MORRAL — After multiple public forums and a heated session of public input, the Ridgedale Local Schools Board of Education voted 3-2 Monday evening on the district’s future in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

The board voted to leave the N10 and join the Northwest Central Conference. Board members Angie Burns, John Thompson and Pat Ballenger voted in favor of leaving the N10, while Eric Park and Andy Ricketts voted against the move.

The NWCC currently consists of Elgin, Hardin Northern, Lehman Catholic, Lima Perry, Ridgemont, Riverside, Lima Temple Christian, Upper Scioto Valley and Waynesfield-Goshen.

Lehman Catholic and Riverside are reportedly leaving the conference.

Members of the public who attended the meeting shared various viewpoints as the discussion became heated between comments made. Topics covered included travel and ability to be competitive.

Travel time to NWCC schools was a concern for attendees including Ridgedale parent Ryan Cook. Cook said his daughter, a junior high student at Ridgedale shared concerns with her parents that she already felt like she did not have enough time for her schoolwork with the travel time in the N10.

He also referenced a survey conducted by the school to identify students, coaches and community members’ desire to change leagues. Cook said 54.5 percent of the students surveyed did not want to change conferences.

Ridgedale athletic director Jessica Parthemore said junior high students gave the majority of the 77 responses.

Thompson said after the meeting the survey seemed skewed as the sample was made of mostly a small population of the student body. He also said those who referenced the survey did not mention the results of the survey showing 71.4 percent of the seven responses from coaches and 61 percent of the 41 responses submitted by parents and community members were in favor of the move.

Ed Rousch, an assistant baseball coach for the district, commented on the district’s student athletes needing to be given the chance to be competitive and “not looking defeated before they step on the bus to go to a game.”

Burns said the baseball team, which finished tied for third place during the 2019 season, produced the only winning league record throughout all sports since Ridgedale joined the N10 in the 2014-15 school year.

The Rockets have played current NWCC schools as non-conference opponents in recent seasons. Parthemore said she considers the school to have been fairly successful against those schools.

Records, according to information provided by the Ridgedale Athletic Departments, against NWCC schools include:

  • Football (since 2017): 2-4
  • Softball (since 2017): 4-1
  • Volleyball (since 2016): 2-1
  • Boys Basketball (since 2017): 2-1
  • Girls Basketball (since 2015): 0-6
  • Baseball (since 2018): 4-0

Enrollment information provided by the athletic department showed Ridgedale being the smallest school in the N10 with 83 boys and 80 girls, while the average population size in the N10 is 126 boys and 121 girls. Upper Sandusky is the largest with 207 boys and 205 girls.

With the exiting of Riverside and Lehman Catholic, Ridgedale is listed as third-largest school in the NWCC with the average enrollment being 74 boys and 70 girls. Elgin is the notable outlier with 146 boys and 136 girls.

Playing schools comparable in size was a check in the plus column for Thompson.

“I played sports my whole life. I know what it’s like when you’re competitive and I know what it’s like when you’re on a team that not competitive and I know the lessons learned by the kids,” Thompson said. “You have to have positivity in your life. I agree competition doesn’t hurt, but you don’t see Bowling Green schedule Ohio State because they’re close. Michigan because they’re close or all the big schools because they’re close.

“The idea is to give our kids a chance and we feel we have a better chance there.”

He said he spoke with Elgin residents and staff members who also were concerned with the travel when Elgin made the jump to the NWCC in 2017. He said he was told those concerns went away and the students’ attitudes improved with the athletic results that followed.

Ballenger, who also was the previous football coach at Ridgedale, said his hopes are to have more competitive seasons, inviting and encouraging the younger students to get involved in athletics and increase numbers when they reach high school.

Burns, who has a child who will graduate competing in the N10, said losing by 30-40 points in basketball and not fielding a junior varsity team does not encourage the development of Ridgedale’s athletes, while the NWCC members many times are in similar situations allowing for the competitive development of younger players.

“It’s hard to compare us to schools like Upper Sandusky, who yes they are coming down in divisions, but have had many successful seasons in many different sports,” Burns said. “We’ve had one.”

Burns added during the meeting that she never foresaw Ridgedale being reinstated to the N10 as a football program and would remain independent if the move to the NWCC was voted down.

Park said his fellow board members who voted in favor of the move had valid reasons and none that he disagreed with.

“I’m not disputing anything those who voted for it said,” Park said. “But, for me, it goes beyond sports. It goes into real life. If I have a hard customer, or if I have a hard employee, I can’t just switch. I need to deal with it. I think at some point you have to face up and deal with it.”

The board members agreed that they are open to continuing relationships with many of the N10 schools as non-conference opponents.

They also wanted to thank the members of the public who made their voices heard throughout the decision process, a method not used during the school’s switch from the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference to the N10.

Ridgedale will continue to participate in the N10 until the move to the NWCC takes effect.

In a statement on Twitter on Monday evening, the NWCC said the approval by the Ridgedale board does not grant access to the conference and it will be voted on at the conference’s November election. Ridgedale board members said they were confident in their acceptance as the conference invited the school to join.