SALEM — The Salem Quakers have found a new league.

“We’re happy to be in the Northeast 8,” Salem athletic director Matt Freeman said.

The official announcement came Friday afternoon.

Salem will join the Northeast 8 Athletic Conference in the fall of 2027 in every sport in grades 7-12 but football.

“Salem is a strong fit geographically, competitively, and culturally for our conference,” Northeast 8 commissioner Rob Conklin said. “This move strengthens the Northeast 8 and provides outstanding opportunities for our student-athletes and school communities.”

Salem brings the Northeast 8 to eight schools along with South Range, Girard, Hubbard, Lakeview, Niles, Poland and Struthers,

“We think it’s a good fit for us because we’re very close,” Freeman said. “Route 11 is a great corridor to around to the Northeast 8 schools.”

On March 13, the Northeast 8 announced it was staying with seven teams after Salem and West Branch applied.

Freeman said discussions with the Northeast 8 continued after that.

“In the last two weeks, it picked up some steam,” Freeman said. “It happened pretty quickly.”

This time Salem was approved unanimously by the superintendents of the seven Northeast 8 schools.

The Quakers were looking for a new league because the Eastern Buckeye Conference will be done after the 2026-27 school year.

Salem, West Branch and Alliance are the only ones left after Minerva, Carrollton and Marlington bolted for the new Northeast Senate League.

“Those schools have found a new home and that’s all we wanted, too,” Freeman said.

Salem and West Branch wanted to go to the same league, but that did not happen.

“We had a lot of conversations with West Branch and we’ll continue that with them,” Freeman said. “The early discussions are we want to play them in everything.”

Salem also applied for membership in the Mahoning Valley-based All-American Conference, which would have included all sports but football, and the Akron-based Metro Athletic Conference.

“We’re a lot closer (in enrollment) to the Northeast 8 than Boardman, Louisville, Fitch and Harding,” Freeman said. “We also play them in the other sports.”

“This agreement allows both Salem and the Northeast 8 to strengthen all other athletic programs immediately while also preserving flexibility in football scheduling for all schools involved,” Northeast 8 assistant commissioner Brian Banfield said. “We believe this is a positive step for the future of the conference.”

Freeman said the hangup the last time Salem was considered for the Northeast 8 was football.

“I give Brian a lot of credit for thinking outside the box,” Freeman said. “If we joined the AAC, it would have been the same thing (all sports but football).”

Freeman also thanked Conklin and school officials from the Northeast 8.

“Who knows?” He said. “Down the road maybe they’ll bring us in for football.”

Freeman said the Quakers are now putting together a football schedule for the 2027 season, the first without the EBC.

“We’re working on a plan for football,” he said.