TVC Hocking adds South Gallia, Belpre moving down

[bigbluedad]

I think that a move to the TVC would be nice if anything it would cut down on the miles to travel to play, but from what I heard tonight is that we will probably ride out the storm in the SEOAL and see what happens as far as schools wanting to move else where.

[eaglefan1]

The TVC-Ohio could also go to 3 divisions, large, medium and small schools, each with 7 teams in them...so everyone would have 6 conference games...it would look something like this....

Large Schools
Jackson
Athens
Warren
Marietta
Gallia
Vinton County
Meigs

I think would be pretty competitive in every sport with the exception of Meigs...

Medium Schools
Alexander
Wellston
Nelsonville-York
River Valley
Belpre
Federal Hocking
Crooksville

I think Belpre and Alexander would contend every year for the all sports trophy....Nelsonville, of course would still win football...but i think other than football, this would be very competitive.

Small Schools
Trimble
South Gallia
Oak Hill
Miller
Eastern
Southern
Waterford

Trimble and Oak Hill would battle every year in every sport except maybe basketball, where oak hill would probably go undefeated almost every year in conference play.


All in all i think all these divisions would be very competetive year in and year out....

[mister b]

You need an even number of teams in a division. If you have an odd number of teams, 1 team each week is playing an out of conference game. The main reason South Gallia got in was if Belpre would move down so you would have 6 teams in the Ohio and 8 in the Hocking. Otherwise, it would have been 7 each and the nightmare scheduling would still go on.

To hard for schools to pickup teams in weeks 6,7,8,9 and 10 because most other schools are playing their conference games.

[coal miner's son]

Washington County needs an enima. Consolidate Belpre/Warren and Waterford/Fort Frye. Now you would have one D2 and one D4? One school stays in the SEOAL and the other to TVC Ohio. Belpre is getting smaller. Graduated 82 kids this year. Waterford is similar in graduating class, maybe smaller. We waste SO much $$$ paying all of these superitendents 100K! Washington County is the only county in southern Ohio without new schools. Bring the pool of talent together in order to provide a better chance for success rather than keeping them split. One could have two teams with a chance of making the post season, rather than four with no chance at all. I know for certain that wrestling at Belpre, Warren, and Waterford would benefit GREATLY. These schools, as well as other in OHIO, are unable to fill all of the weight classes. There are kids who want to wrestle, but can't because it isn't offered at FF.

[NYBuckeye96]

http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/513564.html?nav=5025

Belpre to compete in TVC Hocking Division
By Paul Boggs, Special to The Times


ATHENS - With a move-in, and a move-down, the 40-year-old Tri-Valley Conference is once again expanding and re-aligning.

That's because South Gallia has become the latest school to join the TVC, as the school was unanimously approved to join the conference at Tuesday's regular monthly meeting of the league's athletic directors and high school principals.

South Gallia joins the TVC as its 14th member, and will compete as a member of the Hocking Division, which consists of the "smaller schools" in the league.

But the Hocking Division did not stop its activity on Tuesday with the acceptance of South Gallia.

In a separate motion and vote, Belpre will be moving down from the Ohio Division, giving the Hocking Division eight teams and the larger Ohio Division six.

The two changes take effect beginning with the 2010-11 academic year.

As a result of the expansion and re-alignment, the schools in two divisions - with their Ohio High School Athletic Association enrollment figures as reported to the state Department of Education in October 2008 in parentheses- will include as follows:

OHIO - Athens (363), Vinton County (296), Meigs (223), Alexander (206), Wellston (181), Nelsonville-York (161)

HOCKING - Belpre (140), Federal Hocking (138), Trimble (112), South Gallia (100), Miller (97), Meigs Eastern (95), Southern (91), Waterford (90)

South Gallia, which first formed in the fall of 1996, is the consolidation of the Hannan Trace and Southwestern school districts.

It has competed as an independent program since its inception.

The Rebels have explored joining small-school leagues before, and have played most of the current Hocking Division schools on a regular basis in non-league competition.

It was learned in mid-May that South Gallia had applied for the TVC.

On Tuesday, all 13 of the league schools voted to accept it.

In conjunction, a motion was made and a vote was taken on Belpre switching divisions to the Hocking.

Belpre, a charter member of the TVC since the conference's formation in 1969, is the smallest of the Ohio Division schools in terms of enrollment.

