OVC & SOC Merge Talk

[Izladoom]

Yeah, Oak Hill should be pounding the table to get back to SOC I. There not much help on way from junior high and their kids’ safety going to be an issue against teams like Burg and West. If SOC won’t cooperate, threaten to leave for the TVC until you get what you want.*

I agree they should definitely move to soc 1 and northwest should stay in soc 1 the divisions should not be based on attendance but competitiveness

[mustard]

What if they made the conference every two years based on football roster?

[greygoose]

I agree. Not will never happen but would be perfect

Burg
West
Portsmouth
Ironton
Minford
Waverly
Gallia
Fairland

Valley
Oak Hill
Northwest
Rock Hill
Coal Grove
South Point
Peake
Piketon

Symmes Valley
Eastern
East
South Gallia
Green
Norte Dame

Just too many teams in division 1 and 2. I would leave Ironton out of division 1 and drop RH to SOC1. This gives each division 7 teams, 6 conference games which is perfect. Think you would have a lot of balance within each division. Not like it’ll happen but the overall competitive nature of the area would be greatly increased.

[RiverBallFan1]

I agree. Not will never happen but would be perfect

Burg
West
Portsmouth
Ironton
Minford
Waverly
Gallia
Fairland

Valley
Oak Hill
Northwest
Rock Hill
Coal Grove
South Point
Peake
Piketon

Symmes Valley
Eastern
East
South Gallia
Green
Norte Dame

Would absolutely live this scenario, it agree it will never happen!

[Proud_Pirate63]

It would be cool to do this. Like I’ve seen posted before, call it the SOVC.

[SOCobserver]

Why does it have to be 3 divisions of SOC? Just make 3 new conferences. Gallia and South Gallia are their but not River Valley.

[Tartanblue]

Yeah, Oak Hill should be pounding the table to get back to SOC I. There not much help on way from junior high and their kids’ safety going to be an issue against teams like Burg and West. If SOC won’t cooperate, threaten to leave for the TVC until you get what you want.*

I agree they should definitely move to soc 1 and northwest should stay in soc 1 the divisions should not be based on attendance but competitiveness

Hence why Northwest moved down to the SOC I because they wasn't competitive. From my understanding the movement was made upon the agreement that once Northwest was able to believe they were competitive again with the SOC II schools they would move back.

If you listen to the football supporters from out that way Northwest has it's best classes coming through and their junior high and peewee levels are exceptional, so now would be the time. The SOC is supposed to be split by way of school size. Right now the SOC has it's biggest and smallest school in the same division. I like the two division break down but like all things there may be time for a change. As it is right now ALL schools have to agree on a vote for entry into the league...meaning a non-football school has power over a school getting accepted even just for football. Example: New Boston or Clay could completely throw a wrench into a school like Portsmouth or Rock Hill joining the league. It could be time that either each division has say so over a team joining for one sport only or even going to three divisions. Because of next year the SOC will have these member schools:

Wheelersburg, West, Minford, Oak Hill, Eastern, Western, Waverly, Valley, East, Green, South Webster, Notre Dame, Symmes Valley, New Boston, Northwest,Clay, St. Joe, South Gallia.

If a move to three divisions would happen the SOC could poach 2 or 3 teams possibly 4 or from surrounding leagues like Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallia Academy,and Piketon

(Football)
SOC 3: Burg, Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallia Academy, West,
SOC 2: Minford, Valley, Northwest, Oak Hill, Piketon
SOC 1: East, Green, Eastern, Notre Dame, Symmes Valley, South Gallia

Then you can fill in the soccer schools like Webster( SOC 2), Western( SOC 1), St. Joe(SOC 1), Clay (SOC 1), New Boston( SOC 1) and move others around for other sports like Piketon could go to SOC 3 for baseball, Eastern to SOC 2 for basketball....ect...

[3sUp]

The way I understood it was that the teams in the SOC 1 forced Oak Hill out. So I doubt they’d let them back in.

