SV’s youth football/cheer organizations to merge
Two is not always better than one.
For the pair of youth football and cheer organizations in the Seneca Valley School District, a merger will have a myriad of benefits.
SV North Football and Cheer Association and Cranberry Football and Cheer are set to join forces after splitting 42 years ago. The result is the SV Youth Football and Cheer Association.
“Officially, we will be in a partnership with them this year,” Cranberry president Justin Burgh said. “There are some details that have to be worked out, merging financial accounts and things of that nature. The merger will be finalized in 2026, but when it comes to play on the field and the cheer teams, we are no longer separate.”
Seven total football teams will compete this fall under three age divisions — 8U, 10U and 12U.
Burgh and North president Tony Conti, both SV graduates, played football in the district from the youth ranks through varsity. They began conversing about a possible merger several years ago and will now serve as co-presidents of the new organization.
When SV alum Don Barclay was hired as varsity head coach last February, he expressed strong support for a merger.
“There are a number of ways this is going to help football and cheer at Seneca Valley,” Burgh said. “One, kids will be able to start forming those friendships and developing together earlier. The fact that we will be one organization, we will be a true feeder program for the high school teams. It will also allow ideas and philosophy at varsity to facilitate down to the youth teams, give the kids a consistent message as they grow and progress through the program.
“We want to see Seneca Valley football win at the varsity level and this is us doing our part toward reaching that goal.”
Said Conti: “It’s very rare for a school district in the WPIAL to have separate youth football associations and this has been a long time coming.
“Members of both boards have done an amazing job of communicating with each other, because there were concerns about how this is going to look.”
In recent years, SV North competed in the United Youth Football League while Cranberry resided in the Western Pa. Youth Football League.
“We never competed against each other, except in scrimmages,” Conti said. “The interesting thing is that there were no boundary lines as to which kids competed for either organization. Kids who lived in Zelienople, Harmony or Evans City could have played for Cranberry if they wanted to. And players from Cranberry could’ve played for the North.”
Cranberry’s former opponents do not border SV’s district while most of North’s foes do. That’s why the new association will take North’s spot in the UYFL slate against the likes of Butler, Mars, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, North Hills, Shaler and Plum.
“We’ve been going up against those teams without being at full strength because of the split at the youth level,” Conti said. “This merger will level things off for us.”
SV’s home games will be played at Graham Park, which hosted Cranberry’s games in the past.
Cheer teams figured heavily into the decision to merge.
“We had game-day cheer, but Cranberry also had competitive cheer,” Conti said. “Now kids can choose if they want to do one or both. I take cheer very seriously. It’s just as important to football as anything else.”
“We want to give opportunities to boys and girls, including when it comes to helping them eventually earn scholarships to compete in college,” Burgh said.