Whenever discussion arose of an Ohio Division school dropping down to the Hocking, Belpre was the first one mentioned.

Belpre was approved to join the Hocking Division by a vote of 10-2-1, with Trimble and Eastern casting the dissenting votes.

Wellston was the sole abstention.

Wellston High School athletic director Jeff Hendershott could not be reached by telephone on Wednesday for comment on the expansion and re-alignment.

The changes may not apply to the 2010 football season, depending on the schedule commitments which both Belpre and South Gallia already have.

The Golden Eagles are currently committed to playing the TVC-Ohio schools in 2010, but that could change.

Tuesday's expansion is the TVC's third since the league split into two divisions prior to the 1993-94 academic year.

That year, Eastern and Southern - with the dissolvement of the SVAC - joined the TVC as its 10th and 11th members.

The two divisions were named "Ohio" and "Hocking" with the two rivers that meander in and around the conference.

The Ohio Division consisted of five teams - Belpre, Meigs, Nelsonville-York, Vinton County and Wellston.

Alexander was a member of the Hocking Division, along with Eastern, Federal Hocking, Miller, Southern and Trimble.

When Waterford joined the league in 1997, Alexander moved over to the Ohio Division.

Athens, a charter member of the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League, just completed its first year in the TVC-Ohio.

When a Hocking team plays an Ohio team, the contest is considered non-league.

With the addition of South Gallia, the 14 members mark the most in the 40-year history of the conference.

Federal Hocking, Vinton County and Warren were the other charter members, and Nelsonville-York was admitted a year later.

With the admissions of Alexander (1973), Trimble (1978), Wellston (1982), Meigs (1983) and Miller (1983), the league reached double digits in the number of schools before Warren withdrew membership in 1986.

The Warriors have since maintained membership in the SEOAL, and were denied re-joining the TVC over a year-and-a-half ago.

Thanks to Tuesday's developments, speculation is already running rampant that Warren may make another attempt at joining the TVC.

[Orange and Brown]

Yea I read that in the Messenger. I thought it was a good article

[WitnessProtection]

Anyone know why Warren was denied membership when they last applied?

[NYBuckeye96]

I think this is interesting.......when Marietta ran this article, it deleted the last part of it, but the last part did appear in the Athens Messenger. Here is the rest of the article as it was ran in the Messenger....

As for Warren’s SEOAL archrival Marietta, it recently attended an expansion meeting of the East Central Ohio League. Marietta, along with Zanesville, was one of several schools which accepted an invitation to the meeting.

Zanesville, after just three years in the league, concluded its SEOAL membership with the conference track and field meet May 16.

Ironton is once again leaving the SEOAL after the upcoming academic year.

[WitnessProtection]

It doesn't appear that the Marietta Times covered the ECOL meeting, at least not in its online edition. Maybe that's why they chopped the reference to Marietta attending the meeting.

[WitnessProtection]

True.
I'm not sure those meetings are meant to be public (doubtful), but you know what they say about loose lips ....

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

As the author of the article, I simply sent the entire piece on to The Messenger, The Marietta Times, The Logan Daily News and The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

What they do with it after that is strictly up to them. The proverbial ball is in their court.

[WitnessProtection]

No doubt about that, Keyser_soze78.
I guess it's just interesting that news about Marietta going to the ECOL meeting shows up in at least two newspapers in SE Ohio except for the paper that actually covers Marietta.

[WHSwarrior]

I have a question for some of the people who have been around SEO athletics longer than myself:

What was Warren's approximate enrollment when they left the TVC in the mid 80s, and what was that number in comparison to the other TVC members (big, small, average)?

[tommygnosis]

South Gallia will never make the playoffs again now that they are in the TVC. belpre and trimble and fed hock... oh my.

[Steely Dan]

tommyg - Guess what? South Gallia may end up being the antithesis of the last team to join the TVC Hocking, which is Waterford. Waterford left a very, very tough football league in the PVC, after being the proverbial doormat for 20+ years, to become a formidable opponent in the TVC, winning a couple of championships, and upsetting the applecart in Glouster.

South Gallia is headed down the exact opposite path, winning against very weak opponents, and will be completely steamrolled in the TVC Hocking, once they play a full schedule.

