32°Done deal: Upper Sandusky is leaving Northern Ohio League
01:20 PM
Feb 05
2009
Feb 05
2009
Months of speculation can now come to a close and look to the future.
I first wrote a blog back on Dec. 12 that Upper Sandusky and Galion were seriously pursuing leaving the Northern Ohio League for the more centrally located North Central Conference.
One down, one to go.
Late Thursday morning, Upper Sandusky was approved unanimously for membership to the NCC, and after the Upper Board of Education approves it on Feb. 18, the Northern Ohio League will be down to a 7-team league.
Currently the NOL is made up of three area teams, Bellevue, Norwalk and Willard, along with Shelby, Upper Sandusky, Galion, Tiffin Columbian and Fostoria.
Galion is holding a special Board of Education work session Saturday morning in which it is expected they will make formal application for the NCC as well. The NCC if it accepts Galion as well would become a 10-team, big school/small school division format.
Upper and Galion both will have much shorter travel times and would become the biggest schools in the NCC, as opposed to the smallest schools in the NOL with several road trips of 45+ minutes.
I've always maintained throughout these blog updates that I would not speculate on possible new members to the NOL until something official happened. It is now time to do just that.
The logical choice screams Sandusky and/or Fremont Ross looking to leave the Greater Buckeye Conference for the NOL, if for only travel and financial purposes alone. Currently Sandusky has road trips to Napoleon, Lima Senior, Marion Harding and Findlay...and now that they are comparable in size, wouldn't it be much better to make road trips to Tiffin, Willard, Norwalk and Bellevue?
Time will tell...
I first wrote a blog back on Dec. 12 that Upper Sandusky and Galion were seriously pursuing leaving the Northern Ohio League for the more centrally located North Central Conference.
One down, one to go.
Late Thursday morning, Upper Sandusky was approved unanimously for membership to the NCC, and after the Upper Board of Education approves it on Feb. 18, the Northern Ohio League will be down to a 7-team league.
Currently the NOL is made up of three area teams, Bellevue, Norwalk and Willard, along with Shelby, Upper Sandusky, Galion, Tiffin Columbian and Fostoria.
Galion is holding a special Board of Education work session Saturday morning in which it is expected they will make formal application for the NCC as well. The NCC if it accepts Galion as well would become a 10-team, big school/small school division format.
Upper and Galion both will have much shorter travel times and would become the biggest schools in the NCC, as opposed to the smallest schools in the NOL with several road trips of 45+ minutes.
I've always maintained throughout these blog updates that I would not speculate on possible new members to the NOL until something official happened. It is now time to do just that.
The logical choice screams Sandusky and/or Fremont Ross looking to leave the Greater Buckeye Conference for the NOL, if for only travel and financial purposes alone. Currently Sandusky has road trips to Napoleon, Lima Senior, Marion Harding and Findlay...and now that they are comparable in size, wouldn't it be much better to make road trips to Tiffin, Willard, Norwalk and Bellevue?
Time will tell...
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02:39 PM
Baseball2005 says
As a former Sandusky athlete I think it is time for a change. I was a junior the first year we moved to the G.B.C and the road trips were overwhelming. Sandusky has to be close to the top of the list when it comes to in-conference traveling. The late night bus rides home from Lima on a school night were very difficult. On another note, we only have a select few league championships since we arrived in the G.B.C. It is obvious the competition in the G.B.C is overwhelming as well. So why not try a new league? A new league would bring a fresh start to every athletic program at Sanduky, which is very much needed. As a college student I want to brag to my friends about how good my school is doing, and in the past years the only bragging Sandusky alumni could do is the girls softball team a couple years ago. Even if Fremont does not leave the G.B.C we could always schedule them as a non-conference rival game. So I would strongly suggest to the Sandusky Board of Education a fresh start to all athletic programs by joining the N.O.L.11:14 AM
DistantFlier says
I did some comparisons to the suggestion that if Fostoria and Shelby were to leave the NOL as well as Galion and Upper Sandusky, that Clyde, Fremont, Sandusky, and Perkins could replace them.Some have mentioned on several forums I've read that Ross High and SHS would be good fits for the NOL. I disagree. Clyde and Perkins would be a great fit size-wise for the NOL if they move from the SBC. But Ross High and SHS would be 50 to 65 percent larger than the rest of the league if they came over.
Here are the combined enrollments of the schools remaining in the NOL with Clyde, Perkins, Ross High, and SHS (from http://ohsaa.org/members/hsenroll07.htm ):
Remaining NOL members:
TIFFIN COLUMBIAN - 670
NORWALK - 669
BELLEVUE - 618
SHELBY - 557
WILLARD - 538
FOSTORIA - 482
Suggested new members:
FREMONT ROSS - 1042
SANDUSKY - 920
CLYDE - 606
PERKINS - 570
I believe, if Fostoria and Shelby remain in the NOL, that Clyde and Perkins would be a great fit for the NOL. They would have a bit longer drives than they do now, but there enrollments are much more in line with the NOL than the SBC. Clyde is the oldest continuous member of the SBC (this is their 60th consecutive season). Perkins has been in the conference since 1972. There is a loyalty factor there.
The NOL would be a solid D-2 league (D-3 in football). Clyde, Bellevue, Perkins, and Columbian are consistently in the running for playoff berths in football, and they are all in the same district in boy's basketball.
Clyde and Bellevue already have a solid rivalry going, and the Fliers play Norwalk and Columbian in basketball as well. It would require a step up for some of the Flier programs, but they are much better programs now than they were in the past (pre-1990).
How then is this for the "new" NOL -
Bellevue
Clyde
Columbian
Fostoria
Norwalk
Perkins
Shelby
Willard
Whaddaya think about that, Mark?
03:33 PM
dgreen73 says
i see your point with sandusky being a little bit bigger, right now.... but wgat happens when sandusky loses students to perkins and whoever else like we are now and perkins becomes close or equal to sandusky? Its gonna happen, so why not just bring sandusky in along with perkins and let fostoria leave and try to get clyde!! that would be a conference !!!! open enrollment is changing things!!
05:34 PM
Mark Hazelwood says
I think you posted very solid info with informative facts...but I still like it being Sandusky and Fremont Ross if those said schools are interested because I believe the NOL will panic and fill those two slots as quick as possible so they don't lose Fostoria too.Plus like you said, I just don't envision Clyde or Perkins leaving the SBC where they have it great. But rumors are also swirling of SMCC only committing to the SBC for two more years due to funding/enrollments, so another pandora's box may open there down the road too.
11:37 AM
Burger King Guy says
I enjoy the Fandy.com magazine but have to comment on the rankings. How can you consistantly rank Perkins boys above Bellevue (2/5 had the Pirates #3 and the Redmen 4 spots below them) when Bellevue blew them out of the gym when they played earlier this season and have a similar record?? Throw in Bellevue's domination (currently 4-0) of the SBC and this has me scratching my head.