The Grand Blanc Bobcats will have a new conference to join and it’s not the OAA.
The Bobcats were accepted to join the Saginaw Valley League
starting in 2018 according to the D-Zone and ESPN 100.9 FM that serves
Mid-Michigan. Grand Blanc would be joining their rivals from Genesee County
including Davison, Flint Powers Catholic, and Flint Carman Ainsworth.
The Grand Blanc Board of Education will vote on accepting the invitation to join the league on May 22nd. A move in which is expected to be approved.
The Grand Blanc Board of Education will vote on accepting the invitation to join the league on May 22nd. A move in which is expected to be approved.
Grand Blanc was voted out of the Kensington Lakes Activities
Association last month because of travel. The league decided that Grand Blanc
was too far north (It would had taken 27 minutes from Hartland, 26 miles. The Eagles would had been the closest rival in
the league) and the league went further south.
The Bobcats left the then Big
Nine to join the KLAA in 2009 in a surprising move.
The Saginaw Valley League has schools in major cities
throughout Mid-Michigan including from Mount Pleasant, Midland (Midland,
Midland Dow), Bay City (Bay City Central, Bay City Western, Bay City John
Glenn), Saginaw (Saginaw Heritage, Saginaw, Saginaw Arthur Hill), Flint (Merged Southwestern and
Northwestern, Flint Powers, Flint Carman-Ainsworth), Davison, and Lapeer.
Thoughts.
This move made plenty of sense for Grand Blanc. They were a perfect fit for this league and they have their arch rivals in Genesee County with
them. It reunites them with Davison, Flint Carman-Ainsworth, and Flint Powers
from the Big Nine. Also, they will start new rivalries especially with Lapeer.
A lot of people questioned Grand Blanc's enrollment to join the Saginaw Valley as they do have an enrollment of 2260 kids in the school. The next highest is Lapeer with 1837 students and then Davison with 1695 students. Flint Powers Catholic will be the smallest school in the Saginaw Valley with 660 students. Flint Southwestern would had been the smallest enrolled school in the Saginaw Valley with 650 students but they are merging with Flint Northwestern to become Flint.
A lot of people questioned Grand Blanc's enrollment to join the Saginaw Valley as they do have an enrollment of 2260 kids in the school. The next highest is Lapeer with 1837 students and then Davison with 1695 students. Flint Powers Catholic will be the smallest school in the Saginaw Valley with 660 students. Flint Southwestern would had been the smallest enrolled school in the Saginaw Valley with 650 students but they are merging with Flint Northwestern to become Flint.
It would had been really hard for Grand Blanc if they joined the OAA because the southern schools like Farmington, Berkley, Royal Oak,
and Ferndale would have to travel an hour and a half just to get to Grand
Blanc. Grand Blanc’s closest rival if they would had joined would have been
Clarkston but Oxford and Orion aren’t too far behind based on miles. Also enrollment would had been an issue as they are one of the biggest schools in the State.
It would had been the same thing with Lapeer because the
southern Oakland County schools would have a difficult time traveling to a
place like Lapeer. Lapeer’s closest rival if they joined the OAA would had been
Oxford although they have had games against Rochester and Orion, among others.
The Saginaw Valley League is on the way up with schools with
different enrollments in the league and in different cities. It also brings
competitive balance along with the league and for Grand Blanc, it brings
stability. I can only imagine how the league would look in 2018 with some
powerhouse schools coming within Mid-Michigan.
Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest updates on this
developing story.
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