TVC Hocking teams like Trimble and Fed Hock have been willing to step up and play non-conference opponents over the last couple of years (Shadyside, Burnt Onion, Bedford Chanel, and now Monroe Central), while SG plays Symmes Valley, Southern, and Eastern, just as an example. Put SG against Slim Shady, Bedford, or MC, and it is totally butt ugly..........

Good luck to SG in all sports, you are going to need it in two years.......

[Orange and Brown]

Give them time and they will win some games.

[tommygnosis]

'some games' is the operative word

GO EAGLES!!!

[NYBuckeye96]

Here is a different article, as written in the Gallipolis Daily Tribune. It gives more of a perspective from the South Gallia side of things...

http://www.mydailytribune.com/pages/full_story?page_label=news_sports&id=2717934-South+Gallia+accepted+into+TVC+Hocking&article-South%20Gallia%20accepted%20into%20TVC%20Hocking%20=&widget=push&instance=lead_story_left_column&open=&

South Gallia accepted into TVC Hocking
by Bryan Walters

MERCERVILLE — When South Gallia High School opened its doors in the fall of 1996, it set out to become a reputable educational facility that would be respected amongst its peers in southeastern Ohio.

After 13 years of hard work, growth and prosperity — both academically and athletically — the 13-team Tri-Valley Conference seems to agree that the Rebels and the Lady Rebels are ready to take their next big steps forward to being even more.

SGHS — an independent since its inception — was unanimously welcomed by a 13-0 vote to the Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division on Tuesday night, making the Red and Gold the 14th member of the 40-year-old league.

South Gallia will officially join the league in the fall of the 2010, which means that the Rebels will still have one season left to compete as an independent program. That last season without a league will also be during the first school year at the new high school — which is expected to open this upcoming fall.

After years of unsuccessfully trying to get into the Southern Ohio Conference, athletic director Jack James says that South Gallia was more than happy to accept the Tri-Valley Conference’s open invitation.

“We’ve looked at several options over the years as far as joining a league. We decided that it was time for us at South Gallia to join a league for scheduling purposes, and to give our kids a chance to compete for league championships and all-league honors,” James commented. “When we first opened, we weren’t very competitive. But over the years as the programs have grown, we’ve become more competitive in both genders and we have accomplished some really nice things over that time.

“The process of moving into a new building also probably helped our cause. It’s going to be a benefit to our community, our athletes and our school.”

The Rebels’ addition, however, was not the only change made to the TVC on Tuesday. Belpre, a charter member of the league since its inception in 1969, dropped down from the ‘bigger school’ TVC Ohio Division to become a member of the ‘smaller school’ TVC Hocking. That change will also occur in the fall of 2010.

Belpre — the smallest of the TVC Ohio schools — received a 10-2-1 vote in favor of becoming a member of the Hocking division, with Trimble and Eastern casting the dissenting votes. Wellston was the sole abstention from the Belpre vote.

As a result of the expansion and re-alignment, the schools in two divisions — with their Ohio High School Athletic Association enrollment figures as reported to the state Department of Education in October 2008 in parentheses — will include as follows:

Ohio Division — Athens (363), Vinton County (296), Meigs (223), Alexander (206), Wellston (181), Nelsonville-York (161).

Hocking Division — Belpre (140), Federal Hocking (138), Trimble (112), South Gallia (100), Miller (97), Eastern (95), Southern (91), Waterford (90).

The changes may not apply to the 2010 football season, depending on the schedule commitments which both Belpre and South Gallia already have. Football games are scheduled years in advance.

The Golden Eagles are currently committed to playing the TVC Ohio schools in 2010, but that could change.

Some technicalities will have to be worked out over the next year to make this transition a smooth one for the TVC, and the same could be said for South Gallia in that span. James noted that things will likely get worked out with the scheduling conflicts, but preparing South Gallia for the future will probably be a tougher chore.

“The TVC is known for a being a league that sticks together, they have good working relationships with one another. And the competition is usually pretty tough year-in and year-out,” James said. “With Belpre dropping down to the Hocking division, it’s going to be a very competitive and viable small-school conference for the future. There will be nothing easy about this new league, but competition drives you. We’ll have to learn to step up to that challenge.”

[Orange and Brown]

Nice article. I really think that this will help them become competitive in there athletic programs.

[buckfan84]

I think that last paragraph speaks volumes about the TVC!!!!