What's the OAC answer?

On Saturday, the Jay County High School girls swim team won its second consecutive Olympic Athletic Conference championship. It will also most likely be the school's last.

Anderson Community Schools' decision last month to consolidate from two high schools - Anderson and Highland - to one essentially marked the end of the OAC.

The decision has already been made that the current Anderson High School building (formerly Madison Heights) will house the single high school in the city and be called Anderson, while the current Highland building shifts to a middle school. And while the Anderson Community School board has yet to make an official decision on conference affiliation, it is a virtual certainty that Anderson High School will remain a member of the North Central Conference.

Thus, with the loss of Highland, the OAC's membership will dwindle to three - Jay County, Connersville and Muncie Southside. A four-team conference, the smallest in the state, created a barely-tenable situation, so a three-team group only makes matters worse.

In addition, it is more than likely that in the near future Muncie schools will go the way of Anderson.

Unless there are major changes in the current economic situation, Central and Southside will probably merge into one high school sooner rather than later.

So now the question is, what will Jay County and Connersville, and Muncie Southside, for now, do about their conference situation. The following are a few of the most obvious options.

An FW-area shake-up

What would have to happen: One of the four conferences with teams in the Fort Wayne area - the Allen County Athletic, Northeast Corner, Northeast Hoosier and Summit conferences - splinters.

Why it could happen: Leo is by far the largest school in the ACAC while more than 1,200 students separate the enrollments of the largest school in the Northeast Hoosier (Homestead) and the smallest (Norwell and Bellmont). There is also some strife between the public and private schools in the Summit.

Why it won't happen: Even if there is a split among these conferences to the north, there is little reason for them to consider bringing in Jay County. While the Patriots fit in terms of enrollment, those schools could just as easily create an eight-team grouping without having to travel any further south than Decatur.

Opening in the HHC

What would have to happen: At least one team would need to leave the Hoosier Heritage Conference. Shelbyville or Rushville, or both, could depart to join the currently six-team Eastern Indiana. Or Shelbyville, New Palestine or Greenfield-Central could join the seven-team Mid-State.

Why it could happen: Both options for moves makes as much, if not more, sense geographically for the schools involved as being in the HHC. Also, Greenfield-Central is a growing school - now at 1,341 students - and might want to join up with more Indianapolis-area schools rather than the Hoosier Heritage's Muncie-area teams.

Why it won't happen: The Hoosier Heritage Conference, by all accounts, is happy the way it is. Also, Jay County is a 30-minute drive further northeast than the next closest school in the group (Delta).

A 10-team NCC

What would have to happen: Muncie Southside and Muncie Central merge into one high school next year or the following. Jay County and Connersville are invited to join the North Central Conference, bringing its roster to 10 teams.

Why it could happen: Jay County and Connersville fit the North Central Conference profile as schools with between 1,000 and 2,000 students. Both schools are relative fits geographically and already compete against many of the NCC schools in non-conference events. Also, the last addition to the North Central Conference was former OAC member Huntington North.

Why it won't happen: The North Central Conference has no reason to expand. An eight-team group is generally regarded as the ideal conference size.

The Patriots' best chance is that the North Central conference ignores the fact that it has nothing to gain from adding to more schools and invites Jay County and Connersville to join from the goodness of its collective hearts. It would be an opportunity for those eight - Muncie Central, Anderson, New Castle, Richmond, Huntington North, Marion, Kokomo and Logansport - to help out two schools that most of them play in many sports throughout the year.

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Even if one of the above situations does pan out, it almost certainly would not take place until after the 2010-11 school year. That means, at least for a time, Jay County could become one of the more than 40 independents in the state.

Being an independent has its plusses and minuses. The biggest plus is freedom to schedule whoever you want, whenever you want. It gives a great deal of flexibility.

At the same time, it makes scheduling of football games extremely difficult. The first two weeks of the season are no problem. But in weeks three through nine most schools are locked into conference games, leaving very few potential opponents for the independent schools to pick up.

Jay County has already seen this problem in the four-team conference setting, making trips to places like Mishawaka Marian, Culver Academy and Indianapolis Cathedral. Being an independent for football would more than likely increase travel as well as force JCHS to look at playing more out-of-state opponents.

The reality of Jay County's situation is there is no easy fix. OAC superintendents, principals and athletics directors have been trying to find a solution to the problem since Hamilton Southeastern, Lafayette Harrison, Noblesville, McCutcheon and Brownsburg left to join the Hoosier Crossroads Conference in 1999.

Administrators at JCHS and Connersville alike have to hope that at some point a game of musical conferences will begin, whether it starts with the Anderson consolidation, the expected Muncie consolidation, a shake-up in the Fort Wayne area or some other unforeseen shift. If such a situation ever comes along, they will do everything they can to make sure they find a new home before the game ends.[[In-content Ad]]