By SCOTT NOVAK

scott.novak@leaderpub.com

NILES — Conference realignment continues to be the talk of southwest Michigan.

Not only did Niles and South Haven leave their respective conferences to join the BCS Athletic Conference, but Kalamazoo Loy Norrix has announced it will no longer play football in the SMAC.

The Knights will remain in the league for all other sports for the time being. Meanwhile, the BCS had a departure of its own as Parchment will be headed to the Southwestern Athletic Conference starting in the fall of 2020.

The Panthers also cited travel as a reason for their leaving the BCS.

Bob Guse, former Cassopolis athletic director and current executive secretary for the BCS, said that while enrollment figures in the BCS range are wide-ranging, he is hoping that schools in southwest Michigan will take a serious look at what the league is trying to create.

“While the enrollment of our members will range from below 50 to over 800, our board of governors and athletic directors are committed to providing athletic schedules and extra-curricular activities which benefit the students of all our member schools,” he said. “This enrollment range creates challenges, but also opportunities as we develop sports schedules. In preparing individual schedules with divisions per sport, we are able to accommodate member schools based upon strength of program.

“Extra effort and flexibility are required by our athletic directors, but we believe the benefits of our unique scheduling outweigh the need to customize schedules each sport season.”

Besides travel, Niles administrators and coaches felt that being in a league that can shift its divisions based on competition would be a plus.

“It is hard to compete against teams that are twice your size,”  said Niles Principal Molly Brawley. “I have been around Niles for 35 years now, and I believe we have had six winning football seasons and we have played in the SMAC the entire time.”

Brawley said that Niles has talented athletes and a lot of good families and support.

“We just need to be competing with districts that are closer to our enrollment,” Brawley said.

Superintendent Dan Applegate said looking at all the options that were currently available, the BCS made the most sense.

“Taking a look at all the variables, the BCS vs. our other options, going into the BCS is clearly in the best interest of our students,” he said.

With the members currently set to compete beginning in the fall of 2020, the BCS will continue to use multiple divisions. The larger schools will be placed in the Red Division, while the smaller schools will be placed in the White Division.

The BCS will have 16 schools under its umbrella next fall.

“We hope our special ‘customer service’ would appeal to other school districts in southwestern Michigan, as we seek to build a strong base to our athletic conference for Division 2, 3, and 4 schools,” Guse said.

Dowagiac was one of the schools that were invited to join the BCS at the same time as Niles and South Haven. At the same time, Dowagiac was an advocate of Niles coming into the Wolverine Conference with the departure of South Haven.

As multiple schools were not in favor of adding the Vikings, Dowagiac administrators felt it was in its best interest to stay in the Wolverine.

“We were contacted last school year by the BCS regarding our interest in the conference,” said Dowagiac Athletic Director Brent Nate. “We did our due diligence and looked at the schools involved, its current members of the conference, sports offered, travel and things along those lines. We felt the best fit for us was to stay in the Wolverine. We are very happy where we are at.”

Nate went on to say that Paul Hartsig, Dowagiac’s former superintendent, Kelly Millin, Dowagiac’s high school principal, himself and three members of the school board sat down and discussed their options. They felt staying in the Wolverine was the best interest for the district.

“Due to location, competitiveness of the league, the gap in size from the largest to us now being the smallest school, is not that great if you compare it with some other leagues,” Nate said. “We gave it a thorough look. We did not just dismiss it, but after that, we decided to stay here.”

Nate would be in favor of continuing to add sporting events with Niles, including football.

“We have a great relationship with Niles,” Nate said. “We try to play them in as many sports as we can with the exception of football. We would like to get the ‘Black and Blue’ rivalry restarted. We have been an advocate for Niles for trying to get them into the Wolverine Conference. With South Haven leaving, there is a potential opening in the schedule depending on that happens with the rest of the league.”