(KY3) -Branson, Bolivar, Carl Junction, Logan-Rogersville, Marshfield and West Plains will compete in the newly formed Ozark Mountain Conference beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.
The Ozark Mountain Conference brings together districts that are similar in enrollment numbers, as well as shared values and community beliefs. High school enrollment numbers: Branson: 1,350, West Plains: 1,152, Carl Junction: 1,011, Marshfield: 903, Bolivar: 858, Logan-Rogersville: 734.
“Moving into a six-team conference of schools our size will allow us to continue to compete at a high level while giving us flexibility in our non-conference schedule,” said Tim Pezzetti, Bolivar Athletic Director. “We are excited to be a founding member of the Ozark Mountain Conference, and we appreciate the opportunity that the Ozark Conference has given us for the past three years.
Branson and Carl Junction are leaving the Central Ozark Conference. Bolivar and West Plains are leaving the Ozark Conference. Marshfield and Logan-Rogersville are leaving the Big 8 Conference. The KY3 sports department is reporting that the Central Ozark Conference and Ozark Conference are in talks for football scheduling between the two leagues for next season.
This latest change is part of a decades-long reshuffling of various conferences that started because of enrollment increases for some schools that left them in much larger classifications than other schools in the same conference. The small vs. large school dynamic led to realignments, additions and subtractions that changed the landscape of conferences with proud traditions, resulting in vastly different line-ups from past years.
As to what’s driving schools to break-off into the new Ozark Mountain Conference?
“Getting into a conference where there are more schools our size is number one,” Pezzetti said. “And it also gives us flexibility. There were discussions within the last year about making a mega-conference between the COC and OC but that fell through. And at that point some schools started to look around and see if they could find a better fit for themselves.”
“I think the idea behind this is a lot of like-minded schools, similar students, very similar communities and that’s something we kind of liked,” added West Plains Superintendent Wesley Davis. “Then last summer Branson, Marshfield, Bolivar, Logan-Rogersville and us started visiting about this and Carl Junction came along later.”
“It’s going to give us a better shot of succeeding in our conference,” said Carly Cribbs, a sophomore at Bolivar who participates in softball, basketball and track. “We’re the smallest school in our current conference (OC) but it will be more fair in the new conference.”
Being a part of three different athletic teams means Cribbs will be making plenty of bus trips including the hour-and-40-minute ride to Carl Junction and a two-and-a-half hour journey to West Plains. Considering Bolivar and West Plains are currently in the same conference, Cribbs is already used to that trip and the challenge of trying to get homework done on the road.
“There’s not really Wi-Fi on the bus so it’s hard to do some of the homework,” she said. “And it’s tough getting home at 12 midnight and waking up at 6. It’s become a routine at this point though so it’s nothing too difficult in your life. I do get up when the alarm goes off but sometimes it’s hard to keep my eyes open after I get out of bed.”
“Since we’re playing West Plains in the Ozark Conference that’s kind of a wash anyway,” said Pezzetti of the long trips. “We are adding Carl Junction but as far as distance that’s about the same as going to either Waynesville or Rolla. So we feel like it’s a good fit for us. If it wasn’t better for us we wouldn’t be going.”
Long trips are nothing new to West Plains either as their growing enrollment over the years resulted in them leaving the South Central Association that was populated by nearby smaller schools. Now, as a member of the Ozark Conference, the Zizzers make two-hour trips to all the Springfield schools plus Bolivar, Camdenton, Lebanon, Rolla and Waynesville.
“Our staff, parents and students are all used to these drives,” Davis said. “We actually have some schools that we play now that aren’t even in the state. We go to Arkansas for some games. Carl Junction (185 miles and a three hour drive) is one that a lot of people ask me about. West Plains and Joplin were in the OC together for many years so we’re used to that drive.”
“We do have wireless hotspots available on our busses so our students are able to work while traveling,” added West Plains Athletic Director Ashley Cooley, who used to make those trips herself as a high school softball and soccer player and later as coach.
And while her students can now do their homework on the bus with the aid of Wi-Fi and computers, Cooley didn’t have that choice in her high school days.
“Things were paper, pencil and textbook-driven during that day-and-age,” she said. “But it never really seemed to be a struggle at all and our kids today don’t voice that as a concern or a struggle. We have lots of programs, opportunities, tutoring and different things in place here that provide support for our students and help them be successful in-and-out of the classroom.”
While there may be some people who think conferences should be done away with altogether and just have district play, those schools who have been an independent say it presents its own kind of challenge.
“When we were an independent we were traveling all over the state and to other states for sports,” Pezzetti said.
“Some states do that,” Davis said. “But I appreciate the opportunity for our kids to get conference recognition in addition to district recognition and there’s just a sense of family with a conference. It’s a tightknit group where everyone knows each other. We’ve been very thankful to be in the Ozark Conference where we’ve developed a lot of good relationships and good competition. We’d like to maintain that relationship and play some of those schools in non-conference games if that can be worked out.”
