Sandusky first to approve SBC split

SANDUSKY — Not long ago, the breakup of the Sandusky Bay Conference was just speculation. Now it's becoming reality. Sandusky's school board unanimously approved a recommendation Tuesday night for the district to withdraw from the SBC in order to form a new 10-team conference with current SBC Lake and Bay division members that will begin play in the 2026-27 school year. The motion was submitted by interim athletic director Steve Camella and Chief of Staff Dennis Muratori, who declined comment. No board members commented on the decision. The other nine schools breaking away from the SBC will vote on the move in the coming weeks. A similar motion to withdraw from the SBC is on board agendas for Perkins and Norwalk, whose boards meet on Wednesday. Clyde, Huron and Tiffin will hold the conference's final board meetings of the month Feb. 24. "The Lake and the Bay schools have decided, for the sake of the schools, student-athletes and community, to make this move," Camella said. "We're just the first school to vote on this. The others will hold their meetings this month and their votes will come out. I'm not a spokesperson for the SBC." The SBC Lake and Bay divisions announced in mid-January that they were exploring the possibility of creating a new league. The new conference would consist of current Lake football schools Clyde, Columbian, Norwalk, Perkins and Sandusky as well as Bay members Bellevue, Edison, Huron, Port Clinton and Vermilion. The River Division voted in December to accept Margaretta and Willard as full-time members. With Northwood joining in the fall, the River could have its own 13-team league, but there is speculation that the small schools won't stick together. Vermilion athletic director Andy Stillman told his school board Monday night that the new league will maintain two divisions. "The Lake and Bay schools realized it's gonna be a lot easier for us to get things done for the betterment of those 10 schools if we separate from the River Division and go on our own," Stillman said. "Makes things cleaner, easier to understand and more attractive to potential new members." Stillman said conversations began last August about equalling out the SBC's football divisions, ideally with three six-team divisions. (Eighteen of the current 22 SBC members play football.) "Specifically, we suggested to Margaretta and Willard, who are in the River for football, to come up to the Bay," Stillman said. "To even it out, Bellevue would move to the Lake. "That was voted down by the River Division. Although Willard is larger than Edison and Huron and almost (as large as) Port Clinton — so they are the correct size for the Bay Division — that was voted down. The River Division has the numbers, so to get something passed in the conference is very difficult." Margaretta and Willard each participate in the River Division in football but play in the Bay in other sports, including basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball. Stillman said that Vermilion — the eastern-most SBC member that plays plenty of Lorain County teams — is happy in the SBC and has no interest in jumping to the Lorain County League. "I'm not willing to sacrifice swimming, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls golf for whatever attractiveness there is with the LC8," he said. The SBC Lake and Bay expressed last month an interest in possibly adding members, but their options are limited. Two Lorain County schools that were of interest — Firelands and Keystone — apparently are staying in the Lorain County League. "We have a lot of respect for their league (the SBC). I think it's a great league," Keystone AD Jeff Holzhauer told the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram in late January. "But right now we're having so many transportation issues just getting our kids to Lorain County schools on time. "Joining the SBC would put a lot of strain on our transportation department, and then you also worry about, are kids going to come support each other?" Stillman said that if the Lake and Bay break away, the SBC name could be coming with them. "The SBC name actually might just stay with us," he said. "It sounds like, just rumors, that those 13 (River) schools are going to be really split."