Roger Bacon principal: ‘Local competition against teams our size is really what we’re looking for’

Roger Bacon High School’s changing athletic landscape is getting mostly positive reviews, according to principal Steve Schad.

Bacon and Purcell Marian have been accepted by the Miami Valley Conference as associate members in football starting in 2019-20, and they’ll remain in the Greater Catholic League Coed Division for all other sports.

“We’ve had minimal kickback. I’ve been very pleased with the amount of support we’ve had,” Schad said. “The GCL that existed 30 years ago doesn’t exist anymore. I think everybody has gotten on board and understands that the situation has changed.”

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Nothing will change for the 2018-19 school year. Bacon, Purcell, Badin and McNicholas will compete in the GCL Coed’s Central Division, while Alter, Fenwick, Carroll and Chaminade Julienne will play in the North Division.

Schad said it’s hard to predict what will happen down the road. Bacon and Purcell received approval from the GCL Coed to have dual league memberships in 2019-20 and 2020-21, and the two schools have a football agreement with the MVC for those two years.

“I’m hoping that the two years in the MVC are very, very fruitful and we kind of like the local competition,” Schad said. “After those two years, we have to re-evaluate, and the MVC will have to re-evaluate as well. So I don’t know what’s going to happen.

“Local competition against teams our size is really what we’re looking for. The MVC kind of fits the bill. I respect the MVC. They didn’t approach us. We approached them.”

Bacon and Purcell applied for full MVC memberships before the conference offered football-only status. Schad wasn’t really surprised the MVC declined to add them as full members at this point.

“That’s a big decision for a league,” Schad said. “They need to time to adjust and digest everything and get to know us. Being in the MVC for football will give them a chance to see our facilities and what Roger Bacon is all about, and we’ll get to see that about them as well. For me, it’s just a nice feeling-out period.”

GCL Coed commissioner Tom Donnelly has made it clear that the goal is to get the Bacon and Purcell football programs back in the GCL Coed, preferably sooner than later.

Donnelly said he views the MVC situation as an opportunity for Bacon and Purcell to strengthen themselves in football and then return to the GCL Coed ready to be more competitive.

That’s not really how Schad looks at it. Football competitiveness is a concern, but he said geography and the disparity in school sizes are more important issues.

“I think the challenge that we will have with the GCL is going to be the difference in the size of the schools,” Schad said. “I don’t know if that’s something that can be rectified in terms of football. We’re playing schools that are sometimes two and three divisions bigger than us. By the end of the year, we look like the walking wounded. Football is a numbers game, and we are in a position where moving to the MVC allows us to play some teams that are our size.

“When we applied to the MVC, we felt the GCL needed to recognize the fact that we are geographically separate. It places great difficulties on schools like Roger Bacon and Purcell to send students, especially on school days, up the road 60 or 70 miles when we do not have our own transportation.

“As I told my AD, I don’t want our kids leaving school early anymore to have to travel up to Dayton, nor do I want them to have to travel in rush-hour traffic and get back at 10, 11, 11:30 on a school night. That doesn’t make any sense to me from a safety standpoint or an academic standpoint.

“Let’s face it. On a Tuesday night, sending three girls volleyball teams up to Carroll is not quite as attractive as driving down the street and playing Summit.”

Schad said what pushed Bacon to apply for full MVC membership was the GCL Coed’s decision to become a one-division league starting in 2019-2020.

No final scheduling decisions have been made by the GCL Coed, but being one division will almost certainly lead to more home-and-away formats, meaning Bacon and Purcell will have more trips to Hamilton, Middletown and Dayton.

“When we initially went to the GCL, all we asked for was to modify the football schedule,” Schad said. “We wanted to play our division teams, and instead of playing all four Dayton teams, we would only play two. That would allow us to schedule two more games against teams our size.

“But there really wasn’t a willingness to do that. And then when they changed the divisional format, it changed the equation for us. It went from just a football equation to much broader. Transportation, which was difficult, just became worse. That’s why we applied to the MVC.”

Schad said the plan is to present some ideas to the GCL Coed athletic directors at their June meeting. How receptive the GCL Coed is to those ideas could very well determine Bacon’s athletic future.

“Playing on a Saturday or a Sunday for example … I just don’t understand putting kids on the road on a school night,” Schad said. “If we can get back to a divisional format where we can concentrate our games locally and understand the geographical distances that separate us, which is probably why we had the divisions in the first place, then we’re perfectly happy with where we were at.

“I don’t know what the GCL is going to do. If the GCL can respond to our concerns, we’re going to be very favorable because we never asked to leave in the first place. But if they can’t respond to that, if they can’t be flexible with solutions, then I think Roger Bacon will always be open to other alternatives with local competition.”

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