[BigBlueNation]

Yeah, Oak Hill should be pounding the table to get back to SOC I. There not much help on way from junior high and their kids’ safety going to be an issue against teams like Burg and West. If SOC won’t cooperate, threaten to leave for the TVC until you get what you want.*

I agree they should definitely move to soc 1 and northwest should stay in soc 1 the divisions should not be based on attendance but competitiveness

Hence why Northwest moved down to the SOC I because they wasn't competitive. From my understanding the movement was made upon the agreement that once Northwest was able to believe they were competitive again with the SOC II schools they would move back.

If you listen to the football supporters from out that way Northwest has it's best classes coming through and their junior high and peewee levels are exceptional, so now would be the time. The SOC is supposed to be split by way of school size. Right now the SOC has it's biggest and smallest school in the same division. I like the two division break down but like all things there may be time for a change. As it is right now ALL schools have to agree on a vote for entry into the league...meaning a non-football school has power over a school getting accepted even just for football. Example: New Boston or Clay could completely throw a wrench into a school like Portsmouth or Rock Hill joining the league. It could be time that either each division has say so over a team joining for one sport only or even going to three divisions. Because of next year the SOC will have these member schools:

Wheelersburg, West, Minford, Oak Hill, Eastern, Western, Waverly, Valley, East, Green, South Webster, Notre Dame, Symmes Valley, New Boston, Northwest,Clay, St. Joe, South Gallia.

If a move to three divisions would happen the SOC could poach 2 or 3 teams possibly 4 or from surrounding leagues like Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallia Academy,and Piketon

(Football)
SOC 3: Burg, Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallia Academy, West,
SOC 2: Minford, Valley, Northwest, Oak Hill, Piketon
SOC 1: East, Green, Eastern, Notre Dame, Symmes Valley, South Gallia

Then you can fill in the soccer schools like Webster( SOC 2), Western( SOC 1), St. Joe(SOC 1), Clay (SOC 1), New Boston( SOC 1) and move others around for other sports like Piketon could go to SOC 3 for baseball, Eastern to SOC 2 for basketball....ect...

I always wondered why Piketon wasn't in the SOC.

[greygoose]

I agree they should definitely move to soc 1 and northwest should stay in soc 1 the divisions should not be based on attendance but competitiveness

Hence why Northwest moved down to the SOC I because they wasn't competitive. From my understanding the movement was made upon the agreement that once Northwest was able to believe they were competitive again with the SOC II schools they would move back.

If you listen to the football supporters from out that way Northwest has it's best classes coming through and their junior high and peewee levels are exceptional, so now would be the time. The SOC is supposed to be split by way of school size. Right now the SOC has it's biggest and smallest school in the same division. I like the two division break down but like all things there may be time for a change. As it is right now ALL schools have to agree on a vote for entry into the league...meaning a non-football school has power over a school getting accepted even just for football. Example: New Boston or Clay could completely throw a wrench into a school like Portsmouth or Rock Hill joining the league. It could be time that either each division has say so over a team joining for one sport only or even going to three divisions. Because of next year the SOC will have these member schools:

Wheelersburg, West, Minford, Oak Hill, Eastern, Western, Waverly, Valley, East, Green, South Webster, Notre Dame, Symmes Valley, New Boston, Northwest,Clay, St. Joe, South Gallia.

If a move to three divisions would happen the SOC could poach 2 or 3 teams possibly 4 or from surrounding leagues like Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallia Academy,and Piketon

(Football)
SOC 3: Burg, Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallia Academy, West,
SOC 2: Minford, Valley, Northwest, Oak Hill, Piketon
SOC 1: East, Green, Eastern, Notre Dame, Symmes Valley, South Gallia

Then you can fill in the soccer schools like Webster( SOC 2), Western( SOC 1), St. Joe(SOC 1), Clay (SOC 1), New Boston( SOC 1) and move others around for other sports like Piketon could go to SOC 3 for baseball, Eastern to SOC 2 for basketball....ect...

I always wondered why Piketon wasn't in the SOC.

