After spending the last four years competing in the Three Rivers Conference, the Riverside Board of Education announced this week that the Pirate athletic programs will be moving into the Ohio Heritage Conference starting in the 2027-28 school year.
Riverside Superintendent Scott Mann said this morning that the decision to join the OHC “is a great move”, and that he looks forward to watching the Pirates play in a conference that has has some very familiar faces, including as long-time rivals West-Liberty Salem, Triad, Fairbanks, and Mechanicsburg. Rounding out the OHC, which is divided into North and South Divisions, are Cedarville, Greeneview, Northeastern, Madison Plains, Springfield Catholic Central, Southeastern and West Jefferson.
The Three Rivers Conference in which the Pirates now play is already losing one member in Bethel, which is transferring to the Central Buckeye Conference. Mann said that staying in a seven-member TRC puts a lot of stress on the athletic department to pick up extra non-league games — especially football, but also true of all other sports — to scramble to make up for the losses in conference contests.
Mann said the change “is a great move” for the district to be joining the OHC, and said he is looking forward to watching the Pirates play in a conference that has has some very familiar faces, including long-time rivals West-Liberty Salem, Triad, Fairbanks, and Mechanicsburg.
The Pirates will likely be placed in the OHC North Division starting in the fall of 2027.
Greenon is leaving the Ohio Heritage Conference to join the Central Buckeye Conference, which opened up the the spot in the OHC for Riverside.