South may apply for OVAC membership

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PARKERSBURG - Parkersburg South is giving serious consideration to applying for admission to the nation's largest high school sports league, the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.

South Athletics Director Rick Leach recently attended a meeting in which it was explained the OVAC - which is composed of 46 teams in four divisions - would like to expand to 50 teams in five divisions.

Among the four teams not only would be Parkersburg South, but possibly Marietta High School as well.

Leach said he recently surveyed South's head coaches about the possibility of applying for OVAC admission and received a favorable response.

Should South join the OVAC, it would be the second time the Patriots were a part of the league. South was an OVAC member for one year, the 1975-76 school year. The Patriots won the OVAC football title that season. The trophy documenting that accomplishment was one of many items being relocated on Tuesday as South officials attempted to shuffle offices in light of the ongoing construction project at the school, which is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation.

Representatives of both Parkersburg South and Marietta attended a recent meeting where they were joined by those representing Brooke, John Marshall, Wheeling Park and Zanesville. The six schools are considering the possibility of playing each other in football on an annual basis.

"It would make it easier to get a football schedule,'' Leach said.

Ever since South left the Mountain State Athletic Conference to become the only Class AAA independent in West Virginia, the Patriots have struggled to fill their football schedule. This fall, for example, South will play two Washington, D.C. teams (McKinley Technology and Spingarn), two Ohio teams (Warren and Marietta) and six West Virginia teams (Brooke, the new Washington High, Parkersburg, RC Byrd, East Fairmont and John Marshall). The Patriots won't play a West Virginia team until Brooke visits the Erickson All-Sports Facility on Sept. 26.

Leach said if South does join the league, it will take two years to get its schedules aligned.

With 1,302 boys and girls in grades 9-11, South immediately would become the second largest member of the OVAC, as it has just 19 less students than Wheeling Park. Other OVAC teams that play in Division AAAA are John Marshall, Brooke, Zanesville, Cambridge, Beaver Local, Buckeye Local, East Liverpool, Edison, Weir, Steubenville and Indian Creek, the smallest with just 536 students in grades 9-11. Marietta has approximately 755 students, which would make it the sixth biggest school in the league if both the Tigers and the Patriots join.

The OVAC was formed in 1943. Its 46 high schools represent 17,181 total students. More than 12,000 athletes compete on an annual basis in league events.