River Cities Alliance is looking to expand to at least eight schools

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - West Michigan’s newest high school athletic conference is looking to add new members.

The seven schools in the River Cities Alliance just completed their first season since breaking away from the Ottawa-Kent Conference in 2023.

“In an ideal situation, we’d like to have even number of schools,” said Pete Bush, the commissioner of the River Cities Alliance.

The seven members of the RCA are: Allendale, Cedar Springs, Coopersville, Greenville, Kenowa Hills, Lowell and Sparta.

The conference put its feelers out with a post on Twitter last week. It reads: “After an exceptionally successful launch, the River Cities Alliance is accepting applications for new members for the 2026-27 academic year.”

Bush said he has yet to have any schools contact him with serious interest.

“No real direct conversations at this point,” he said. “We’ve had some schools have some conversations. But no level of interest at this point.”

Bush said the RCA is open to more than just one new school.

“Eight schools would be ideal,” he said. “But our superintendents would be open to 10 or 12 if we had more interest. We’re not looking to be a mega conference. What we’ve got is a pretty good fit. (Our superintendents) want to keep that moving forward. An even number is ideal.”

For more in formation, contact Bush at pbush@capsk12.org.