Orchard Farm Moves to Gateway Athletic Conference

Orchard Farm and Winfield High Schools will be moving to the Gateway Athletic Conference.

School superintendents from members of the Gateway Athletic Conference voted in favor of inviting the two smaller schools into the conference, but turned down Pattonville, which has a larger student body. . 

St. Charles School District Superintendent Randy Charles said he thinks Orchard Farm will be a welcome addition to the conference, which will lose

St. Charles High School and St. Charles West High School are two of the smallest schools in the GAC currently. The schools which have less than 850 students each would often compete against schools with 1,600 students enrolled.

"It's not the fault of the kid, it's just when you have more kids to select from, you're going to be playing at a different level," he said.

Reached Friday, Pattonville Athletic Director Bob Hebrank said he wasn't given a personal explanation for the vote.

He said the district felt "it would be a good opportunity for our programs," but added the application was not a sign that Pattonville felt it would be a better fit than the Suburban Conference.