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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 23, 2005 Area schools brace for inevitable change Controversial proposal for reclassification will greatly affect teams in southern Oregon By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune ‘Tis the day before the governing body of Oregon high school athletics unwraps a controversial realignment plan, and there is stirring all through the house. Lots and lots of stirring. The Medford School District sent a letter to the Oregon School Activities Association executive board condemning the proposal that will shatter the Southern Oregon Conference. Other school boards have also expressed disapproval for their own reasons. Rogue River principal Dave Orr, a member of the OSAA delegate assembly that will vote on the plan, vows to oppose it. He submitted a viable alternative, he says, that didn’t get much of a look. Advertisement South Medford athletic director Dennis Murphy drew up an option, too. So did many others. And newspapers across the state have cited extreme examples of increased travel and cost. Athletes would miss more school time and parents would miss their kids’ games. Stories have chronicled the dangers of winter bus journeys, the destruction of rivalries, the shoving of schools into leagues against their will. Lots of stirring, yes, but to little avail. The OSAA executive board meets at 9 a.m. Monday at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville. It will receive the classification and districting committee’s final recommendation that the state jump from four high school classes to six. After hearing public testimony, the board will either adopt the recommendation, tweak it or reject it. All indications are the final recommendation will be approved and sent to the delegate assembly that afternoon for a vote. Trayce Geddes, a Rogue River school board member, is on the classification and districting committee. "I don’t know if (OSAA executive director) Tom Welter has champagne on ice yet," she says, "but quite frankly, we’re optimistic (the recommendation) will be adopted." That would put the four largest SOC schools — North and South Medford, Grants Pass and Roseburg — in a 6A league with two Eugene schools, Sheldon and South Eugene. It would drop the other four SOC schools — Crater, Eagle Point, Ashland and Klamath Union — into a Class 5A district with Mazama. Most smaller classifications would not be significantly altered. There was speculation a move by smaller Eugene-area 4A schools to "play up" to keep the Midwestern League largely intact would relegate the four SOC teams to their own league. But that appears unlikely because a four-team league would be too small. Regardless of opposition to the plan, many are resigned to the notion that radical change is coming. The SOC won’t appear en masse at Monday’s meeting. Grants Pass athletic director Tom Blanchard is expected to present the conference’s views, which are divided: The largest schools don’t want change; the smallest do, although there are divisions within their own institutions. North Medford athletic director Tim Sam recently received a phone call from his Marshfield counterpart, Greg Mulkey, who said, "Welcome to the Midwestern League." Marshfield was in the league. Now it’s being moved out. Murphy doesn’t expect an eleventh-hour miracle, either. "They’re not going to change anything," he says of the OSAA, adding, "When you make as drastic of changes as they’re making, someone’s going to win and someone’s going to lose, and I’ll tell you where the losers are. They’re in Southern Oregon." The committee sought to improve competitive balance without vanquishing long-standing rivalries or dramatically increasing travel. There was far more success achieving parity than there was meeting the latter two goals. And in some cases, the idea of competitive balance is skewed. That’s one of the points Phil Long, Medford School District superintendent, made in his letter to the OSAA on behalf of the school board. Over the past three years, two smaller SOC schools have competed on equal terms. Ashland has more conference titles (15) than anyone. South Medford and Roseburg have 12 each and North Medford 11. Then comes Crater, which will be moving down, 10. Big-school Grants Pass and Eagle Point are the only two with no championships in that period. "Success in our conference has not correlated with the size of our member schools," Long wrote. He outlined eight "serious issues" facing the district if the new league is formed. Among them: placing athletics over academics, travel costs, lost gate revenue, declining Medford enrollment as smaller communities grow around it and the increased stress on coaches who "need a life." "Please delay this decision for more input," he said in his final plea, "or vote NO to the proposed change." Geddes appreciates the variety of viewpoints and the emotional nature of the issues at hand. The OSAA received more than 300 pieces of correspondence, she says, regarding realignment. The OSAA tried to take the best ideas from the bunch, but Geddes knows there still are unhappy "parents, sports writers and opinion writers across the state." She maintains the committee, which she says looked hard at enrollment trends and statewide impact, came up with the best possible plan for "all of Oregon’s children and all of Oregon students." "It’s not something that will be scrapped in four years," she says. On some of the other issues, she says: Medford and Eugene schools already play each other in nonleague contests. The only difference under the new plan is they’d have to schedule each other. Further, the travel that big schools complain about could be insulting to smaller schools, who live with long trips and have them factored into their budgets. On rivalries, Geddes says, "It’s a shame so many schools want to play up for the sake of keeping a rivalry. There’s a myth that if you’re not in a conference, you won’t be allowed to play each other. Rivalries are very important to certain teams at certain schools in certain sports. What we’re doing wouldn’t impede that." If a better plan comes along in the next six months, she wants to know where it’s been. "We’ve spent a year on this," says Geddes. Ultimately, she says, the committee came up with what it thinks is a plan for the future that will stand up to the changes of time. "It would be a disappointment, and I would think the OSAA had failed the majority of its member schools, if nothing changes," says Geddes. "And I don’t think the OSAA would fail the majority of Oregon’s schools." Clearly, there are those who think otherwise. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail Area schools brace for inevitable change ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Online Casino Advertisement s