31°Northern Ohio League preaching patience in membership search
12:03 AM
Jun 10
2009
Jun 10
2009
There is an underlying message in the Northern Ohio League's Tuesday announcement that the search to replace Galion and Upper Sandusky will not be finalized before the start of next school year:
What's the rush?
If there is anything to take away from the NOL's "summer vacationi", it is the fact that they aren't going to just take a school just for the sake of taking a school. If that were the case, this process would have been resolved months ago. You have to give the league some credit for being more than thorough in such a blockbuster decision.
However, there are also risks to delaying such a decision, mainly Fostoria's membership fate. Fostoria was rejected by the Suburban Lakes League in February, but five of those SLL teams left to form a new conference with Rossford and they again will target Fostoria for possible membership. While I've been told a couple of those schools are still against adding Fostoria, one thing that hasn't been made clear if majority vote accepts a new school or if it simply has to be more yes votes instead of no.
Fostoria leaving the NOL isn't a lock, but they also aren't a lock to stay. As it is going into next school year, Greater Buckeye Conference members Sandusky and Marion Harding have official applications and have made presentations to the NOL in hopes of being the seventh and eighth teams.
Both schools were probably hoping for a quicker answer than they will get after Tuesday's news that Napoleon, also in the GBC, is leaving to fill Rossford's spot in the Northern Lakes League. That would put the already small GBC down to just five teams if the other schools remained, something nobody wants any part of.
As for my take, I'm OK with accepting Sandusky as I've said many times, but the Marion Harding addition would be a pandora's box. The one side of me says the only difference between driving to Marion as opposed to Upper Sandusky is a handful of miles, but the other side of me says Marion Harding would be the largest school in the NOL and if they were going to take a school that big, why not just grab Fremont Ross?, They are nestled just 20-30 minutes away from the Norwalk-Sandusky area.
As the domino's continue to fall all around them, the NOL will sit back and watch them fall this summer, then decide to pick up the pieces afterward.
Whether the NOL becomes a domino itself or not remains to be seen...
What's the rush?
If there is anything to take away from the NOL's "summer vacationi", it is the fact that they aren't going to just take a school just for the sake of taking a school. If that were the case, this process would have been resolved months ago. You have to give the league some credit for being more than thorough in such a blockbuster decision.
However, there are also risks to delaying such a decision, mainly Fostoria's membership fate. Fostoria was rejected by the Suburban Lakes League in February, but five of those SLL teams left to form a new conference with Rossford and they again will target Fostoria for possible membership. While I've been told a couple of those schools are still against adding Fostoria, one thing that hasn't been made clear if majority vote accepts a new school or if it simply has to be more yes votes instead of no.
Fostoria leaving the NOL isn't a lock, but they also aren't a lock to stay. As it is going into next school year, Greater Buckeye Conference members Sandusky and Marion Harding have official applications and have made presentations to the NOL in hopes of being the seventh and eighth teams.
Both schools were probably hoping for a quicker answer than they will get after Tuesday's news that Napoleon, also in the GBC, is leaving to fill Rossford's spot in the Northern Lakes League. That would put the already small GBC down to just five teams if the other schools remained, something nobody wants any part of.
As for my take, I'm OK with accepting Sandusky as I've said many times, but the Marion Harding addition would be a pandora's box. The one side of me says the only difference between driving to Marion as opposed to Upper Sandusky is a handful of miles, but the other side of me says Marion Harding would be the largest school in the NOL and if they were going to take a school that big, why not just grab Fremont Ross?, They are nestled just 20-30 minutes away from the Norwalk-Sandusky area.
As the domino's continue to fall all around them, the NOL will sit back and watch them fall this summer, then decide to pick up the pieces afterward.
Whether the NOL becomes a domino itself or not remains to be seen...
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11:56 AM
ScarletFever says
My guess they will make their decision this time next year, unless a great opportunity comes along and/or sandusky & marion harding push for an absolute yes/no vote and the NOL panics.07:12 PM
cjb56 says
Very foolish of them not to apply for membership to the West Shore Conference. There is no guarantee the NOL will ever admit Sandusky, and the GBC is just about done. Maybe they don't get approved to join the WSC if they applied. Still, they should've at least applied to increase their options.