2025 Three Rivers Conference.

dograt said:
Bethel's growth is disproportionally non-athletes culturally. They have not out grown this league, and even when they start to, they won't dominate athletically unless they get way bigger than the others.

They are leaving for baseball and everyone knows it. They get stomped by schools their own size in the tourney and want to blame the league for not preparing them. Can't wait to see it happen again in a month.

This is 100% Bethel's fault.
Click to expand...
You are much more insightful than that take and you know full well it’s not about just one sport. Baseball has been the “example” thrown out there but it is far from the only reason.

Maybe… just maybe… it is the lack of vision of the conference to provide an avenue of growth for ALL their members that pushed them out? Content with staying with the status quo…

It is more about cultural fit, sport offerings and opportunities for their ENTIRE athletic program that made their decision for them because the conference was not willing to address their concerns. The concerns were expressed and were mostly ignored. Hence the move.

Bethel is quickly becoming more culturally as a community like CBC schools, and some would argue MVL but I doubt it gets to that level (urban / suburban) and shedding their rural past. And outside of Milton and Miami East, from and entire athletic program perspective, the league does not serve them anymore. No bowling, no swimming, limited teams in lower levels of ALL sports, missing programs in golf, soccer, wrestling, and MOST JH sports… I could go on. Bethel’s programs are FULL with kids. The fact is, Bethel was looking, asking and practically begging the conference to expand and bring in other schools that solved some of their concerns and provided more stability to the conference. That didn’t happen so they left and found a conference that solved those problems.

According to posts on here, Graham was the only school that ever showed formal interest. NW, Greenon, Urbana, Carlisle, Madison, Brookville… all schools that have been mentioned, none of which ever applied or showed interest and were never approached by the conference until AFTER Bethel announced that they were considering leaving. Even if just 2 of them joined the conference, Bethel would likely still be in… but you have to ask yourself… WHY didn’t those schools want anything to do with the TRC?

Bethel made the decision, 100%, and that is on them. If you want to fault them for that then so be it, but they did what was best for THEIR students. All of them. Not just a program or two, and certainly not for other schools who showed no real interest in keeping them around. There can certainly be SOME fault in that dynamic as well.

And while it is not all about the competitive aspect… Bethel is currently leading the all sport race for boys and is 2nd for girls… when does the disparity in enrollment start to affect that more? That is up in the air because Bethel has never had sustained success, just here and there… but they have also never had this many kids and athletes… maybe things are changing? And if it is, how long until they would have been asked to leave?

But status quo is the way it goes in the TRC…
 
Last edited:
Bystandard2345 said:
You are much more insightful than that take and you know full well it’s not about just one sport. Baseball has been the “example” thrown out there but it is far from the only reason.

Maybe… just maybe… it is the lack of vision of the conference to provide an avenue of growth for ALL their members that pushed them out? Content with staying with the status quo…

It is more about cultural fit, sport offerings and opportunities for their ENTIRE athletic program that made their decision for them because the conference was not willing to address their concerns. The concerns were expressed and were mostly ignored. Hence the move.

Bethel is quickly becoming more culturally as a community like CBC schools, and some would argue MVL but I doubt it gets to that level (urban / suburban) and shedding their rural past. And outside of Milton and Miami East, from and entire athletic program perspective, the league does not serve them anymore. No bowling, no swimming, limited teams in lower levels of ALL sports, missing programs in golf, soccer, wrestling, and MOST JH sports… I could go on. Bethel’s programs are FULL with kids. The fact is, Bethel was looking, asking and practically begging the conference to expand and bring in other schools that solved some of their concerns and provided more stability to the conference. That didn’t happen so they left and found a conference that solved those problems.

According to posts on here, Graham was the only school that ever showed formal interest. NW, Greenon, Urbana, Carlisle, Madison, Brookville… all schools that have been mentioned, none of which ever applied or showed interest and were never approached by the conference until AFTER Bethel announced that they were considering leaving. Even if just 2 of them joined the conference, Bethel would likely still be in… but you have to ask yourself… WHY didn’t those schools want anything to do with the TRC?

