Break in tradition

Tri-Cities football fans might want to bottle the looming Week 9 buzz while they can. One regular season ending rivalry is about to slide up the schedule.

Batavia and Geneva will meet in Week 6 or 7 for at least the next two seasons when the schools shift from the Western Sun Conference to the Upstate Eight beginning next fall. Batavia athletic director Mike Gaspari, also the Bulldogs' coach, said the team will close the 2010 regular season with Streamwood rather than the Vikings.

"There wasn't a way to do that, unfortunately, and still be able to keep a rotation," Gaspari said. "[Geneva] will be a Week 9 game for two years once those rotations switch, but that won't be for a few years yet."

Gaspari and other UEC athletic directors have met in recent weeks to schedule 2010-11 contests for all sports.

"It's pretty much hammered out," Gaspari said. "It's not completely finalized yet, but it's pretty close."

The addition of Batavia and Geneva along with Metea Valley, a new school playing a junior varsity schedule in most sports this season, will push the total of UEC teams from 11 to 14. League athletic directors have said Batavia, Geneva and both St. Charles schools will be part of the same seven-team division.