A moment many involved with Perry athletics have long awaited is one final step from being completed after all seven current members of the Heart of Iowa Conference voted today to accept a request from Perry to join the league.
‘”We are very thankful, very grateful, to all seven schools for giving us a unanimous vote of approval,” Perry Athletic Director Scott Pierce said. “The final step would be approval from our school board, and they will vote on it at their February meeting.”
The motion is expected to pass. Once accepted, Perry will become a full HOIC member beginning with the August 2021 fall season.
“There was always the option that the HOIC may have wanted us to wait until 2022 to start competition, but they chose to have us join right away,” Pierce said. “We could not be happier.”
“What this means is that we now continue our drive to get better, to increase our participation numbers and to reach a level — at least — of being competitive in every sport,” he added. “This doesn’t mean our push forward slows, it means it speeds up even more.”
Perry will be leaving the Raccoon River Conference, home for the school since the 1991-1992 school year. Pierce had nothing but praise for his fellow athletic directors in the RRC.
“They have been very supportive from the very beginning once we told them we were looking elsewhere,” Pierce said. “They were very positive and urged us to move ahead with what we thought was best for us. We will continue to try and schedule RRC schools for non-conference events as often as we can … we have great relationships with the RRC and expect all those to continue.”
Perry’s enrollment (BEDS) of 627 is equal with Carlisle for second-largest in the current RRC, trailing only Boone. Nevada (358) and Saydel (338) are the two largest of the HOIC schools, with South Hamilton (182) the smallest. Other HOIC schools include Greene County, PCM, Roland-Story and West Marshall.
“This will help us have competitive and winning programs, and that should bring in more kids, which is something we are determined to see improve each year,” Pierce said. “It also makes it easier to attract, and retain, quality coaches, and that will help tremendously. This is a happy day for Perry.”
