The winds of change are going to hit the area soon.

In a little over a week, fall will turn to winter. But there is a change on the local sports scene that could come blowing in too.

Local athletic directors certainly have a Christmas wish list to hang on the tree when it comes to football scheduling — and it appears that wish is going to come true.

Reports have it that the Colonial League and the Schuylkill League are in talks about a merger starting in the 2020 cycle. There are things that need to be tidied up in the coming days, but it is a good bet that the present will be unwrapped before Saint Nick arrives.

The proposed merger will be a football-only arrangement between leagues.

How does it work?

There are 12 teams in the Colonial League — Palmerton, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Bangor, Wilson, Southern Lehigh, Notre Dame, Salisbury, Catasauqua, Saucon Valley, Palisades and Pen Argyl. Right now, each team plays a 10-game schedule, facing every team in the league except one — which changes on a rotating basis.

The Schuylkill Football League is comprised of two six-team divisions. Division 1 includes Blue Mountain, Lehighton, Jim Thorpe, North Schuylkill, Tamaqua and Pottsville. Division 2 has Marian, Mahanoy Area, Minersville, Panther Valley, Schuylkill Haven and Shenandoah Valley. Each team plays five divisional games and five non-league games.

The combined league would have three divisions, with eight schools in each division. Each team would play a seven-game league schedule in their division and also have three non-league games to ensure rivalry games stay intact.

Although the exact alignment of the divisions hasn’t been released, they would be done primarily on a size basis. There are some who may question the distance for some games, i.e. Notre Dame at North Schuylkill or at Pottsville, but those trips would happen just once every other year.

A quick glance at enrollments would seem to indicate that the Times News area schools in the Colonial League — Northern Lehigh, Palmerton and Northwestern — could possibly be aligned with area Schuylkill League schools like Lehighton, Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua.

The new league could create a lot of natural rivalries, as well as boost attendance.

In addition to the merger with the Colonial League, the Schuylkill League has also looked into expanding its small-school base in football in recent years, and that possibility still exists in the future with Nativity, Williams Valley, Tri-Valley and Pine Grove all possibly joining the league.

Although no league sources would go on the record to confirm this gift for area football fans, there is a strong possibility Santa Claus could bring those hopes and wishes in his toy bag this year.