New conference named the TRAC

FREMONT, Ohio - The new conference loaded with non-TPS, former City League schools will be called the Three Rivers Athletic Conference (TRAC).

The name was chosen from among an estimated 25 others to signify the coming together of Blanchard, Sandusky and Maumee Rivers and the region that they cover.

Schools slated to be in the new alliance are Findlay, Fremont Ross, Lima Senior, Clay, Central Catholic, St. Francis, St. John's, St. Ursula, Notre Dame and Whitmer.

The TRAC will become official after each school involved approves the measure at their respective school board meetings. Fremont Ross principal Jose Hernandez will be the TRAC President, pending board approval on Monday.

Most of the teams involved played in the City League and are non-TPS. The seven schools that fit this profile were put in a precarious situation when TPS voted, in a budget-saving move, to eliminate middle-school and freshman sports, as well as other so-called minor varsity sports. This made scheduling virtually impossible for schools with freshman athletics and other sports. At the same time, with inevitable transfers to come, the competitive balance was shifted.

Before Hernandez came to Fremont Ross, he worked for five years in the Scott administration, so the excitement at the new name of the league was slightly tarnished with a little sadness.

"It's exciting, but at the same time, we don't like what's happening to the Toledo Public Schools," he said. "We're pretty much, as a new member coming in, we have a great deal of respect for the schools that were in the Toledo City League and we felt that the situation warranted an adjustment and we hope that, in the future, the door's always open for the Toledo Public Schools for an opportunity for them once they're able to have the athletics program back where it was.

"I think that, across the state, that you'll see that we're going to have one of the conferences that'll traditionally have regional and state representatives in all the sports. And to know that you have shcools that we have in our conference that are consistently respected in all the sports, it's just a great feeling to be a part of that group and organization."

The remaining City League schools left behind are Bowsher, Rogers, Scott, Start, Waite and Woodward.