Lake, Bay could break from Sandusky Bay Conference

The Sandusky Bay Conference's Lake and Bay divisions are exploring the possibility of creating a new league and breaking away from the current SBC setup. The schools considering moving on are the football members in the conference's two largest divisions. That would be Clyde, Columbian, Norwalk, Perkins and Sandusky from the Lake Division and Bellevue, Edison, Huron, Port Clinton and Vermilion from the Bay. That move follows a unanimous vote in December by the River Division to accept Margaretta and Willard as full-time members. Margaretta and Willard currently play in the Bay Division for some sports, including basketball — but are in the small-school River Division for football. That vote came after the Lake and Bay members last summer urged Margaretta and Willard to move up from the River to the Bay in football, a source said. Margaretta and Willard moving full-time to the River would make that division a 13-team league. That would include the current 10 members, Margaretta and Willard and Northwood, which is scheduled to join the SBC this coming fall. The SBC's executive council (principals) and athletic directors met Wednesday at Terra State Community College in Fremont to discuss the state of the conference. Conference athletic directors meet on the first Wednesday each month and principals meet every other month. The SBC issued a statement after the meeting outlining its stance on potential expansion and realignment. "The Sandusky Bay Conference has been actively looking for ways to increase the number of schools in each division to provide long-term stability and uniformity for all sports," the release said. "Our discussions have included making changes within the three divisions of the SBC and adding schools not currently in the SBC." The timeline on decisions that will affect the future of the SBC is unclear, but there are no SBC schedules beyond the 2025-26 school year. Administrators contacted Wednesday afternoon did not comment. The SBC talked to Findlay Liberty-Benton and Elyria Catholic in the past year, but decided to pass on pursuing those schools. Fremont Ross has been another school mentioned but has not been seriously considered due to its large enrollment. Firelands and Keystone, members of the Lorain County League, also have been mentioned as potential SBC additions. The SBC's press release went on to state: "The football members of the Bay and Lake divisions are exploring the possibility of creating a new league separate from the SBC for all sports. "Collectively and individually, each school continues to look at options that will help us all reach our goals. We strive to provide our student-athletes with strong competition in all areas of athletics through balanced, consistent and equitable divisions." The league went to a three-division format prior to the 2017-18 school year as Bellevue, Norwalk, Sandusky, Shelby, Tiffin Columbian and Willard left the defunct Northern Ohio League. The SBC has 22 basketball members and 17 that field football teams. Three of the River Division's basketball members — St. Mary Central Catholic, Danbury and Fremont St. Joseph — play eight-man football. Old Fort and New Riegel do not play football in any division. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 5.