North Coast League Disbanding for Football

 
I believe most of the blue division schools are still going to be playing each other in the latter weeks. Not sure how long it will last though
 
The nine football schools remaining are:

(Old Blue Division): Hoban, Walsh, Benedictine, Lake Catholic, NDCL
(Old White Division): VASJ, Gilmour, CCC, Warren JFK

Would any of these schools continue to schedule Hoban? I doubt it. I imagine Walsh, Benedictine, Lake, and NDCL would all be happy to schedule each other next year. VASJ, Gilmour, and CCC would do the same. Warren JFK is such a geographic outlier, I wonder what their schedule will look like.

Would any of the small school teams be willing to play Walsh, Benedictine, Lake, or NDCL just to fill out a schedule?
 
Walsh, Benedictine and Lake Catholic all played Hoban regularly before the inception of the NCL. While Hoban has been dominant of late, I'd hope those schools would continue to schedule Hoban as fellow independents again. While Walsh has been (way) down lately, they have played Hoban every season since 1974 (and actually have a sizable advantage in the win column), including stretches where they were strong and Hoban was down. It would be a shame to see that rivalry series end.
 
A little confused by this>
"Additionally, the NCL will drop its two-division alignment for all sports. "

For basketball and the individual sports this will not be a problem but for the team sports such as soccer, baseball, volleyball and softball there will be some serious talent gaps between the top bigger schools and the smaller schools. If they could figure out a way to get 2 Divisions then I could see a path for St Ignatius & St. Edward to join the Conference.
 
Hoban is an easy target, but it wasn't driven by Hoban football. The league added smaller members, including two all-girls schools, but lost four in the last two years. Padua is the latest departure. Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas, Trinity and Youngstown Valley Christian already left.
 
I had always wondered if there would ever be a northern Ohio Catholic football conference with Toledo St. Francis, Toledo St. John's, and Toledo Central Catholic to join with Parma Padua, Lake Catholic, Akron SVSM, Akron Hoban, etc..... I know its far fetched geographically but you never know....
 
clarkgriswold said:
Hoban is an easy target, but it wasn't driven by Hoban football. The league added smaller members, including two all-girls schools, but lost four in the last two years. Padua is the latest departure. Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas, Trinity and Youngstown Valley Christian already left.
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I can see this point but the guys argument will gain steam if any of the blue division teams avoid playing Hoban now that they are all independent
 
why do you think padua left the ncl...football coaches know they cant beat hoban, benny, lake...so its easier to quit than try to beat them...other schools feel the same way towards hoban..no computer points on getting beat
 
Teams and programs go in cycles. Hoban is on one right now and that can change in a heart beat. Benny was on one a few years back, and Padua has improved. If Padua left over 1 sport, football for example, that would be weak. I have to think there is more to it than that. Also, confused why they would leave a conference that is all private as well? Public schools are not going to take in a private school into their conference with open arms
 
I am surprised by the disbanding. Today Hoban is on a run, tomorrow it will be someone else. Without the league, when one of the other schools makes a run, they may run into the scheduling issues. It will be interesting to see what schools try to get in another league or if a league will take them. What about scheduling? Having 5 games in the bag each season in terms of schedules is nice. HOpe the Athletic Directors are up to the scheduling challenge.
 
A couple quick thoughts on this situation:

1) The primary cause of this is not the Hoban dominance in football, though it appears Padua is using this is an excuse to bolt for all sports, but the new development of public school leagues taking in privates. Holy Name & Elyria Catholic were the first dominoes to fall then Trinity finding a home in the CVC was the next, there are also rumblings that Lake Catholic was/is going to leave for the CVC. On the surface these moves make sense as the geography for the NCL is not the best, especially when you consider the cost of travel for the secondary sports and lower level teams. So like most things this is primarily about $s.

2) For football I said in another thread this thing will dissolve into more of a scheduling confederation, maybe Lake Catholic and possibly NDCL will not be on Hoban's schedule moving forward but I would fully expect Benedictine & Walsh to still be there. Also, SVSM will start showing up in the second half of the schedule and I would also expect to see some of the Div II & III Central Ohio Catholics like DeSales, Watterson, and Hartley appear on the schedules later in season.

3) I feel like the only purpose of a League is for football as scheduling all other sports are simple because everyone makes the post season in the OHSAA. Because there are no distractions around football I hope they have fun with the other sports now and try some new things out like end of season tournaments, a NCL/GCL style challenge, and unique scheduling like neutral site double headers.
 
Auggie:
Interesting point 3. I also like the fact, if all cooperate, that rivalry games could be end of season affairs. Hoban St. V for instance would be nice. Personnel preference. I think you are right on pt 2 as well. I can see Walsh and Benny staying on a Hoban schedule. The others could mix up the pot of scheduling as well with Central, Western or southern Ohio Catholics, although a bit of a haul. Pick up Toledo CC, St. Francis and or St. John too. Whitmer in the past seemed willing to play anyone so the NCL Teams could pick up the likes of them as well.
 
From the VASJ aspect of things, I can see them continuing to play Gilmour Academy, Central Catholic, and possibly Warren JFK. The rest, I have no idea how this will all work out. I’m certain Elvis will figure out the ideal opponents for the season. They’ve played University School, Warrensville Hts annually recently. I’m wondering if they’ll reach out to any CVC schools to play. I doubt they’ll put Kirtland back on the schedule or Cuyahoga Hts with the talent gap. Maybe Cardinal, Berkshire, Independence, and Wickliffe would be ideal for St.Joes. We shall see.
 
duckdodgers said:
Auggie:
Interesting point 3. I also like the fact, if all cooperate, that rivalry games could be end of season affairs. Hoban St. V for instance would be nice. Personnel preference. I think you are right on pt 2 as well. I can see Walsh and Benny staying on a Hoban schedule. The others could mix up the pot of scheduling as well with Central, Western or southern Ohio Catholics, although a bit of a haul. Pick up Toledo CC, St. Francis and or St. John too. Whitmer in the past seemed willing to play anyone so the NCL Teams could pick up the likes of them as well.
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Walsh may continue to play Hoban because of their history of playing all the way back to the 70s. Other Blue division teams not so sure. If they have not regularly scheduled St Eds or St Ignatius, why schedule Hoban? Hoban's program is THAT good.
 
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