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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Prep sports: Trojans still looking for a league to call home
Cooper Service
By DAVE HANNEMAN

STAFF WRITER

Findlay High, searching for an athletic conference to align with due to the impending demise of the Greater Buckeye Conference, continues knocking on doors.

No one, however, seems interested in inviting the Trojans in.

According to athletics director Nate Weihrauch, Findlay has applied to six other leagues since three GBC schools, Sandusky, Napoleon and Fremont Ross, announced they were leaving the conference following the 2010-11 season.

All six applications were denied, virtually assuring that Findlay will be forced to pursue independent athletic schedules beginning with the 2011-12 school year.

“Although we have not been accepted into another league, we are excited about the opportunities that present itself with an independent schedule,” Weihrauch said in a prepared statement.

“We realize that with this type of schedule comes difficulties. But while we continue to search for a league opportunity that fits our student-athletes needs, we look forward to continuing the level of excellence and character displayed by our student-athletes whomever we compete against.

“It is a challenging, but also exciting time for Findlay High School, and we look forward to the future.”

The six-school Greater Buckeye Conference, an expansive league stretching from Sandusky to Marion to Napoleon, is one of several conferences in transition. Higher fuels costs and leaner economic times, along with competitive balance, were some reasons why a number of schools decided to pursue realignment with different athletic leagues.

Sandusky made the first move, applying to and being accepted into the Northern Ohio League, a conference also undergoing major changes.

When an opening came up in the Northern Lakes League, Napoleon made the move to fill that spot. And when the Toledo City League announced plans to expand its ranks, Findlay, Lima Senior and Fremont Ross applied. But the TCL, faced with the option of adding one or three schools to keep what would be an even number of teams, opted to admit just Fremont Ross.

With three teams leaving, the GBC will be left with Findlay, Marion Harding and Lima Senior. All three schools are in a similar situation: Division I schools situated in areas far removed from other schools their approximate size.

Findlay has also sought admission into the Western Buckeye League, a 10-school conference of Division II and III-sized programs, and the Ohio Cardinal Conference, an eight-school alignment of schools in the Mansfield area.

More recently, Findlay applied to the Greater Western Ohio Conference, a 16-team, three-division coalition of schools in the Dayton area. The GWOC did expand to 18 teams, adding West Carrolton to its South Division and Greenville to its North Division. The GWOC Central Division already had six schools.

Findlay has been a member of a league or conference since the 1919-20 school year when six schools formed the Trolley League for boys basketball. When the Buckeye Conference disbanded following the 1986-87 season, Findlay aligned with four other schools in the Buckeye Central Conference. The last four years of that league (1991-92 to 1994-95) the BCC consisted of just Findlay, Newark, Lancaster and Zanesville.

Findlay was accepted into the Great Lakes League beginning with the 1995-96 school year, and remained in the GLL until that conference morphed into the GBC in 2003-04.

Hanneman: 419-427-8408,

Send an e-mail to Dave Hanneman


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1 Comment

bob wrote:
Play the county schools
“ There's no reason Findlay and the county schools couldn't play each other in baseball,golf, softball, and track. The softball girls have grown up playing the county girls. ”
Saturday, December 26, 2009 9:04:02 AM

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