League charter officially approved

The 16 schools in the All
American Athletic League
will begin play in 2008.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

Five months ago, superintendents from the Metro Athletic Conference and the Trumbull Athletic Conference voted to merge into a three-tiered league: the All American Athletic League.

Earlier this week, those superintendents unanimously approved the league constitution, clearing the way for league play to begin in the fall of 2008.

“It’s now a done deal,” said league co-chairman Dr. Bob Zorn, superintendent of Poland Schools. “It wasn’t final until the actual constitution was adopted.”

The 16 schools will compete in the Red, White and Blue divisions based on enrollment. Red schools are Canfield, Howland, Poland, Niles (which was originally slated for the White division) and Beaver Local. White schools are Hubbard, Struthers, Lakeview, Salem and Liberty. Blue schools are Girard, Champion, Campbell, Newton Falls, LaBrae and Brookfield.

The merger was originally approved by the superintendents in early January but principals at the eight TAC schools unanimously voted it down a week later. The superintendents from the two leagues met again in late January and approved the merger.

Major issue

The big issue dealt with parity. School administrators wanted to make sure the smaller schools, which had struggled to compete consistently in their current leagues, had a chance to win league titles each year. Football, of course, was the biggest concern, since that sport brings in the most money and fan interest.

“We’ve had ups and downs,” said Zorn. “We had to work through the process and make sure everyone was on the same page. The ADs [athletic directors] deserve a lot of credit. They came back to us with ideas and we welcomed and appreciated their input.”

The schedules for football, soccer, baseball and softball have been finalized beginning in the fall of 2008. Basketball schedules are being finalized and all other sport schedules will be completed in the fall of 2007.

Zorn said 12 schools — some as far away as Ashtabula County — expressed interest in joining the league, but the superintendents agreed not to discuss expansion for at least two years.

“We wanted to get a couple years under our belt,” said Zorn. “We haven’t even played our first game yet, so it’s a little premature to talk about expansion.”

scalzo@vindy.com