Shelby's stay in the SBC will be short

SHELBY — The ever-changing landscape of high school athletic conferences took another turn.At a Board of Education meeting Monday night, Shelby approved to accept an invitation to join the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference at the earliest reasonable date.That decision means Shelby will withdraw from the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay division, where it will compete through at least the upcoming 2017-18 school year.North Union is leaving the MOAC for the Central Buckeye Conference, which opened up a slot and invitation for the Whippets to join the conference that will include longtime rivals Clear Fork, Galion and Ontario.A timeline for joining the MOAC will be determined at a later date. That decision will depend on how North Union can fit into the schedules of the CBC, and how Shelby can do the same within the MOAC, which could be either in 2018-19 or 2019-20.Should Shelby be able to join the MOAC beginning in the 2018-19 school year, the Whippets would compete in three different conferences in a three-year span.The 73-year old Northern Ohio League disbanded at the end of this past school year in May. Six of the seven NOL members, minus Ontario, accepted invitations to join the SBC.Last school year, the SBC had expanded to 15 schools, a two-division Bay and River format after the Sandusky River League dissipated after two years. The six SRL schools along with Tiffin Calvert and Vermilion joined the SBC last year.With the addition of six of the seven NOL schools (Bellevue, Norwalk, Sandusky, Columbian, Shelby and Willard), the SBC added a third division for the upcoming school year. Each division features seven schools based on enrollment.The seventh NOL member, Ontario, accepted an offer to join the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference in the fall of 2017. The addition of Shelby gives the MOAC a league of Ontario, Clear Fork, Galion, Marion Harding, Marion Pleasant, River Valley and Buckeye Valley.The biggest reason for moving to the MOAC was location. Shelby will make trips, and vice versa, to places such as Milan, Huron, Oak Harbor, Port Clinton and Vermilion on school nights — as little as 33 miles and as far as 67 miles."We appreciate the fact that the Sandusky Bay Conference gave us an opportunity to be in that conference, they have some great schools and great relationships, no question about it," Shelby Superintendent Tim Tarvin told the Richland Source. "But we have to always consider what's in the best interest of our kids, our teams and our organizations."For football this season, the Lake division of big schools will include Bellevue, Clyde, Norwalk, Perkins, Sandusky and Tiffin Columbian. The Bay (middle) will be Edison, Huron, Oak Harbor, Port Clinton, Shelby and Vermilion. The River (small) will feature Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic, Lakota, Margaretta, St. Mary Central Catholic, Tiffin Calvert and Willard.The Sandusky defense led by a tackle by Richard Pollard wraps up a Shelby player during a Sept. 23, 2016 game at Shelby.