Oak Harbor High School will be renewing some old conference affiliations in the fall of 2023.
By unanimous vote Wednesday, the Benton-Carroll-Salem Board of Education accepted an invitation to join the Northern Buckeye Conference beginning, with the 2023-24 school year.
“This was a difficult decision to make but, ultimately, we are doing what is best for our student-athletes,” B-C-S school board president Jamie Tooman said in a media release. “The NBC will be a great fit for Oak Harbor, and we believe our athletes will be competitive.”
The move, which is pending approval by the NBC membership, comes after Woodmore announced on May 20 that it was leaving the NBC to join the SBC.
“Following months of discussion, a recent vote of our head coaches revealing more than 70 percent in favor of moving to the NBC was a crucial factor in making this recommendation to the board,” B-C-S superintendent Guy Parmigian said in the release. “The level of stability and competition of the NBC really made it highly attractive for our students and community.
“We look forward to a smooth transition, and to many years of success and sportsmanship in the NBC as we work to develop our young people through our athletic programs.”
Oak Harbor is currently a member of the (mid-level) Bay Division in the three-tiered SBC. Woodmore is presumably going to enter in the SBC's (small-school) River Division.
On Feb. 8, Elmwood announced its decision to leave the NBC to join the Blanchard Valley Conference in 2023-24. On March 28, Maumee announced it would be leaving the Northern Lakes League to join the NBC in 2023-24.
“We think they're a good match for us, and that we're a good match for them,” NBC commissioner Dave Bringman said of Oak Harbor. “They are competitive in all sports, and a lot of our schools already play them nonleague.
“Our [NBC] principals are hoping now that we will be a solid league for several years to come, and very competitive.”
Oak Harbor's athletic teams have been members of the Sandusky Bay Conference, most recently, since 1986, when they exited the former Suburban Lakes League.
“We have valued the history, competition, and camaraderie of our SBC schools,” Oak Harbor principal Cheryl Schell stated in the release. “We feel the stability the NBC will provide us will benefit our Rockets, their families, and this community moving forward.”
The Rockets had previously been SBC members from 1948-72.
Oak Harbor became an original member of the SLL in 1972 along with current NBC members Eastwood, Elmwood, Genoa, Otsego, and Woodmore.
The NBC began competition in the 2011-12 school year after the demise of the SLL.
In its new conference, Oak Harbor will be rejoining Eastwood, Genoa, and Otsego from the original SLL years, and joining Fostoria, Lake, Maumee, and Rossford.
Lake had left the NLL to join the the SLL in 1996, and made the transition to the NBC.
Fostoria and Rossford were original NBC members in 2011-12.
When the new eight-team NBC alignment begins in 2023-24, it will be one of the more balanced conferences in Ohio as far as enrollment size.
According to enrollment numbers utilized by the Ohio High School Athletic Association for grades 10-12 in the current 2020-21 school year, Maumee has the largest combined enrollment with 285 boys and 282 girls (567 total) among the schools in the conference it will be joining.
In order from there are Rossford (218 boys, 214 girls, 432 total), Oak Harbor (196-204—400), Fostoria (207-191—398), Eastwood (189-173—362), Lake (185-176—361), Otsego (187-171—358), and Genoa (185-156—341).
“We have always respected and valued the friendships and competition Oak Harbor has enjoyed over the years as a member of the SBC,” Oak Harbor athletic director Dan Hoover said in the release. “I look forward to continuing competing with SBC schools as nonleague opponents as we journey into a new chapter of Oak Harbor athletics as a member of the NBC.”
Although Maumee has struggled to compete in most sports for the past decade in the NLL, the Panthers seem poised to be a better competitive fit in the NBC. Oak Harbor has a longstanding record of success in most sports over the past 40 years, and its chief geographical rival has been Genoa.
“We were not actively looking to get out of the SBC,” Hoover said. “The NBC approached us back in October or November, and it was discussed then. It came back around here not long ago, and it's been discussed from that point on.
“We've done our research, and our board of education just felt like it was the right move, stability-wise, because of some of things [happening] in the SBC.”
Hoover was referring to his school's potentially tenuous position in the SBC's Bay Division
“Being in a six-team [division], if one school goes, that really kind of throws a monkey wrench into things,” Hoover said. “There's been some talk of Willard maybe leaving and, we felt that, stability-wise, this was the best move for us to make.”
In being proactive, Oak Harbor has seemingly found a superb alternative.
“Proximity was also part of it, but it wasn’t the deciding factor,” Hoover said. “It was more the [lack of SBC] stability, and the NBC competition.”
First Published May 26, 2021, 8:34 p.m.
