Final year for OVAC four-class set up Jeff Harrison Special to The Enterprise From its humble beginnings of eight schools back in 1943, the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference has grown into something pretty special. The bi-state OVAC - the largest functional high school conference in the nation -- offers quite a lot to its member schools and student-athletes including tournaments, all-star games, banquets, scholarships and much, much more. Set to begin its 68th year, the conference has reached its goal of 50 schools with the addition of West Virginia-side big schools Morgantown and University High and the return of Hundred High. That means this will be the final year for the OVAC's four-class system, with a five-class setup planned beginning with the 2011-2012 school year. The total student enrollment within the OVAC for the coming year is an eye-popping 19,998. The six biggest schools in the conference are all in West Virginia -- Wheeling Park, Parkersburg South, Morgantown, University, John Marshall and Brooke as are the three smallest -- Paden City, Hundred and Trinity Christian. For this year only, there will be an uneven number of schools in each class -- 12 in 1-A, 13 in 2-A, 11 in 3-A and 14 in 4-A. All five classes will have 10 teams starting next year. Locally, Meadowbrook will join Guernsey County rival Cambridge in the 4-A ranks for the 2010-11 school year; Buckeye Trail is in 3-A; and Caldwell, Barnesville and Shenandoah are in 2-A. For those of you unaware, the "original eight" of the OVAC were Bellaire, Linsly, Martins Ferry, Union, Weir Wellsburg, Wheeling and Yorkville. OVAC NOTEBOOK The "guiding lights". The conference will once again be under the watchful eye of Tom Rataiczak, who has served as executive secretary since 1999, with Dan Doyle, superintendent of the Noble Local Schools, in his second year as OVAC President... Tournament eligible. Beginning in the spring of 2011, conference schools will only be required to play six conference games in sports with playoffs before the established cutoff dates to be eligible to compete. These sports include baseball and softball in the spring and beginning next year, it will also apply to volleyball and boys/girls basketball - the sports where there are four teams in each division making the playoffs. All of these sports will now have a uniform point system, with first level points (60 for 4-A, 50 for 3-A, etc.) awarded for victories regardless of whether its a conference or non-conference game; and second level points (two points per win) given for victories against OVAC foes... Strike up the band. The OVAC is looking for former members of the OVAC McDonald's All-Star Band - estimated to be in the neighborhood of 6,000 individuals. There have been 29 units perform at the Rudy Mumley OVAC All-Star Football Charity Classic since 1982 and anyone who participated is asked to e-mail Rataiczak (tom@ovac.org) with the following information: name, mailing address, e-mail address, year(s) performed and instrument played... More music. An OVAC Band Showcase is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 23 at Wheeling Island Stadium, with proceeds going toward expenses for OVAC McDonald's All-Star Band. There are 11 bands scheduled to compete (none of the local six) including Bellaire, Bridgeport, Buckeye Local, Harrison Central, Indian Creek, Paden City, Parkersburg South, Shadyside, Steubenville Catholic, Valley and Wheeling Park. Each school will have 15 minutes to perform a selected half-time show. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students. Website upgrade. The conference's Web site (www.ovac.org) has been upgraded significantly thanks to the efforts of Terry Rataiczak of Kinetic Networking in Caldwell. The more user-friendly site - which features a plethora of information including standings, past champions, Hall of Fame biographies and much, much more - will have its new look beginning Aug. 17... Museum growing. The OVAC Museum at WesBanco Arena continues to be a must-see for area sports fanatics. Several mannequins now on display sporting uniforms of conference luminaries and there's a photo display of past OVAC "Coach of the Year" selections. They've also incorporated plaques of the Upper Ohio Valley Dapper Dan "Man of the Year" honorees housed previously at Steubenville's St. John Arena into the ever-expanding display... Entering the "Hall". The seventh annual OVAC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place Saturday, Aug. 21 at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling. A total of 17 individuals will be inducted into the "Hall" in various categories and five will be honored as "Legends of OVAC Schools". There's still time to order tickets ($25 each) by calling Rataiczak at 740-671-3269... (Jeff Harrison is sports editor of The Daily Jeffersonian. He can be reached via e-mail at jharrison@daily-jeff.com)
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