Bethel made the decision, 100%, and that is on them. If you want to fault them for that then so be it, but they did what was best for THEIR students. All of them. Not just a program or two, and certainly not for other schools who showed no real interest in keeping them around. There can certainly be SOME fault in that dynamic as well.

And while it is not all about the competitive aspect… Bethel is currently leading the all sport race for boys and is 2nd for girls… when does the disparity in enrollment start to affect that more? That is up in the air because Bethel has never had sustained success, just here and there… but they have also never had this many kids and athletes… maybe things are changing? And if it is, how long until they would have been asked to leave?

But status quo is the way it goes in the TRC…
Click to expand...
I like your point of view. The fact is the small schools could do nothing about addressing those issues. So I 100% get why they are moving on, while at the same time have damaged relationships over the stress leaving causes other TRC schools.
 
D4fan said:
I like your point of view. The fact is the small schools could do nothing about addressing those issues. So I 100% get why they are moving on, while at the same time have damaged relationships over the stress leaving causes other TRC schools.
Click to expand...
From my understanding, the relationship with and between the schools is still fine as Bethel was very transparent and honest with the process and while the ripple effect has caused some stress, they all expected it at some point anyway.

Historically, I’ve gathered that not many really liked or respected Bethel anyway (that old bias creeps up in some of these comments) but current administration / coaches have made changes that make them a little more tolerable and respectable than they have been over the last decade or so.

What I don’t believe anyone expected is how difficult it was going to be to replace a school leaving.
 
Bystandard2345 said:
From my understanding, the relationship with and between the schools is still fine as Bethel was very transparent and honest with the process and while the ripple effect has caused some stress, they all expected it at some point anyway.

Historically, I’ve gathered that not many really liked or respected Bethel anyway (that old bias creeps up in some of these comments) but current administration / coaches have made changes that make them a little more tolerable and respectable than they have been over the last decade or so.

What I don’t believe anyone expected is how difficult it was going to be to replace a school leaving.
Click to expand...
Yes, replacing the school was the stress I was referring to. There are still 7 schools in it, but if three or four more peel off it leaves a couple in a very difficult situation, namely the two private schools. There just are not many options traditionally for private schools.
 
Bless Em All said:
Maybe. Based on their projections, the CBC will work. I doubt the MVL will ever welcome them in. Just my opinion. I believe they will get to D3 then level out.
Click to expand...
I think most MVL schools would take Bethel over West Carrollton. At least Bethel can field competitive teams in most sports.
 
All sports wise Bethel would come in and be better than a handful of current MVL schools right now. I think once Bethel crosses into the D3 mark they’ll be primed for the MVL
 
footballsalads43 said:
All sports wise Bethel would come in and be better than a handful of current MVL schools right now. I think once Bethel crosses into the D3 mark they’ll be primed for the MVL
Click to expand...
I agree too. They're not quite ready yet, but they will be in a few years. If they can pull some of the athletes from Huber Heights and the surrounding area they could be tough. Stabilizing football and basketball will be crucial.
 
footballsalads43 said:
If WOAC says no, I really like the idea of the SWBL small schools the TRC, and Greenville forming a new version of the Mid Miami League.

Big:

Eaton
Brookville
Valley View
Oakwood
Greenville
Waynesville
Northridge

Small:

Milton
Carlisle
Madison
Covington
Dayton Christian
Lehman Catholic
Troy Christian

1 crossover football game, one of Miami East or Riverside to the OHC. Not sure what the school who doesn’t get In does.
Click to expand...
Kick the private schools out and you have a nice league. Call it the SWBL - Buckeye Division
 
SWBL could look like this…
SW:
Bellbrook-d3
Franklin-d3
Talawanda-d2
Ross-d3
Monroe-d2
Clinton Massie-d4
Valley View-d4
Edgewood-d2

BUCKEYE
Milton-Union-d5
Waynesville -d5
Brookville-d5
Madison-d5
Carlisle-d5
Covington-d6
Northridge-d4
Miami East-d5

Valley View is a level higher than everyone on the small school side right now. They could compete in the big side. CM and VV on the big side is a no brainer. Waynesville would likely poopoo this idea.
 
