Football is the vehicle that drives high school conference membership.
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One thing off the top. Football is the vehicle that drives high school conference membership. It’s a plain and simple fact.
It seems that the Grand River Conference isn’t the only area league with schools taking a serious look at membership. Add the Missouri River Valley Conference (MRVC) to that list.
Citing the growing disparity in school enrollments, Carrollton, Lexington and Higginsville want to change the way schools compete in sports in the 9-member conference, which also includes Richmond, Boonville, Odessa, Oak Grove, Knob Noster and Pleasant Hill. The league will also add Grain Valley to its ranks next year. Issues facing those schools were detailed in articles that appeared last week in the Carrollton Democrat and Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune.
The essence of the issue is the disparity in school sizes. Carrollton has a high school enrollment of around 280 students. Odessa, the largest MRVC member, has over 700 students. Lexington (320) and Higginville (340), the next smallest schools in the conference, are well behind Richmond and Knob Noster, both at 480. Oak Grove and Pleasant Hill both have over 560 high school students. Boonville has around 490 students but finds itself in a promising growth area along the I-70 corridor.
More than once, Carrollton, Lexington and Higginsville have petitioned for two divisions inside MRVC Conference, based on school size. They have said that they will not compete in MRVC football next season in a one-division arrangement. The other schools have said that the three smaller schools would be shown the door if they follow through with that plan.
Last spring, KCI Conference schools were asked to consider the formation of a new, two-team “super conference” for all sports that would have included Carrollton, Lexington, Higginsville, Lathrop, Lawson, Mid-Buchanan, North Platte, East Buchanan, Plattsburg, West Platte and Trenton. An east division would have included Carrollton, Lexington, Lawson, Higginsville and Trenton. The other six would have formed a west division. Reasons given for the death of the proposal were travel distance and the fact that east and west division teams would not be required to play each other.
Rumor is the NCMC is also breaking up after this school year because of a disparity in school enrollments. Columbia Rock Bridge, with over 1,800 students, is nearly twice the size of next- largest Hannibal (1,098) and nearly 3 times larger than the NCMC’s smallest school, Moberly (682).
GRC schools are more concerned about travel distance than school enrollments. Hamilton, Gallatin and Princeton don’t like driving to Rock Port and Tarkio for football games. Just as distasteful to them is the fact that Worth County, King City and Stanberry are still voting members of the conference and aren’t playing 11-man football. Now Polo and Braymer want in the GRC because the Central River Conference just isn’t what it used to be. If that happens, it’s a near certainty Rock Port and Tarkio would be asked to leave because Class 2 Hamilton and South Harrison must have room for district games at the end of the season. The only alternative with a 10-team football conference would be to have two divisions, but I don’t know how, or if you even could award a conference championship.
I’m not even going to talk about kicking South Harrison out of the league because of its size and current football domination. Anybody who thinks that should happen has conveniently forgotten South Harrison’s previous football torment.
At this writing, only Princeton High School has stated a position on adding Polo and Braymer to the GRC, having voted at the last R-5 board meeting to let them in. Princeton and Hamilton were the only dissenting votes back in the early 90s against Rock Port and Tarkio coming in as GRC football members.
How stable is 8-man system?
Friday’s story in the News-Press called into question whether or not there will be enough schools to continue having an 8-man state championship. Fairfax recently dropped its program due to a lack of participation. According to the story, Craig, Union Star and Southwest of Ludlow are all dangerously close to having insufficient numbers in order to continue playing 8-man.
The Missouri State High School Activities Association has said there must be at least 16 schools playing 8-man football in order for it to sanction a state playoff. Currently there are only 17 schools in 8-man, nearly all in Northwest Missouri. Hardin-Central has played 8-man games against the 11-man schools on its schedule but has not officially joined the 8-man ranks for the playoffs. If the Bulldogs declare for 8-man, that would strengthen the case for a playoff system, but Hardin-Central school officials would have to be willing to accept long travel distances in order to fill out an 8-man schedule.
We are nearly at the end of the current two-year district cycle. The MSHSAA will soon reclassify and redistrict teams for the next two-year period. That’s important. It has been rumored that King City is seriously considering a return to 11-man football, and if the Wildcats do that, Worth County might likely follow. That decision might come soon if those two schools don’t want to get locked into 8-man for the next two years. Stanberry likely has no choice but to remain 8-man.
It wouldn’t surprise me if, right now, both King City and Worth County are considering their football options in order to input their thoughts at the November conference meeting…before a vote is taken on letting Polo and Braymer in the GRC.
If King City and Worth County come back to 11-man football, and I really think they might, Polo and Braymer will be turned down for membership…unless Rock Port and Tarkio are told to “take a hike”. If that happens, the Blue Jays and Indians would find themselves alone, without an 11- man conference membership, in a region dominated by 8-man programs.
I’ve heard verbal jabs “on the street” about simply kicking Worth County, King City and Stanberry out of the Grand River Conference. Won’t happen. CAN’T happen. Section 2 of Article III of the GRC Constitution clearly states that a school may be dismissed from the conference only by a 3/4 vote of the full (Albany, Gallatin Hamilton, South Harrison, Worth County, King City, Maysville, Princeton and Stanberry) membership. Seventy-five percent of nine equals 6.75. That means seven votes are needed to oust a school, and if the three 8-man schools stand together….