All-American Conference is off after TAC principals shelve plan

The vote came a week after the superintendents of 16 schools decided to unite.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
A week after it was created, the All-American Conference appears to be on life support.
Principals at the eight Trumbull Athletic Conference schools voted unanimously on Tuesday not to merge with the Metro Athletic Conference, a week after the superintendents at those 16 schools decided to form a three-tier, 16-team conference.
"I think it's an unfortunate thing the way it's developed," said TAC commissioner Mel Staats. "I think this could have been settled a long time ago."
The TAC seems to be leaning toward adding as many as four schools, a proposal the league rejected a month ago. The conference invited Salem, Struthers, Campbell and Niles to apply for membership in November, then voted not to expand in December.
Invitations to re-apply
Staats sent letters to those four schools again on Wednesday, inviting them to apply again for inclusion in the conference.
"They may not be interested now," said Staats, who said the league asked the four schools to reply by Jan. 26. "If they're interested, then our league will expand in that direction into a two-tiered league."
If the schools aren't interested -- and Salem reportedly has cooled to the idea -- then the TAC will either invite other schools to join (possibly as far north as Ashtabula), or the league's four smaller schools could decide to form their own conference.
"Frankly, I don't know what's going to happen next," said Staats. "I'm disappointed in the way things happened."
Superintendents have options
Principals have voting power in the TAC, although the superintendents could still choose to override Tuesday's vote.
"That could happen," Staats said. "If that happens, there's something in the works right now. Some schools could say that they're going to withdraw regardless."
MAC commissioner Clem Zumpella said he was surprised by the vote.
"There's not much I can say, except that I don't understand the procedure of this thing," said Zumpella. "I don't understand how the superintendents can pass a motion to merge, then have the principals vote to do something different. That hasn't been explained to me."
The superintendents were scheduled to meet again on Jan. 29.