The road through the WPIALs is about to get a whole lot tougher for the Chartiers Valley Colts football team.

The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League realigned its conferences Tuesday and placed the Colts into a nine-team division that contains several western Pennsylvania powerhouses. Chartiers Valley will now play West Allegheny, Montour, Moon, Central Valley, Hopewell, Ambridge, Blackhawk and New Castle.

But Frank Vulcano Jr., Chartiers Valley’s athletic director, thinks the transfer to the Parkway Conference is a good fit for the Colts both athletically and logistically.

“Obviously it’s a pretty competitive conference,” Vulcano told Chartiers Valley Patch. “Year in and year out, that conference has probably been the toughest in Triple-A the past five years. I think adding us to that conference will just add to the competitiveness.”

Vulcano noted that although the farthest traveling distance is to New Castle in Lawrence County, the other high schools that dot Interstate 376 might actually be similar drives to last year’s schedule.

“We’re pretty centrally located,” he said. “For us to go to Hopewell is no different than trying to get to TJ on a Friday night.”

Since the news of the change broke late Tuesday night, Vulcano has had little time to review it with the coaching staff. But he thinks they’re enthusiastic about the new conference and the challenges for the 2012 football season.

“I’m sure we’re excited about getting into a new conference knowing each week it’s going to be an exciting game,” he said.

Chartiers Valley opened its 2011 season with a loss to Montour in a non-conference game. The Colts were later eliminated by the Spartans in the first round of the playoffs.

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