Fallsnewspress.com - Suburban League goes with Nordonia over Falls

by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

The Suburban League confirmed its future lineup June 23 when it announced Nordonia accepted membership in the league.

That decision means the fate of Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson and Stow-Munroe Falls athletics remains up in the air.

According to Suburban League commissioner Keith Walker, the league extended an invitation to Nordonia to join June 11 after a meeting of the Suburban League principals. The league principals, who have the final say on all league movements, voted 7-0 to include Nordonia.

"[Nordoina athletic director] Rob Eckenrode and [superintendent] Wayne Blankenship were in favor it, but they had to wait until their school board approved it," Walker said. "Rob called me [June 22] and told me everything was good to go. They wanted to make sure that they talked to someone in the [Northeast Ohio Conference] before we announced it."

Eckenrode said he contacted NOC league commission Dan Jerome June 23 to submit notice of the district's intent to leave. Per NOC rules, Nordonia will remain with the conference for two more years.

Nordonia will take Barberton's place in the new league, as the Magics will leave at the end of the 2010-2011 school year.

Walker said Nordonia's move basically kills a proposal by Falls, Stow and Hudson to join the league and expand the SL to 10 teams.

He noted several league superintendents expressed a desire to remain an eight-team conference, though the league might have considered the three-team move had Nordonia not agreed to join.

"To be very honest, the proposal for 10 team initially wasn't viewed very favorably; but the more they thought about it, the more intriguing it became," Walker said, noting the league studied the 10-team Western Buckeye Conference to see if the format would work.

"The 10-team league was definitely a good second choice if we had to go that way," Walker added. "There was some concern from Revere and Tallmadge about bringing in three schools that are bigger than anyone currently in the league. It became a difficult choice."

Tallmadge athletic director Don Seeker the league felt keeping its current eight-team format was important.

"At Tallmadge, we wanted the entire league to vote for what was best from the entire league," Seeker said. "There was just a ton of stuff with the 10-team league that made us a little hesitant. The 10-team thing was just too big. I think the ADs, principals and superintendents all wanted to stay at eight teams."

Seeker said he was bit surprised no other teams offered to join the league alone, but noted he believes Nordonia's move is a good thing, especially for Tallmadge.

"Proximity-wise, it's closer for us," Seeker said. "I think they'll be a fine fit size-wise. It's just something new but we'll adjust to it. They play a lot of Suburban schools in a lot of sports.

Big three still
looking at options

Meanwhile, it's back to the drawing board for Stow, Falls and Hudson.

Falls superintendent Dr. Edwin Holland said the schools have a deadline of July 30 to let the NOC know if they will leave in 2011.

"We are exploring all of our options," Holland said. "We'll continue to explore new league options, as well as continue to work within the league.

"No matter what you do, you do have a two-year window," Holland added. "At this point, we're still in the NOC and will be for the next two years."

Stow-Munroe Falls athletic director Cyle Feldman, while he understood the league's desire to stay in an eight-team format, he was disappointed the SL did not offer member.

"People need to think outside the box," Feldman said. "It's easy to take the simplest solution and that's what they did. In reality, we belong in the Suburban League.

"The whole league process is very difficult," Feldman said. "You're never going to find a perfect situation. That said, I'm very disappointed the Suburban League didn't agree to take us. I hope they're happy with Nordonia. Time will tell."

Feldman said Stow will not become an independent under any circumstances. Both Feldman and Holland said any future move by Falls, Stow and Hudson would have to include all three schools moving together.

"Absolutely, we all stay or we all leave," Holland said. "We're very committed to staying together."

"We're going to continue to stay loyal to our neighbors Hudson and Cuyahoga Falls," Feldman said. "We'll probably get together with them sometime in the next couple of the weeks now that we know the Suburban League is not option. One of the things ... Keith Walker deemed a positive was the loyalty that we had to each other."

Feldman he plans to move forward with discussions to form a separate league with Falls and Hudson. He said he would invite Twinsburg and Barberton to join those discussions and continue to look for other schools to join such a movement.

Holland said he also is open to continuing these talks.

Hudson Athletic Director Ray Ebersole did not return calls seeking comment.

E-mail: mleonard@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113