as she is every season.
“I don’t think Van Buren and Siloam are as good as Northside and Southside, but we’ll definitely beat them,” said Coach Jones. “We aren’t going to relax.”
The reason the change took place to the conference this year is because the districts can only realign conferences every two years. The conference is still losing two teams that have been in the 7A West as long as coaches can remember.
“I haven’t seen Van Buren and Siloam Springs play yet to be honest, so it would be hard for me to judge them,” said Coach Wood.