The Jim Thorpe Board of Education on Wednesday approved an invitation to join the Colonial League for all sports teams beginning in the 2024-25 school year.

The vote was 8-1 to cut ties with the Schuylkill League, where the Olympians have been a member since 1974. With the decision, Jim Thorpe now follows Lehighton as new members of the Colonial League. That will bring the total of full time Colonial League members to 15 schools by the fall of 2024.

Jim Thorpe’s athletic director Dustin McAndrew and high school principal Thomas Lesisko presented a package to the board of education that provided a detailed comparison of both leagues and the pros and cons of making the switch.

“We compared several issues including length and cost of travel from our school to our opponents’ locations,” McAndrew said. “We found both leagues to be fairly equal with transportation. We also considered what rivalries we might be losing from the Schuylkill League and which ones we may be gaining from the Colonial League.”

Board president Scott Pompa said that most of the members agreed upon one major reason for switching leagues.

“We like the idea of a new beginning, a fresh start to build longer rivalries with area schools such as Palmerton, Lehighton, Northern Lehigh and Northwestern,” he said.

Board vice president TJ Garrantano echoed Pompa’s remarks.

“Although we appreciate the rich traditions we had built with Schuylkill League schools through the years, we will look forward to playing Lehighton, Palmerton, Northern Lehigh, and Northwestern more than we do now with some sports and beginning new rivalries with the other Colonial League teams,” he said.

Schools currently in the Colonial League are Bangor, Catasauqua, Moravian Academy, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh, Notre Dame, Palisades, Palmerton, Pen Argyl, Salisbury, Southern Lehigh, Saucon Valley and Wilson.

Lesisko also believes there are benefits for Jim Thorpe to switch leagues.

“We can begin to build new traditions with coal region towns throughout the Lehigh Valley,” he said. “These communities have extended families from those who live in our school community so that too will be a solid basis for building more rivalries.”

Lesisko also mentioned that the Jim Thorpe’s tennis team - a perennially solid program - will get to play for league championships that were unavailable from the Schuylkill League. JT’s cheerleading team will be able to participate in competition events provided by the Colonial League.

The invitation to join the CL was offered to Lehighton and Jim Thorpe in December. In a story that appeared in the Times News at that time, Northern Lehigh Athletic Director Bryan Geist - the president of the league - said “Both Lehighton and Jim Thorpe fit in our league with the size of their school enrollments. Their geography puts them close to Palmerton, Northern Lehigh, and Northwestern. Their facilities match the facilities found in the Colonial League. Adding them will improve scheduling with more schools and because we already play them in most sports, we have many good relationships with their administration and their coaches.”

The Colonial League will have to reorganize their current division breakdown once Lehighton and Jim Thorpe are officially added. It has been been widely assumed that league will go with a three division setup in all or most sports, and that Lehighton and Jim Thorpe will join Palmerton, Northern Lehigh and Northwestern in one of those divisions.