The
moment when the Clinton County high schools failed to qualify for the state
track and field meet, the 2013-2014 high school sports year had officially
ended in the county.
With
the end of the season comes the official move of Wilmington High School from
the Southwestern Ohio Conference (SWOC) to return to its longtime home: the
South Central Ohio League (SCOL).
The seemingly never-ending roulette wheel of conference realignment has stopped, for now.
This past week, the SWOC announced that it would be staying at seven members, but would have a committee look into future expansion.
So while the wheel has stopped, it will almost certainly start moving again in the future.
Conference reshuffling began in earnest in the mid-1990s. This was when the Fort Ancient Valley Conference decided to get bigger – both in number of schools and size of school enrollments.
This move began the creation of the supersized FAVC that would eventually grow to three divisions and 24 teams. It also forced charter member Blanchester first into the Southern Buckeye Conference, then the Kenton Trace Conference.
Joining the KTC allowed Blanchester to reignite conference rivalries with county rivals Clinton-Massie and East Clinton. However, the addition of the southernmost Wildcats angered northern schools Cedarville, Greeneview and Southeastern.
Eventually, the KTC would disband and Blanchester would retreat back to the SBC, joined this time by Clinton-Massie and East Clinton.
Not long after, there was talk of reforming the South Central Ohio League. Eventually, Clinton-Massie and later East Clinton would join the new version of the classic conference. After initially balking at the idea (and hurting some feelings in the process), all fences were mended and Wilmington agreed to join as well.
While we have finally reached a pause in the game of musical chairs, the song will soon start again and school administrators will be reaching for a seat.
Two factors continue to drive schools to look for greener pastures – strength of the league competition and geographic rivalries.
The relative strength of the league and size of the schools is a big factor, especially in football. However, schools are also interested in leagues that bring in large gates, especially on weeknights during the winter months.
I’m not sure what school or which schools will set off the next chain reaction of conference realignment. I’m sure that it will happen, sooner or later.
Once in a lifetime
I was
very fortunate to get to cover the state ice hockey final four and championship
game this season at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. I hope that becomes an annual
tradition.
It
turned out to be an historic event, with Sylvania Northview and Cleveland St. Ignatius playing to a 1-1 tie, with the game called after seven overtimes.
Even
today, there are those that want to make jokes about ended a state title game
in a tie. The state made the right decision, and the only decision they could
make considering the rules at the time.
The
next time a district or state level game goes to overtime, there will not be a
tie.
A few weeks ago,
the OHSAA announced new overtime procedures which will eliminate the
possibility of another state championship game stalemate.
Starting
this season, if the game goes to overtime, the first overtime will be played
five-on-five. If there is no winner, up to four more overtime periods will be
played, all of which will be four-on-four.
If
after five overtimes there is no winner, a three-person shootout will determine
the winner.
Don’t
get me wrong – I hate the shootout just as much as the coaches do. With five
overtimes, four of which will be four-on-four, there is a good chance that we
will never get to the shootout.
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