History of the Tri-Valley Conference

The Tri-Valley Conference began competition during the 1979-1980 school year.  The charter members were Midland Bullock Creek (Mid-Michigan Conference-B), Hemlock (Mid-Michigan Conference-B), Saginaw Swan Valley (Mid-Michigan Conference-B), Essexville Garber (Northern B Conference), Carrollton (Northern B Conference), Frankenmuth (Thumb B League), Millington (BIg Thumb Conference-South), and Birch Run (Five County League)  The first Executive Secretary chosen for the league was Karl Newingham.

In 1989, Millington left the conference to join the Thumb B League.  Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary (Central Michigan League), St. Charles (Central  Michigan League), Merrill (Central Michigan League), and Freeland (Central Michigan League) joined the Tri-Valley Conference the same year.  At this point, the 11 schools were divided into the East and West Division as follows:

In 1991, the conference expanded to 15 schools with the return of Millington (Thumb B League), and the addition of Caro (Thumb B Leauge), North Branch (Thumb B League), and Vassar (Thumb B League).  The 15 schools were divided into the East and West Divisions as follows:

In 1993, Bridgeport (White Pine Conference) became a member of the East Division competing in all sports except football.  In 1994, the Bearcats began competing in football.

The conference saw an unprecedented 12 years of continuity until expansion came again at the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year.  The conference expanded to 24 schools with the additions of Ovid-Elsie (Central State Athletic Association), Alma (Mid-Michian Athletic Conference-B), Shepherd (Central State Athletic Association), Chesaning (Mid-Michigan Athletic Conference-B), Ithaca (Central State Athletic Association), Breckenridge (Central State Athletic Association), Saginaw Valley Lutheran (Greater Thumb Conference-West), and St. Louis (Central State Athletic Association).  The schools were divided into the East, Central, and West Divisions as follows:

The Tri-Valley Conference stayed at 24 teams for two years when Vassar decided to depart for the Greater Thumb Conference-West Division.  The East, Central, and West Divisions would remain the same with the exception of Vassar in the East for another five (5) years.

Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year Otisville-Lakeville (Genesee Area Conference-Red) joined the East Division to once again give the Tri-Valley Conference 24 teams.  The conference would remain unchanged until the 2016-2017 season when Merrill and Breckenridge would depart for the Mid-State Athletic Conference and Pinconning and Standish joined the conference after not having a conference affiliation.  The conference was divided into the East, Central, and West Divisions as follows:

Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, the Tri-Valley Conference would start a slow contraction over the next several years starting with the departure of Otisville-Lakeville Memorial for the Genesee Area Conference-Red and then Chesaning for the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference in 2018.  Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central helped the contraction a little in 2018 when they joined the Tri-Valley Conference.  In 2019, Shepherd and Pinconning would depart for the Jack Pine Conference and the conference was divided into Central and West Divisions as follows except for football which had three (3) divisions:

St. Charles would depart after the 2019-2020 school year for the Mid-State Athletic Conference, and Bay City John Glenn arrived from the Saginaw Valley League-Blue.  The COVID-19 year saw a realignment of the Tri-Valley Conference into East, Central, and West Divisions as follows except for football which saw the West Division split into two (2) tiers.

The Tri-Valley Conference combined the East Division and West Division, and the divisions underwent a name change at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year to TVC 8 and TVC 10  The TVC 10 would split into two (2) tiers for football, and beginning in 2022 the TVC 10 is divided into two (2) tiers for football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, and softball.

To celebrate the conference’s 45th year in the 2023-2024 school year, the conference renamed its divisions created a new website, and changed the colors of its logo to coordinate with the new divisional names.  The old TVC 8 became the TVC Red, while the TVC 10-1 became the TVC Blue and the TVC 10-2 became the TVC White.

After the finish of the 2023-2024 school year, five schools left the Tri-Valley Conference for other conferences.  St. Louis, Bullock Creek, and Standish-Sterling Central departed for the Jack Pine Conference.  Birch Run left for the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference.  Millington departed for the Big Thumb Conference.