With several conferences in northern Ohio folding over the summer and dozens of schools joining old conferences or teaming with other schools to form new leagues, there has been a change in the landscape in high school athletics for some area schools.

Gibsonburg was part of the Suburban Lakes League (SLL) for the past 40 athletic seasons dating all the way back to 1972, the year in which the SLL was founded as a conference. The league, which provided memories for a number of schools and produced its share of state champions through the years, dissolved last spring. However, in 39 years, Gibsonburg never won an all-sports trophy.

When six of the former SLL schools (Genoa, Elmwood, Otsego, Eastwood, Woodmore and Lake) joined with Rossford and Fostoria to form the newly-created Northern Buckeye Conference (NBC), it left Gibsonburg in need of a place to call home.

As a result, the Golden Bears joined the Toledo Area Athletic Conference (TAAC), a 10-team league with five schools (Cardinal Stritch, Maumee Valley Country Day, Emmanuel Christian, Ottawa Hills and Toledo Christian) in Lucas County, plus Northwood, Danbury and football-only members Hilltop and Edon, who are located in Williams County (MVCD and EC do not field football). Gibsonburg currently fields teams in basketball, baseball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, softball, track and field, wrestling and volleyball.

The TAAC schools are not located as close in proximity to Gibsonburg as the SLL schools were, but school officials do not see that being a major issue. Aside from the one road football game each year at either Hilltop or Edon, the farthest school in the conference is Danbury, which is 37 miles.

Brent Liskai, who serves as athletic director of both the boys and girls athletic departments at Gibsonburg, is rather matter-of-fact when talking about what life in the TAAC will be like for the Golden Bears.

“I don’t know that we feel better (about joining the TAAC), but our kids will compete wherever we are,” he said. “We were getting smaller while some of the other schools (in the SLL) were getting bigger.

“It (the TAAC) is a good league and the schools are more our size,” he said. “It was challenging (in the SLL). When we’re running 30 football players to go against teams with a much larger number of players, it’s tough. We’re anxious to see how we’ll do going against schools on a level playing field.”

Liskai also noted that Gibsonburg had seen a decline in enrollment over the past decade, making its move to the TAAC, which generally has smaller schools than the SLL, a potentially good move when it comes to competition. In fact, the boys’ basketball team, which is coached by Liskai and advanced to the Division III district final last season, has been moved down to Division IV for the 2011-12 season.

Also, the football team, which has gone a combined 10-30 in the past four seasons, should fare better in the TAAC, giving a once-proud program hope for the future.

Gibsonburg has seen its share of success in recent years in athletics, winning the state championship in baseball in 2005, and winning three consecutive state championships in softball from 2001-03. Oddly enough, a movie is currently being filmed that chronicles the Golden Bears’ run to the Division III championship in ’05.

TAAC President Chad Rutkowski, who serves as athletic director at Cardinal Stritch, is excited about Gibsonburg joining the league and the potential that their inclusion holds for the conference as a whole.

“I'm really looking forward to them joining,” he said. “Personally, I think Gibsonburg is a great fit – it's an additional community on the far East Side of Toledo (and) they bring a strong program from the SLL. We're particularly excited about the fans they're going to bring to football games.

“I think their boys and girls basketball programs will add some depth to the league, and I hear they have a good track and field program. Also, they give us another site to host TAAC conference meets. Our conference will be even stronger because of their addition – it's going to be great for all of our schools.”

All in all, Liskai knows that, regardless of the conference in which they’re competing, the athletes must perform when called upon.

“The challenge is (still) there for our kids,” Liskai said.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed