Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:48     Subject: Re:Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC




There so much incorrect with this post, it’s hard to even know where to begin.

The SJC recovery was well underway before Plank started helping. It started with the admission of girls. The new buildings and fields bear the names of other donors. It’s ridiculous to say that SJC would be closed without Plank’s contributions.

Isn’t PVI currently #1 in boy’s basketball? I don’t remember anything like that when the school was in Fairfax.

Crazy stuff.



PVI had a nice bump in football since their move too-


Let's see what happens when the last 2 super recruits, including a top 5 in the US, move on and they are replaced by Chantilly talent.

Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:12     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Prep doesn’t actually hold the cards here though. The move to push boarding, heavy recruiting, in conjunction with already being the biggest school in the league might be forcing the issue for EHS and SSSAS. Do they really want to be in this league that isn’t serving them? 2 combined IAC titles in the last 6 years?

I bet they’d prefer to make a merger happen in order to keep the IAC name, but if Prep and Landon balk at it, then I could see EHS, SSSAS, Potomac, and maybe Flint Hill focusing on VISAA. Joining the VA Prep league and making North and South Divisions could make a lot of sense.

Where would that leave the 4 other teams (Prep, STA, Landon, and Bullis)?


The Prep community is in denial. The institution is pushing the boarding component (I get it, they did just construct a beautiful new dorm complex) and is layering in aggressive recruiting across several of the prominent sports (football, lax, and basketball). Prep's basketball team this winter (dominated the league) had several marquee starters from overseas (the 7-footer from China from example). Not to mention, Prep has turned into a massive school, far larger than the co-ed schools. (Bullis, EHS, and St Stephens)

There is a reason why GP historically dominates IAC, they are by far the largest school in the league. Throw in the aggressive athletic recruiting with its boarding facility, it makes sense the league is seeking a more competitive balance. If you take away Prep's dorms, their athletic programs would be just slightly above average.

The only school in the IAC that might stand in GP's corner is archrival Landon. But even Landon these days doesn't appear to be nearly as sports-obsessed as it once was. The Bears have a new headmaster starting this summer, so it will be interesting to see which direction the tide goes.
Agree with most of this, but Prep does not dominate the IAC. With everything they do, they should dominate, but they do not.
https://www.iacathletics.com/20242025-championships
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 08:23     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:Prep doesn’t actually hold the cards here though. The move to push boarding, heavy recruiting, in conjunction with already being the biggest school in the league might be forcing the issue for EHS and SSSAS. Do they really want to be in this league that isn’t serving them? 2 combined IAC titles in the last 6 years?

I bet they’d prefer to make a merger happen in order to keep the IAC name, but if Prep and Landon balk at it, then I could see EHS, SSSAS, Potomac, and maybe Flint Hill focusing on VISAA. Joining the VA Prep league and making North and South Divisions could make a lot of sense.

Where would that leave the 4 other teams (Prep, STA, Landon, and Bullis)?


The Prep community is in denial. The institution is pushing the boarding component (I get it, they did just construct a beautiful new dorm complex) and is layering in aggressive recruiting across several of the prominent sports (football, lax, and basketball). Prep's basketball team this winter (dominated the league) had several marquee starters from overseas (the 7-footer from China from example). Not to mention, Prep has turned into a massive school, far larger than the co-ed schools. (Bullis, EHS, and St Stephens)

There is a reason why GP historically dominates IAC, they are by far the largest school in the league. Throw in the aggressive athletic recruiting with its boarding facility, it makes sense the league is seeking a more competitive balance. If you take away Prep's dorms, their athletic programs would be just slightly above average.

The only school in the IAC that might stand in GP's corner is archrival Landon. But even Landon these days doesn't appear to be nearly as sports-obsessed as it once was. The Bears have a new headmaster starting this summer, so it will be interesting to see which direction the tide goes.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 08:00     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:Prep doesn’t actually hold the cards here though. The move to push boarding, heavy recruiting, in conjunction with already being the biggest school in the league might be forcing the issue for EHS and SSSAS. Do they really want to be in this league that isn’t serving them? 2 combined IAC titles in the last 6 years?

I bet they’d prefer to make a merger happen in order to keep the IAC name, but if Prep and Landon balk at it, then I could see EHS, SSSAS, Potomac, and maybe Flint Hill focusing on VISAA. Joining the VA Prep league and making North and South Divisions could make a lot of sense.

Where would that leave the 4 other teams (Prep, STA, Landon, and Bullis)?


A Virginia private school conference makes a lot of sense from a couple of different perspectives. Reducing interstate travel for games played during the week is just one.

BUT SSSA and EHS would have to sever ties with the MD/DC schools and associate themselves with a new group. And they might resist that.

O’Connell and Ireton would have to leave the Catholic league.

So not only would there be resistance, there’s no compelling reason to make this huge change. And no organization or people to facilitate or lead it.

If you were starting with a clean sheet of paper, it might make sense. But that’s not the case.

Athletic conference membership is probably #10 at best in the list of things these schools have to worry about. Even if a couple of schools saw it as a priority, the only thing they can affect is their own school.

If the IAC has no interest in adding Potomac, which would seem to be easy. Then what chance does a revolutionary change have.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 01:18     Subject: Re:Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
"Right now, GP has a transfer problem because the admin has fallen back into the trap of athletic glory will lead to donations. It doesn't."

Know several area high schools and colleges that would argue successfully against this point.


Let me guess. SJC - they are almost completely dependent on the generosity of Plank. He rebuilt the school and placed his old employees at the school. They are still a comparatively lower academic school without a real endowment. They might've closed without him.
DeMatha - they've been following this model for 50 years. No one confuses them with a top academic school. It also took them 45 years to build a gym.
Sidwell Friends and a number of other similar schools have chosen to bring in basketball players to entertain the students.
Paul VI - on serious athletic decline from the campus move.
Gonzaga - great school but supported by 1100 students. It took them forever to raise enough money to rehab.
Montrose Christian, Flint Hill, or anywhere else Stu Vetter coached failed.

Colleges - apples and oranges.



There so much incorrect with this post, it’s hard to even know where to begin.

The SJC recovery was well underway before Plank started helping. It started with the admission of girls. The new buildings and fields bear the names of other donors. It’s ridiculous to say that SJC would be closed without Plank’s contributions.

Isn’t PVI currently #1 in boy’s basketball? I don’t remember anything like that when the school was in Fairfax.

Crazy stuff.



PVI had a nice bump in football since their move too-
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 01:14     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:OK.

I went back and looked at the suggested grouping.

Seems like it’s Flint Hill and Potomac have the most to gain. They end up in what very closely resembles an expanded IAC.

Potomac has expressed interest in joining the IAC for many years. And the IAC schools have never been interested. Why would they now be interested. Especially if the new conference also brought in Flint Hill which offers little, especially as an academic institution.

If this rumor is coming from either of these schools, it seems very much like wishful thinking. It might be possible for people from these schools to believe that change is going to happen because they want it to badly.


Flint Hill is one of the top rated academic private high schools in VA- their athletics have taken a nose dive over the years due to gross mismanagement- but their academics are top shelf.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 00:28     Subject: Re:Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
I could see a merger happening in football (even if it’s just to allow SSSAS to play in a JV league and let one of the MAC schools move up).

I doubt we’ll ever see anything like it for any other sports.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 23:09     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Prep doesn’t actually hold the cards here though. The move to push boarding, heavy recruiting, in conjunction with already being the biggest school in the league might be forcing the issue for EHS and SSSAS. Do they really want to be in this league that isn’t serving them? 2 combined IAC titles in the last 6 years?

I bet they’d prefer to make a merger happen in order to keep the IAC name, but if Prep and Landon balk at it, then I could see EHS, SSSAS, Potomac, and maybe Flint Hill focusing on VISAA. Joining the VA Prep league and making North and South Divisions could make a lot of sense.

Where would that leave the 4 other teams (Prep, STA, Landon, and Bullis)?
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 21:29     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Oh please. Prep would never play gds in lax !

Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 13:11     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:I think a better solution would be to have Potomac just join the IAC. Potomac out of all of the MAC schools, likely has the most crossover with the IAC.

I can assure you, Landon and GP want nothing to do with playing progressive schools like GDS, Maret or Sidwell.





I don’t know if GP’s and Landon’s objections would be because these schools are “progressive”. Although that wouldn’t help.

Sidwell was in the IAC for a long time. And it didn’t bother the visitors there was no US flag in the gym and National Anthem. Although there were comments.

The bigger problem would be the relative weakness of the teams in all but one or two sports.

The GP, Landon and Bullis athletic programs are all about winning and winning against competition they view as worthy. There’s no thrill in Prep decimating the GDS lacrosse team.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 13:00     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:I think a better solution would be to have Potomac just join the IAC. Potomac out of all of the MAC schools, likely has the most crossover with the IAC.

I can assure you, Landon and GP want nothing to do with playing progressive schools like GDS, Maret or Sidwell.





How is Potomac in the IAC a solution?

What, exactly, is the problem to which this is a solution?

