Spartans, Fitch okay in Federal

The Steel Valley Conference expanded again this week and we all know what that means: The Boardman and Fitch rumors have started.
Basically, there are three schools of thought about what will happen.
1. Boardman and Fitch will come back soon.
2. Boardman and Fitch will come back eventually.
3. Boardman and Fitch will never come back.
(There's a fourth -- Boardman and Fitch will come back over my dead body -- but that comes mainly from bitter Internet junkies.)
Forget about the first one. Ain't happening. The second one is possible. The third one is probable.
Not looking to leave
One thing is clear: Almost a year after starting Federal League competition, neither school is looking to leave anytime soon.
"I'm very pleased with how things went [in the Federal League] the first year," said Fitch athletic director Dick Kenney. "I think it's great that they've been able to keep the SVC alive and, as I've said all along, we did not want to be the reason that it was no longer in existence.
"But at this point, we're very happy with the Federal League. We're not interested in looking elsewhere and we have not been contacted by [the SVC] about coming back."
Boardman athletic director Dave Smercansky agreed.
"It was probably one of the most impressive first years you could have in a league," he said. "The professionalism and, obviously, the competitiveness, was outstanding. It's very refreshing to be involved in a league that really emphasizes all the sports."
The schools' main reason for switching leagues, of course, was to find better competition in all sports. They did that -- probably at the expense of some individual and team honors.
Only one league title
The Falcons did not win a league title this season -- they probably should have won volleyball and baseball titles, Kenney said -- and the Spartans won just one: girls basketball. Boardman's girls basketball team then lost to league-rival North Canton Hoover in the district final. (Sorry to bring that up, by the way.)
But Boardman did finish second in a few sports and Fitch earned the league's Sportsmanship Award, which is given out by officials from several sports who work Federal League games.
The Falcons also tied Massillon Jackson for the most athletes (27) on the league's all-academic team, which is given to seniors who lettered this season and had a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 or better.
"We've been very competitive in some sports and in some sports we're not where we'd like to be," Kenney said. "But in my mind, one of the reasons we joined was so we'd be forced to improve in all of our programs. And we're doing exactly that."
Travel is tough
Things aren't perfect. The travel time stinks, the coaches and athletes have to make a bigger commitment -- "We even expect to lose a few coaches," Kenney said -- and the rivalries aren't the same. (Not yet, anyway.)
But the competition has helped the schools be more competitive in the postseason and both athletic directors are preaching patience.
What does the future hold? Who knows? The proposed super-conference involving the Metro Athletic Conference, the Inter-County League and (maybe) the Trumbull Athletic Conference doesn't interest either school and the Federal League isn't looking to expand.
"If there were a league with Poland and Canfield and a couple other local schools in a few years with similar size, we'd be crazy not to look at it," Smercansky said. "But right now, the Federal League is meeting our needs."
And, crazy as it sounds, the departure of Fitch and Boardman may have actually helped the SVC expand. Smaller schools like Warren JFK and Beaver Local may not have joined a league with three Division I schools.
The Federal League experiment is just that: an experiment. And if things aren't working in five years, Fitch and Boardman may look elsewhere.
But for now, they're going to be patient.
They hope you will be, too.
XJoe Scalzo is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.