By: Nate Calvin
Rumors have been swirling around Northwest Ohio for quite some time regarding conference realignment. So far, the activity has been outside of Fulton and Williams County with the NLL announcing expansion and the TRAC schools voicing their interest in joining the NLL.
That changed this week when Swanton Superintendent Chris Lake presented to the board a plan to vacate the NWOAL.
Swanton Athletic Director Wade Haselman began looking at Swanton’s position in the NWOAL in October of 2020. “I wanted to see if the Swanton I remembered from my time in school matched what was happening now. The answer is NO. Swanton hasn’t been the school I remember in a long time,” said Haselman.
Haselman shared the data he put together with Lake and a few key stakeholders. The consensus among the group was for Swanton to leave the NWOAL and find a more competitive situation.
After making some phone calls, Lake found several area schools receptive to the idea of forming a new league.
The NWOAL was formed in 1926 by Bryan, Delta, Liberty Center, Montpelier, Napoleon, and Wauseon. Swanton did not join the league until 31 years later in 1957.
This is not the first time Swanton would have left the NWOAL as they left the league in 1969 and joined the Northern Border League.
According to the NWOAL website, “The NBL was formed by the smaller schools of the NWOAL as a way for them to compete for league titles.” Swanton rejoined the NWOAL in 1978.
The NBL was comprised of Delta and Swanton, who both left the NWOAL completely, along with Archbold, Liberty Center, Montpelier, Wauseon, and Evergreen who all were dual members of the NWOAL and NBL.
Evergreen joined the NBL exclusively in 1971 with Patrick Henry also being a NBL member and did not join the NWOAL until 1978.
When it comes to competing for league titles, Swanton has been historically near the bottom of the NWOAL while Archbold, Bryan, and Wauseon have been consistently the top three schools according to Lake.
During their two stints in the league, Swanton has won a total of 65 league championships compared to 180 by Bryan, Archbold with 171, and Wauseon has won 140.
Since 2000, Swanton has nine league titles to their credit with Archbold (93) topping the list followed by Wauseon (66), and Bryan (57).
“Swanton has won the fewest NWOAL Championships among all schools since 2000. What we have now is a tradition of not being competitive”, said Lake.
Lake then showed the Board Swanton’s cumulative records in the high profile sports of football, boys basketball, and girls basketball.
Going back to 2000, Swanton is 10-53 against the big three schools (Archbold, Bryan, Wauseon) in football with one league title in 2015.
In boy’s basketball, the Bulldogs have an overall record of 144-182 and are 44-73 in league play with a league championship in 2015.
The Swanton Lady Bulldogs basketball program has compiled an overall record of 163-159, 48-60 in the NWOAL since 2000. Swanton has won a single league title in 2007.
The other six NWOAL championships come from Girls CC (2003), Volleyball (2017, 2020), and Girls Soccer (2015, 2016, 2020).
Another concern for Lake and Haselman, in addition to the lack of competitiveness, is the declining enrollment.
“Over the last several years Swanton has seen declining enrollment. The Class of 2020 was 94 students”, continued Lake.
“This year our incoming Kindergarten class was 72 students. This trend is becoming more consistent as we graduate classes close to or just over 100 students and take in new classes under 100 students.”
“We currently have just over 1200 students in the district. When the larger schools in the league have from 480 to 550 more students, they have a competitive advantage throughout their sports programs.”
Lake informed board members that there have been discussions with Delta, Evergreen, Ottawa Hills, Northwood, Montpelier, and Edon (football only) about creating a new league.
“We already compete with these schools in many non-league contests”, stated Lake when explaining why these schools would be a good fit.
“We are all very competitive with each other and no school holds a decided advantage in any particular sport.” Our teams can take to the field, pitch, or court knowing they have a chance to compete and win.”
“When our teams have an opportunity to win this encourages more students to take part in athletics.” “Winning at the high school level helps draw in athletes at the younger levels and sustain their involvement.”
“Winning teams bring the community out to support the students and the school district.” “Winning brings pride for our athletes and our community”, concluded Lake.
Everything is still in the discussion phase, but the next steps will be when the time comes:
- The Board will be asked to approve a resolution to leave the NWOAL and join the newly created league; 2. After approval the school will notify the league of their intentions at which point the school will be obligated to complete a two-year withdrawal process; 3. Following those two years Swanton will begin competing in the new league.
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