It is my understanding that Potomac has been interested in joining the IAC for many years. Their idea seems to be that being associated with St Albans, Landon and Prep is an upgrade athletically and for other reasons.

But adding Potomac has never gained any traction. No school appears to be for it. Some are neutral and others against it. It’s never been offered as a proposal to vote on at the Presidential level (which is where the decision to expand the conference would be made.) and there would have to be a majority approve it or maybe even all the schools.

It may be that some of these schools see Potomac as a competitor for students. Something they do care about. Why make Potomac a more effective competitor by upgrading their athletic program? Landon draws a significant number of students from Great Falls and McLean.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 11:56     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
I think a better solution would be to have Potomac just join the IAC. Potomac out of all of the MAC schools, likely has the most crossover with the IAC.

I can assure you, Landon and GP want nothing to do with playing progressive schools like GDS, Maret or Sidwell.



Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 11:25     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:One benefit of a merger would be a playoff system for football. The IAC ended in a three-way tie for the second time in the last three years.

The dcsaa playoffs are decent, but that organization hates to see the private schools win anything.

With only five football teams in the IAC, a playoff this past year would have strange. Add some more teams with a merger and end the season with an outright winner.
Just a thought !



Well. maybe. Its a more valid point if you bring in strong teams that are actually going to affect the records of the stronger ones at the top of the table. But, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Besides no one cares about the issue raised. It's a potential solution to a non-problem.

Sharing the title doesn't bother anyone. I've been around the IAC for many years, and that's never been raised as an issue.

And if you didn't divide the thing up into tiers some schools would never again sniff a championship in anything. And if you did, it defeats the whole purpose of a larger league.

This isn't English Soccer. The rosters of the high school teams change radically from year to year. So you are "relegating" last year's team.

Actually this whole conversation seems to be about a SOLUTION LOOKING FOR A PROBLEM.

It's a lot of work and risk for the schools and for many of them it offers no real benefit.
Great - you’ve been around the IAC for years. Have you spoken to the football players from the teams that share the title this year ?
I have. I know boys on all three teams. They would have loved another shot at each other in a playoff.
If you think that the IAC teams would be happy to share regular season titles, imagine taking away the season ending tournaments for lax, hockey, baseball.


Yes, by all means. Let's revamp the whole structure to make the football players a little happier. (that's sarcasm)

Football teams always want to play one more game, especially if it's a meaningful one. That's why college bowl games have been so popular (until recently). The high school football season is long enough.

We had three boys each play football, basketball and lacrosse for one of these IAC schools. They were interested in the IAC championship, but not to the degree they were interested in beating their "rivals" in those games in the regular season or in the playoffs in the sports that had them.

They wanted to play an occasional WCAC team and the better MIAA teams. Playing any of the MAC teams had absolutely no appeal for them.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 09:50     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:One benefit of a merger would be a playoff system for football. The IAC ended in a three-way tie for the second time in the last three years.

The dcsaa playoffs are decent, but that organization hates to see the private schools win anything.

With only five football teams in the IAC, a playoff this past year would have strange. Add some more teams with a merger and end the season with an outright winner.
Just a thought !



Well. maybe. Its a more valid point if you bring in strong teams that are actually going to affect the records of the stronger ones at the top of the table. But, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Besides no one cares about the issue raised. It's a potential solution to a non-problem.

Sharing the title doesn't bother anyone. I've been around the IAC for many years, and that's never been raised as an issue.

And if you didn't divide the thing up into tiers some schools would never again sniff a championship in anything. And if you did, it defeats the whole purpose of a larger league.

This isn't English Soccer. The rosters of the high school teams change radically from year to year. So you are "relegating" last year's team.

Actually this whole conversation seems to be about a SOLUTION LOOKING FOR A PROBLEM.

It's a lot of work and risk for the schools and for many of them it offers no real benefit.
Great - you’ve been around the IAC for years. Have you spoken to the football players from the teams that share the title this year ?
I have. I know boys on all three teams. They would have loved another shot at each other in a playoff.
If you think that the IAC teams would be happy to share regular season titles, imagine taking away the season ending tournaments for lax, hockey, baseball.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2026 16:34     Subject: Merge or Not To Merge IAC and MAC
OK.

I went back and looked at the suggested grouping.

Seems like it’s Flint Hill and Potomac have the most to gain. They end up in what very closely resembles an expanded IAC.

Potomac has expressed interest in joining the IAC for many years. And the IAC schools have never been interested. Why would they now be interested. Especially if the new conference also brought in Flint Hill which offers little, especially as an academic institution.

If this rumor is coming from either of these schools, it seems very much like wishful thinking. It might be possible for people from these schools to believe that change is going to happen because they want it to badly.