Oscoda’s NEMC exit has impact
by Jason Ogden

OSCODA - Oscoda Area School’s exit from the North East Michigan Conference (NEMC) could have lasting effects for the other six schools in the league.

The NEMC dropped the Owlsfrom its ranks in December after the Oscoda Area Schools Board of Education voted Nov. 12 to quit the league in football.
At the time, Oscoda Area Schools (OAS) Athletic Director David Allen said the school could benefit from being partially in the league, with the school being active in the league in all sports except football. He cited Whittemore-Prescott as an example of a school which did just that.

In the end, NEMC officials said the school had to be in the league for all sports or none.

Being out of the conference meant that Allen had to scramble to schedule games with other schools. According to Allen, some of the teams have games scheduled for the next two years.

In lieu of playing conference teams, the Owls will play closer schools, such as Alcona, with class sizes comparable to Oscoda.

Mark Faurot, Pinconning athletic director, said last week he just found to find a team to take Oscoda’s place on the gridiron next season.

“We have played (Oscoda) a long, long time,” he said, “and, for me, it is just unfortunate that some schools have grown and the other schools’ enrollment is not staying as strong.

“This is going to affect everything in the conference.”

He speculated that other teams could drop out of the conference.

“I think this could have a ripple effect and we might lose another; we don’t want that to happen,” he said.

Faurot said although Oscoda will no longer be in the conference, he will still seek games with the Owls.

“This is going to affect everything in the conference.”

He speculated that other teams could drop out of the conference.

“I think this could have a ripple effect and we might lose another; we don’t want that to happen,” he said.

Faurot said although Oscoda will no longer be in the conference, he will still seek games with the Owls.

“I feel that Oscoda and us match up very well,” he said.

Currently, the conference has six remaining high schools: Pinconning, Bay City John Glenn, Ogemaw Heights, Standish-Sterling, Tawas Area and Whittemore-Prescott.

Ogemaw Heights Athletic Director Ellen Pugh said she also had to scramble to find a game to fill her football slot.

“We had to scramble to find games for other (sports) teams too,” she said.

Pugh said she wishes Oscoda was still in the NEMC and speculated the change wouldn’t be as hard for teams in the conference as it would be for Oscoda.

“They are going to have the toughest job,” she said. “They are going to have to find those games.”

Pugh said independent fotball teams such as Whittemore-Prescott have it tough because they sometimes have to find games in mid-season.

Whittemore-Prescott joined the conference in 2006, according to Athletic Director Jeff Erickson, who added one reason the school is independent in football only is because of the size of the school.

“We are by far the smallest school in the conference,” he said.

Erickson said he was unaware of the considerations which allowed his school to join the conference in all sports except football.

Tawas Area Schools Athletic Director Phil Mikulski said, from what he remembers, Whittemore-Prescott’s football exception was allowed to avoid a “floating bye week,” because of the odd number of schools, seven, in the conference when the Cardinals joined.

This would have created a hole in a school’s playing schedule, which would be hard to fill with a scheduled game from a team in a difference conference, because that team would be in one of their own conference games, he said.

Mikulski said Oscoda leaving the conference has effectively created a floating bye week situation with the conference for next year’s games.

Ben Welmers, athletic director at Standish-Sterling High School, said the conference has been shrinking for a while.

“It seems like every year there is some kind of new configuration,” he said. “This doesn’t help our conference.”

Other schools, like Grayling and Gladwin, have dropped out or joined other leagues.

He said as schools like Standish-Sterling stay the same size in enrollment numbers, other schools are shrinking in numbers or getting larger, like Bay City John Glenn.

Tony Bacigalupo, John Glenn’s athletic director, said he doesn’t believe enrollment numbers are that important, based on competitiveness.

“If you purely look at enrollment, you are not looking at everything,” he said. “Look at Oscoda’s swim conference. They are very competitive, they can beat bigger schools.”

Bacigalupo said Oscoda may be small, but it has a larger pool of athletes who are talented in that sport from which to draw.

Like other athletic directors, Bacigalupo was understanding of Oscoda’s plight.

“It is sad, because it has been an excellent relationship,” he said.