TVC Hocking adds South Gallia, Belpre moving down

[boogerred]

It does say a lotabout both the TVC and the AD recognizing that. James knows how things are; he is a very intelligent man.

[Orange and Brown]

Well it goes to show that other schools want what our schools have in the TVC.

[boogerred]

That too. The TVC is a great conference inthis part of the state.

[NYBuckeye96]

Here is an article that was in today's Parkersburg News and Sentinel. It is written from a Belpre perspective...........

http://newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/518527.html?nav=5063

Belpre drops down to TVC Hocking division

By STEVE HEMMELGARN, [email protected]

June 20, 2009

BELPRE - It was a move that had been rumored and discussed for a few years now.

In the end, with a dwindling student enrollment, it was almost inevitable that Belpre High School would drop down from the Tri-Valley Conference's Ohio Division into the league's smaller-school Hocking Division.

That switch occurred last week at the regular monthly meeting of the TVC's athletic directors and principals in Athens that in addition saw South Gallia admitted to the league, also in the Hocking Division, which now numbers eight members to the Ohio Division's six.

''I think over the last five to seven years, we've asked the TVC to move us down into the Hocking and they have declined to do that for a number of different reasons,'' said Belpre athletic director Ken Cox.

''What really drove the wagon to make the change,'' said Cox, was football scheduling.

Previously, there were seven Ohio Division schools and only six Hocking Division schools.

''So when South Gallia was unanimously accepted into the league, obviously they went into the Hocking,'' said Cox. ''And since that would leave both divisions with seven teams for football, then the question arose of would we move down to make an even eight in the Hocking and six in the Ohio.'' The TVC brass OK'ed the Belpre move by the 10 votes, with two Nos and one abstention.

The move into the Hocking, Cox admits, ''is a mixed blessing.

''But we've talked with our coaches about this, and the general consensus was this is a good move for our kids.''

Plus, he noted, ''the enrollment numbers really dictate that we belong in the other division.''

Belpre, with 140 students as of October 2008, will technically go from being the smallest Ohio Division school to the biggest school in the Hocking, but that's only right now and maybe not by the 2010-11 school year when last week's changes go into effect.

''As it is, Federal Hocking (138) and Trimble (112) will be as big as we are and may be even bigger in a year or two.''

As it was in the Ohio, Belpre had been trying to compete on even terms with schools like Vinton County (296) and Meigs (223) as well as newcomer Athens (363), which joined the TVC this past school year, and also Alexander (206) Wellston (181) and Nelsonville-York (161).

Conversely in the Hocking, along with Federal Hocking and Trimble, are now South Gallia (100), Miller (97), Eastern (95), Southern (91) and Waterford (90).

So from bottom to top, said Cox, ''that's only a difference of 90 to 140 in the Hocking, but 140 to 363 had we stayed in the Ohio.''

But Cox stressed, ''it's a real tribute and a credit to our kids and our coaches that we have remained competitive in the TVC as the school district has shrunk. We're not very big anymore and we're getting smaller. And the trend's going to be continuing as we look at our enrollment down through kindergarten.''

''Sure,'' Cox admits, ''we're going to lose some long-standing rivalries that have been in existence since the TVC was created'' 40 years ago in 1969 with Belpre as one of its charter members. The TVC split into its current two divisions for the 1993-94 school year.

''We'll try to keep as many of those (rivalries) as we can,'' said Cox. ''But we still want to play Warren, so some of these rivalries will go away.

''In the league, the Ohio Division has grown bigger - and will continue to do so - while we're getting smaller and smaller all the time. So in the big picture, we really feel the Hocking Division is where we belong, that it's just a better place for us in the long term.''

Plus, several of the Hocking Division schools are closer, like Federal, Eastern and Waterford. ''So maybe that will help our gate as well,'' said Cox. ''Frankly, our gate for football and basketball when we host league teams from further away hasn't been real good. So maybe that'll help financially too.''

To fill out the football schedule, at least at this point, Cox would like to keep Nelsonville-York if possible as well as Fort Frye, ''another natural rivalry,'' along with Warren to complete a 10-game regular-season card.

[NYBuckeye96]

''As it is, Federal Hocking (138) and Trimble (112) will be as big as we are and may be even bigger in a year or two.''

All three of those districts are shrinking. In a few years, I think all 8 TVC Hocking schools will be nearly equal in size. I can't think of another division of a league or league in general where eight schools will be so similar in size, especially in a couple more years as Belpre, Federal Hocking, and Trimble continue to shrink in size enrollment wise. We're talking all 8 schools basically being in the 90-110 student range in a few more years.

[NYBuckeye96]

TVC OHIO










TVC HOCKING

[buckfan84]

GREAT HELMETS!!! Thanks

[mister b]

GREAT HELMETS!!! Thanks

I agree!

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

NYBuckeye96.....Do you have a website link to those helmets?

ohiohelmetproject.com doesn't have the newest Athens, Alexander, Meigs or VC helmets. I use them for football previews of any sort basically.

I can tell the ones you posted are not from ohiohelmetproject because of the face masks and shields.

Any help you could provide is appreciated. Thanks.

[NYBuckeye96]

I found them at: http://www.mghelmets.com

They do not have every team yet. There are a couple of the Hocking schools I could not find on there - Miller, Trimble, and for some reason, the Waterford helmet is backwards from all the rest on that site.

[warrnwarriorfan]

Holy cow!! The guy that draws the helmets says it's a "borderline obsession." I'd say it's a full blown obsession. But it's neat!

He has to spend a lot of time on that site. WOW!