OK Conference set to lose seven schools
Six high schools in western Michigan requested to leave the Ottawa-Kent Conference. The schools summitted their request to withdraw, and Cedar Springs is expected to join the other schools in leaving the conference.
The six other schools are Allendale, Coopersville, Greenville, Kenowa Hills, Lowell and Sparta, confirmed by OK Conference Dave Feenstra commissioner to MLive.com.
“I think some of the tipping point frustration for us has been that they realign every four or five years,” Allendale superintendent Dr. Garth Cooper told MLive.com. “Three of the schools that are in our division this year won’t be in our division next year. A couple of the schools that would be in our division offer very few sub-varsity sports, so it would be very difficult for our student-athletes to compete because Jason (athletic director Jason Dykstra) would be left scrambling to fill schedules because the schools that would be in our division don’t offer all the sports we do.”
Cooper told MLive that, specifically members in the OK Red (Rockford, Caledonia, Grandville, Hudsonville, East Kentwood, Grand Haven, Jenison, Holland West) will vote 'Yes' on realignment, but the OK Red division has not realigned since 2016.
“So, other school districts are deciding who Allendale gets to compete against, and it’s that lack of control and voice for our student-athletes that’s very frustrating, and it’s just not a good situation for our students," Cooper said.
A realignment vote occurs every four years in the OK Conference, which consists of six subdivisions and 48 schools.
Westmichiganballers.com originally reported that seven schools were moving to leave the conference. Sparta Area Schools Superintendent Joel Stoner told the site that the new conference could form for the 2024 school year.
“Our ADs feel as long as we have a plan by the first of the year, they can hammer out schedules,” Stoner said.
The OK Conference was set to realign in the 2024-25 season, with 18 schools changing division. The new division alignments passed with a 42-6 vote at the time.
“We took the 16 schools primarily to the north and divided them up by enrollment, and then we took the 16 schools primarily to the south and divided them up by enrollment,” OK Conference Commissioner Dave Feenstra told MLive. “I say primarily because there’s not an absolute. Our bylaws are primarily enrollment and geography.”
Lowell was one of the opposing votes, and the Red Arrows were set to move from the OK White division to the OK Black division and play Muskegon, Mona Shores and Reeths-Puffer, schools 50 miles away.
“We have great respect for the OK Conference and the history of the OK Conference and our time participating in that division, but it just feel like it’s time to go into this area and form a smaller conference that’s best for our student-athletes and our families based off of less travel and the stability that conference would provide," Lowell Superintendent Nate Fowler said at Monday's school board meeting.
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