Few reasons, Piketon likes being in the SVC where you have 7 games already filled and only need to find 3 teams makes scheduling much easier. Piketon also wants nothing to do with playing the likes of Waverly, Burg, and West in most years. Keep in mind Piketon dropped playing Waverly because the games got to the point where they weren't being competitive. I also agree Piketon should be the SOC but there would have to be a lot of divisional shifting for that to happen and still then could be a stretch.

[greygoose]

Yeah, Oak Hill should be pounding the table to get back to SOC I. There not much help on way from junior high and their kids’ safety going to be an issue against teams like Burg and West. If SOC won’t cooperate, threaten to leave for the TVC until you get what you want.*

I agree they should definitely move to soc 1 and northwest should stay in soc 1 the divisions should not be based on attendance but competitiveness

Hence why Northwest moved down to the SOC I because they wasn't competitive. From my understanding the movement was made upon the agreement that once Northwest was able to believe they were competitive again with the SOC II schools they would move back.

If you listen to the football supporters from out that way Northwest has it's best classes coming through and their junior high and peewee levels are exceptional, so now would be the time. The SOC is supposed to be split by way of school size. Right now the SOC has it's biggest and smallest school in the same division. I like the two division break down but like all things there may be time for a change. As it is right now ALL schools have to agree on a vote for entry into the league...meaning a non-football school has power over a school getting accepted even just for football. Example: New Boston or Clay could completely throw a wrench into a school like Portsmouth or Rock Hill joining the league. It could be time that either each division has say so over a team joining for one sport only or even going to three divisions. Because of next year the SOC will have these member schools:

Wheelersburg, West, Minford, Oak Hill, Eastern, Western, Waverly, Valley, East, Green, South Webster, Notre Dame, Symmes Valley, New Boston, Northwest,Clay, St. Joe, South Gallia.

If a move to three divisions would happen the SOC could poach 2 or 3 teams possibly 4 or from surrounding leagues like Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallia Academy,and Piketon

(Football)
SOC 3: Burg, Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallia Academy, West,
SOC 2: Minford, Valley, Northwest, Oak Hill, Piketon
SOC 1: East, Green, Eastern, Notre Dame, Symmes Valley, South Gallia

Then you can fill in the soccer schools like Webster( SOC 2), Western( SOC 1), St. Joe(SOC 1), Clay (SOC 1), New Boston( SOC 1) and move others around for other sports like Piketon could go to SOC 3 for baseball, Eastern to SOC 2 for basketball....ect...

You are correct that was the agreement with Northwest in terms of moving back to SOCII, once they got the program reestablished and competitive, they were to move back up it's why no timetable was put on it. I'm going to be honest I don't mind your football setup it could add some other teams, but I think with everything that is going on with Ironton they're going to have a tough time finding a league in this area if they left or forced out of OVC. So to that you left out Waverly so I'd leave Ironton out and Waverly in SOC 3. Need to find a team to add to the SOC 2/3 in order to get to 6 teams each. I've talked with a lot of coaches over the last couple years who don't believe everything that is going on in Ironton is on the up and up and I think we're seeing teams start to speak out or starting to cancel JV games. If things don't slow up there, I could easily see them being black balled by most teams in the area.

[bbjunky81]

Each league across SEO has their 'bottom teams' that really struggle to compete, but SOC 2 in particular seems to be the worst around. No way on earth should Wheelersburg be playing Oak Hill in football, similar to how Ironton shouldn't be playing Chesapeake.

Merging the conferences together to form a super conference has always been the most logical way to have a more competitive balance. NCAA has already begun with merging into super conferences and eventually that will trickle down to the high school level as well. Heck we have UCLA and USC joining the Big 10, who would have ever thought? Eventually you will see the schools around here adjusting conferences to fit their competitive needs.

[transplant]

I agree, I think it will be within the next 5 years.

[Sonny Weaver]

OVC and SOC blending into 1 conference with various divisions would be amazing. Valley, NW, Oak Hill have no business being in SOC1 or SOC2 with how its currently set up. But add them into a division with Rock Hill, CG and South Point, now we're talking.

Division 1 (6 teams)
Green
Notre Dame
East
Symmes Valley
Eastern
Chesapeake

Division 2 (7 teams)
Northwest
Oak Hill
Valley
Minford
South Point
Rock Hill
Coal Grove

Division 3 (7 teams)
Wheelersburg
West
Waverly
Portsmouth
Gallia Academy
Ironton
Fairland


Play 5 conference games a year, rotating opponents each year.
'tis a pipe dream though, it'll never happen. The gates that schools like Valley, Rock Hill, Coal Grove and Minford get by playing teams like Wheelersburg and Ironton are too much for them to every vote on something like this.

[transplant]

Would you add South Gallia to Division 1 since they are joining the SOC? I like the idea of rotating conference games.

[DcP3407]

OVC and SOC blending into 1 conference with various divisions would be amazing. Valley, NW, Oak Hill have no business being in SOC1 or SOC2 with how its currently set up. But add them into a division with Rock Hill, CG and South Point, now we're talking.

Division 1 (6 teams)
Green
Notre Dame
East
Symmes Valley
Eastern
Chesapeake

Division 2 (7 teams)
Northwest
Oak Hill
Valley
Minford
South Point
Rock Hill
Coal Grove

Division 3 (7 teams)
Wheelersburg
West
Waverly
Portsmouth
Gallia Academy
Ironton
Fairland


Play 5 conference games a year, rotating opponents each year.
'tis a pipe dream though, it'll never happen. The gates that schools like Valley, Rock Hill, Coal Grove and Minford get by playing teams like Wheelersburg and Ironton are too much for them to every vote on something like this.

That setup would be awesome! I even think a breakdown like this would be great for other sports as well. Unfortunately tho, shifts like this will never happen. There are too many "non-football" schools in the SOC with a vote that will always keep any kind of expansion or merging from taking place. Until there is a restructure on how voting takes place within the conference/organization, substantive change will not happen.

[Sonny Weaver]

Would you add South Gallia to Division 1 since they are joining the SOC? I like the idea of rotating conference games.

oh yea, forgot they were entering. for sure.

[Sonny Weaver]

OVC and SOC blending into 1 conference with various divisions would be amazing. Valley, NW, Oak Hill have no business being in SOC1 or SOC2 with how its currently set up. But add them into a division with Rock Hill, CG and South Point, now we're talking.

Division 1 (6 teams)
Green
Notre Dame
East
Symmes Valley
Eastern
Chesapeake

Division 2 (7 teams)
Northwest
Oak Hill
Valley
Minford
South Point
Rock Hill
Coal Grove

Division 3 (7 teams)
Wheelersburg
West
Waverly
Portsmouth
Gallia Academy
Ironton
Fairland


Play 5 conference games a year, rotating opponents each year.
'tis a pipe dream though, it'll never happen. The gates that schools like Valley, Rock Hill, Coal Grove and Minford get by playing teams like Wheelersburg and Ironton are too much for them to every vote on something like this.

That setup would be awesome! I even think a breakdown like this would be great for other sports as well. Unfortunately tho, shifts like this will never happen. There are too many "non-football" schools in the SOC with a vote that will always keep any kind of expansion or merging from taking place. Until there is a restructure on how voting takes place within the conference/organization, substantive change will not happen.

tell the non-football schools to cut the soccer programs and get a football program or find another (or their own) conference lol. Its ridiculous that Green, East and ND can field a football team but Clay and SW can't.

[baseball16]

This needs to happen before it's too late. I see some teams bolting in 2-3 years. AD's and Principals for all involved should be setting up a meeting!

Southern Ohio Valley Conference

Division A
Wheelersburg
Ironton
Waverly
Gallia Academy
Ports. West
Fairland
Portsmouth
Coal Grove

Division B

Oak Hill
Rock Hill
Valley
Minford
South Point
Chesapeake
South Webster
Northwest

Division C
Eastern Pike
Symmes Valley
Green
Port. Notre Dame
Western
South Gallia
Glenwood
Clay
Ironton St. Joe

[mattash]

looks sweet