A shakeup in the membership of the Southwest Athletic Conference, of which Martin is a member, was announced Tuesday morning.

Martin Athletic Director Robert VandenBerg said six schools from the SAC and four other schools are forming a new league.

“No one from the SAC knew this was coming,” VandenBerg said in a communication. “Total surprise.”

The schools planning to leave the SAC are Bangor, Bloomingdale, Marcellus, Decatur, Eau Claire and Hartford. Of that group, Marcellus, Eau Claire, Decatur and Bloomingdale are in the same SAC division as Martin.

“I am assuming this will not affect the remainder of the SAC season for the 2016-17 season,” VandenBerg added.

The current alignment of teams for the SAC is:

• Lakeshore Division — Watervliet, Delton Kellogg, Constantine, Fennville, Coloma, Kalamazoo United.
• Central Division — Schoolcraft, Lawton, Hartford, Gobles, Bangor, Galesburg-Augusta.
• Valley Division — Saugatuck, Decatur, Marcellus, Martin, Bloomingdale, Eau Claire.

Martin was one of the original SAC schools when the league was first organized in 1971. The current 18-school alignment was established before the 2015-16 athletic season.