Bless Em All said:
SWBL could look like this…
SW:
Bellbrook-d3
Franklin-d3
Talawanda-d2
Ross-d3
Monroe-d2
Clinton Massie-d4
Valley View-d4
Edgewood-d2

BUCKEYE
Milton-Union-d5
Waynesville -d5
Brookville-d5
Madison-d5
Carlisle-d5
Covington-d6
Northridge-d4
Miami East-d5

Valley View is a level higher than everyone on the small school side right now. They could compete in the big side. CM and VV on the big side is a no brainer. Waynesville would likely poopoo this idea.
Click to expand...
This is a good split, but Massie will not be leaving Wilmington behind, so if the SWBL wants Massie then they have to bring Wilmington on board as well, and I don’t see Wilmington being interested in the SWBL. Massie might be, but Wilmington isn’t.

Replace Massie with Oakwood and that’s a good split!
 
Bless Em All said:
SWBL could look like this…
SW:
Bellbrook-d3
Franklin-d3
Talawanda-d2
Ross-d3
Monroe-d2
Clinton Massie-d4
Valley View-d4
Edgewood-d2

BUCKEYE
Milton-Union-d5
Waynesville -d5
Brookville-d5
Madison-d5
Carlisle-d5
Covington-d6
Northridge-d4
Miami East-d5

Valley View is a level higher than everyone on the small school side right now. They could compete in the big side. CM and VV on the big side is a no brainer. Waynesville would likely poopoo this idea.
Click to expand...
I would agree for football but in all other sports Massie and VV will really struggle.
 
formercardinal said:
I would agree for football but in all other sports Massie and VV will really struggle.
Click to expand...
Outside of Football, the SBAAC American is the perfect competitive fit for Massie in all other sports. I don’t see them leaving just to improve football schedule. They get 5 non conference games to schedule whoever they please, but that’s just my 2 cents.
 
Private/Public schools being in leagues is definitely a great topic of discussion. I think the biggest issue with them co-existing in leagues is that private schools can pull talent and recruit essentially, and the publics have a fear that they will pull talent from their communities so they avoid affiliation with private schools in general. But in the case of the Lehman Catholics, TC and SCC of the worlds I highly doubt they are pulling from the OHC/TRC communities, so I think they are perfectly fine. DC I don't foresee them pulling from the SWBL schools or communities, but I think we have to see them play out a little more.. Now lets say the SWBL went out and added someone like Alter to the league then they would be asking for trouble, because Alter is right in the SWBL footprint and with their history of football success could start easily pulling from the SWBL schools.
 
Mostly I thought it was just funny the rest of the schools were SWBL members at one point minus Covington, I'd kick them out too to make 10 instead of 11.

I'm a big supporter of public schools and the SWBL. And I'm happy to be so.
 
footballsalads43 said:
Private/Public schools being in leagues is definitely a great topic of discussion. I think the biggest issue with them co-existing in leagues is that private schools can pull talent and recruit essentially, and the publics have a fear that they will pull talent from their communities so they avoid affiliation with private schools in general. But in the case of the Lehman Catholics, TC and SCC of the worlds I highly doubt they are pulling from the OHC/TRC communities, so I think they are perfectly fine. DC I don't foresee them pulling from the SWBL schools or communities, but I think we have to see them play out a little more.. Now lets say the SWBL went out and added someone like Alter to the league then they would be asking for trouble, because Alter is right in the SWBL footprint and with their history of football success could start easily pulling from the SWBL schools.
Click to expand...
I believe that was an argument that made much more sense 10-20 years ago. Today, with all the open enrollment, kids switch as readily from public to public as they do public to private. The coach at any given school is likely a drawing card or repelling. TC applied to the CCC 10-15 years back when Huelsman was at Newton. Both Bethel and Newton wanted nothing to do with Troy Christian in the CCC at that time. I think both would accept them now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top