Large SBC schools form Northern Ohio Conference

A new, but familiar sounding league name awaits Norwalk High School athletics. On Wednesday, the formation of the Northern Ohio Conference was announced by Port Clinton High School principal Gary Steyer. Representatives from those schools met Monday in Bellevue and settled on the name. The league will consist of the current 10 schools that make up the Lake and Bay divisions in football. The current Lake Division consists of Clyde, Columbian, Norwalk, Perkins and Sandusky. The Bay teams in football are Bellevue, Edison, Huron, Port Clinton and Vermilion. The league is expected to keep a two-division format and the same Lake and Bay names. Steyer said Northern Ohio Conference was chosen from a list of 15-to-20 names. Some other NOC sports will have only one division. "We talked about keeping SBC, but they will continue to use that name," he said in reference to the smaller schools that are remaining in the conference. For 73 years, Norwalk was a member of the Northern Ohio League, which also included Bellevue and Columbian among others. The Northern Ohio Conference will begin competition in the 2026-27 school year and will include 21 varsity sports. "The 10 schools of the NOC have a history of athletic excellence and academic achievement, establishing what promises to be the region's premier athletic conference," the release stated. "The founding schools will create competitive schedules, establish conference championships, and promote existing rivalries that will enhance the overall high school sports experience in Northern Ohio." Longtime Port Clinton athletic director Rick Dominick, who is retiring from that position at the end of the 2025-26 school year, will serve as the Executive Secretary and Treasurer of the NOC. On Feb. 12, Norwalk officially announced its intention to withdraw from the current Sandusky Bay Conference, one day after Sandusky did the same. The other eight schools then followed suit at their board of education meetings in February. "Conversations began in June (2024) about frustrations all ten schools had with the current league format," Norwalk athletic director Josh Schlotterer said in February. "With not being able to come up with a compromise that worked for all of the divisions, the decision to move on collectively was made." The SBC Lake and Bay divisions announced in mid-January 2025 that they were exploring the possibility of creating a new league. "Norwalk has a strong connection with the other schools and communities who are joining us in this new conference," Schlotterer said. "We look forward to working with them in its formation." Currently, the Lake and Bay total 10 schools for football and 12 for basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball. But Willard is leaving for the Northern 10 Conference next year and Margaretta will remain in the new, smaller SBC. Willard and Margaretta currently compete in the Bay in sports other than football. Football and basketball in the new NOC will operate as it does in the current SBC format with some crossover games. "We're getting input from coaches and working through that," Steyer said. "There's a good chance you're talking about two crossover games in football and more in other sports." Margaretta and Willard each participate in the River Division in football, but play in the Bay in other sports, including basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball. From the fall of 1944 through the 2016-17 school year, Norwalk was a member of the Northern Ohio League. The NOL remained the same eight schools from 1954-2002 with Bellevue, Bucyrus, Galion, Norwalk, Tiffin Columbian, Shelby, Willard and Upper Sandusky. Bucyrus left following the 2001-02 school year and was replaced by Fostoria. After the 2010-11 school year, Fostoria went to the Northern Buckeye Conference, while Galion and Upper Sandusky went to the North Central Conference, which later became the Northern 10 after the 2013-14 school year. Sandusky then joined the NOL after 2011, and Ontario came in two years later. The last major shakeup came when six of the NOL schools — minus Ontario — were invited and accepted the invitation to the SBC. Ontario went to the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, and were joined by Shelby one year later. Prior to the fall of 2017, the SBC went to its current three-division format with the addition of the former NOL schools. The SBC currently has 22 members spread across three divisions — the Lake, Bay and River. It will include 23 schools for the 2025-26 school year before splitting up. As it stands, the SBC will have nine schools for the 2026-27 school year: Margaretta, St. Mary Central Catholic, Danbury, Gibsonburg, Lakota, Woodmore, Fremont St. Joseph, Northwood (joining the SBC this fall) and Ottawa Hills (joining in 2026-27). The new-look SBC will not include current members Willard, Tiffin Calvert, Old Fort, Hopewell-Loudon and New Riegel, which will be joining the Northern 10 Conference for the 2026-27 school year. Calvert, Old Fort, Hopewell-Loudon and New Riegel currently compete in the River Division.Margaretta applied to join the Northern 10 earlier this year, but was not accepted. Six schools in the new SBC play 11-man football. Danbury, SMCC and SJCC play 8-man football. Editor's note: Register sports editor Brian Kollars contributed to this story.