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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- The Ohio Valley Athletic Conference is growing once again.
By virtue of a unanimous vote Wednesday evening at the athletic directors meeting, held inside Dowler Hall at Belmont College, Marietta was approved as the 51st member of the conference.
Marietta Director of Athletics Cody Venderlic was on hand and spoke to the membership briefly and then waited patiently to hear the results, which were 48 in favor and none opposed.
"We had heard a lot of really great things from some of the schools local to us that are currently in the OVAC," Venderlic said. "We spoke with athletic directors from Fort Frye, Warren, Dover, (New Philadelphia), Cambridge and they all made it really clear that the OVAC provides a ton of benefits."
Marietta has bounced around in its conference membership. It is currently part of the East Central Ohio League which is on the brink of folding.
"We would have been without a conference after the ECOL dissolves after this year, so the OVAC was a perfect fit," Venderlic said. "This gives us the cushion and comfort. Plus, our kids get the opportunity to be recognized at the conference level, which is a big deal."
According to Venderlic, Marietta offers 19 sports.
"We bring a willingness to play a lot of the schools (in the OVAC)," Venderlic said. "If you're looking for golf, tennis, swimming, etc., we offer it all and we're all happy to schedule. We also bring a new level of competition. I can't tell you how many OVAC-member school have reached out to us already about scheduling."
This isn't Marietta's maiden voyage into the OVAC. The Tigers became members in 1975, but withdrew in 1978.
"It makes sense for Marietta to be part of the OVAC," OVAC Executive Director Dirk DeCoy said. "It's going to raise the bar for us. Everything about them joining is a positive."
By virtue of the vote, Marietta becomes a member immediately.
"The neat thing about the OVAC is if they play enough games, they're eligible," DeCoy said. "I think they'll be active (in the conference) because they're playing a lot of OVAC teams already. They have two years to fully transition into the conference, but since they're playing so many teams already, their transition may be a lot shorter."
And by immediately, the Tigers can participate in all of the fall sporting events, assuming they meet the OVAC qualifying standards and have the openings on their schedule to make it work.
Marietta will be eligible for all accolades and benefits surrounding football because the Tigers slate includes seven OVAC foes, including New Philadelphia, River, Weir, Brooke, Dover, Cambridge and Warren.
"We feel like if we can get things worked out, there is no reason we can't be competing in (the OVAC) as early as this year for most of the sports," Venderlic said. "It seems like a seamless transition."
Marietta has been preparing for this vote for couple of months. From the formal application process to the OVAC and gaining approval from its board of education and, last month, Venderlic met with his coaches about the transition process.
"I didn't want to count my chickens before they hatched, but I told our coaches to check out (the OVAC) website, the formats for the different events to try to get accustomed to how the OVAC runs things," Venderlic said. "The goal is to get started as soon as possible, so I tried to set them up schedule wise, so when they're ready to jump in, we can get started."
Venderlic "believes" the Tigers will be competing in the golf tournament next month at Oglebay Park as well as the cross country championship at Cambridge High School on Oct. 9. Because of schedule conflicts, it doesn't appear the Tigers will be eligible for the OVAC title in soccer and volleyball.
On the flip side, however, the OVAC will have 51 members for only this school year.
New Philadelphia has informed conference officials that it intends to withdraw after spending three years in the conference. The Quakers are scheduled to join the Ohio Cardinal Conference in the fall of the 2022-23 school year.
OVAC NOTES
• Current Edison Superintendent Bill Beattie is now the OVAC Baseball Commissioner. He takes over for Steve Wojcik who retired from the position to spend more time with his family.
• Speaking of baseball, the championship events are moving to all turf facilities. The five title games will be spread between turf fields at Toronto, Edison and Harrison Central, which is beginning its project later this fall.
• The bowling championship is also adjusting its sites. The Class 1A, 2A and 3A schools will compete at a bowling alley in Parkersburg, while the 4A and 5A schools will compete at St. Clair Lanes. Those will be flipped for the 2023 championship.