VPA football committee announces rotating championship venue

More changes to the Vermont high school football playoffs are on the horizon.

The Vermont Principals’ Association's football committee announced a rotating venue for the championship tripleheader starting in 2024, according to a news release on Friday morning.

The all-day event will be held at Rutland High School’s Alumni Field in the fall, but then will flip to St. Johnsbury Academy in 2024 and South Burlington the following year.

The site changes are to ensure that various parts of the state can host a football championship with “hopes of continuing the growth of football in Vermont,” according to the release.

South Burlington hosted in 2012, but Rutland has held the title extravaganza each year since.

“It's exciting for Vermont football to showcase one of the biggest events of the year and it goes to different communities,” South Burlington athletic director Mike Jabour said.  

St. Johnsbury coach Rich Alercio applauded the annual site rotation.

“I think this is great for the Northeast Kingdom. It's great for this part of the state that really doesn't have a lot of large venues and ultimately this is great for Vermont high school football.”

Schools interested in hosting the championships can email Lauren Thomas, VPA's assistant executive director, at lthomas@vpaonline.org. Part of the requirements to host the season’s biggest day are: Schools must have an artificial turf field, ample parking and facility space, a workforce or volunteer base and lights, Thomas said.

Should no other interested schools apply, the rotation would go back to Rutland for 2026, according to the VPA.

In February it was announced that high school football regular season play would be driven by leagues, instead of the traditional three-division format. For the playoffs, teams will break back into their divisional alignment based on the school’s boy count population. The schools with higher boy count populations will be placed in corresponding divisions.

Opening weekend this season is slated for Thursday, Aug. 31.

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Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau