VALLEY CITY, ND  (NewsDakota.com)  Valley City Athletic Director Rob Hunt has confirmed that the football co-op between the Hi-Liners and Barnes County North Bison has been re-instated.

The NDHSAA has approved the merger, allowing the team to play at the Division A level, a level down from the AA level the team has played at in the past.

The co-op was dissolved after realignment left Valley City in a position of qualifying for the A level if they played without the co-op, but AA if they kept the co-op in place with the Bison.

Barnes County North pursued co-ops with Griggs-Midkota and Maple River, with both attempts turned down due to the potential co-op elevating the host team from 9-man to the A division.

The approval by the NDHSAA may be a sign that the organization is warming to the idea of adding an “eye-test” to classification.  In the past, appeals to the NDHSAA have had little success of keeping teams at the level their enrollment number moved them to.

Following the move to three divisions of basketball, talk of classification committees bolstered the idea of teams being moved to fit their competitive level.