City League could change for 2011

OREGON, Ohio (WUPW) - Some possible changes are on the way when it comes to high school sports in Toledo.

Over in Oregon, the school board met Wednesday about withdrawing from the Toledo City Athletic League.

They voted unanimously to leave the City League and form another league with other City League schools that are not part of Toledo Public Schools.  This would not take effect until after the next academic year.

The new league would consist of Clay, Central Catholic, St. John's Jesuit, St. Francis, Whitmer, Notre Dame, St. Ursula, Fremont Ross, Findlay and Lima Senior.

In the wake of Toledo Public School's $39 million budget deficit and teacher layoffs this year, TCL-member school Libbey High School was shut down at the end of the 2009-10 school year.

As TPS balanced its $39 million budget, middle school and freshman athletics were eliminated to save over $800,000.

"We don't know exactly what's going to happen yet, but I think scheduling will take care of itself," said Ed Scrutchins, Toledo City League Commissioner. "We'll work at it and we'll be able to find games no matter what the situation is. I'm not saying what it's going to be, but we will schedule."

Unfortunately, scheduling became a nightmare for the non-TPS City League schools who have freshman and middle-school squads.

Scrutchins, along with everybody else who spoke with FOX Toledo, is not surprised Oregon City Schools voted to leave the league.

The present TCL is comprised of 14 schools from Toledo and Oregon - Bowsher, Central Catholic, Clay, Libbey, Notre Dame, Rogers, St. Francis, St. John's, St. Ursula, Scott, Start, Waite, Whitmer, and Woodward.

An athletic director from one of the schools possibly left behind told FOX Toledo that his main concern now is over possible declining enrollment as students move elsewhere to play sports.  If they leave, the school could face a shutdown.  If they don't, the percentage of kids getting in trouble goes up.

This same athletic director says it's possible the six teams left behind could merge with another small league or they could stand alone, possibly hoping that financial times will improve enough for the new non-TPS league to re-accept them into the fold.

Scrutchins has a small meeting this Friday about the realignment, but the main meeting of the minds will take place in late July.

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FOX Toledo Sports Director Howard Chen contributed to this report.