Madison-Plains residents vote to leave SCOL for MSL

By Gregg Rettig

Managing Editor

Both the London and Madison-Plains boards of education are expected to vote Tuesday whether to leave the South Central Ohio League for the Mid-State League, starting with the 2013-14 school year.

In anticipation of the vote, Madison-Plains held a community forum Sunday afternoon at the high school to weigh its options. Golden Eagles athletic director Matt Mason said he called for the meeting so he would have a better idea of what to present to the district’s board of education on Tuesday.

Both districts have until midnight Tuesday to let the MSL know their intentions.

A group of parents and coaches met Sunday at Madison-Plains High School and voted unanimously to leave the SCOL for the MSL.

Among the reasons from those who argued to leave were Central District postseason recognition for players and seeding meetings. Madison-Plains and London are Central District schools now playing in a league primarily made up of Southeast District teams.

Golden Eagles softball coach Kevin Stockham, who said he is in favor of joining the MSL, added he has had outstanding seasons but gotten lower seeds than he thought his team deserved because other Central District coaches had not seen his team play.

Mason started the meeting by outlining the pros and cons of staying in the SCOL and leaving for the MSL.

He pointed that Madison-Plains has not finished any better than second-to-last in the SCOL in the all-sports competition, which is determined annually by how well each sport finishes in the league.

One of the 20 or so residents there said that Madison-Plains should join the MSL and stay committed to it for the long run. The Golden Eagles have been part of several different leagues in the past 15 years and have a reputation for jumping, Mason said he was told.

The possibility of having three of the Madison County five schools — Madison-Plains, London and West Jefferson — all in the same league also was said to be appealing.

Posted by Gregg Rettig on Jan 8 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.