MOUNT VERNON — Friday night, area basketball fans will get an opportunity to preview some of the local high school teams thanks to a new initiative by the Ohio High School Athletic Association and the OHSAA Foundation.
The OHSAA Foundation was created in 1997 to enhance educational opportunities and encourage community service by Ohio’s athletic teams. The Foundation sponsors six leadership conferences across the state each year.
Beginning Friday and running through Dec. 5 will be the Foundation’s inaugural service weeks, and as part of those weeks, the OHSAA is sponsoring Foundation Games. Three area schools — Centerburg, Clear Fork and Highland — are taking part this year, and will begin interscholastic competition.
Participating OHSAA member schools must use one of their five allotted scrimmages for these games, which will be played under normal game conditions. Foundation Games do not count against a team’s season record, however.
On Friday, Centerburg and Highland will hit the hardwood for their first unofficial contests of the season.
The Trojans are traveling to Miller City for a doubleheader against the Wildcats. The varsity girls and junior varsity girls will play their opposition at 6 p.m. with the varsity boys and junior varsity boys following, respectively. The junior varsity teams will play in Miller City’s old gym.
“Miller City is a small school in Northwest Ohio, but they have a very rich tradition,” said Centerburg athletic director Jim Stoyle. “That’s one thing that is going to be special about this. The other thing, from the coaches’ standpoint, is this is the only time all year we can put all of our high school basketball teams on the same bus. They will spend time together, travel together and do things as a program. From a bonding standpoint and a school spirit standpoint, this is going to be a great trip. We chartered buses for them, and we are trying to make it a special event for them.”
The game has a special connection for Trojan head boys basketball coach Jim Simpson. Simpson’s father, Norris, coached the Wildcats to a Class B state title in 1950, so when the OHSAA announced this initiative, it became an immediate draw.
“It was really an easy decision,” Stoyle said. “The Simpson family has meant a lot to our community. Norris was superintendent here as well. He started his career at Miller City and ended it at Centerburg, and he touched a lot of lives in between. Obviously, coach (Jim) Simpson has been with us in our community for 30 years, so this seemed like a natural thing. Often, it is difficult to find the right ways to thank people for what they contribute to your community. I think this is one way that our community as well as Miller City felt they could thank the Simpson family for their contributions.
“This goes back a little ways. There was a guy who suggested that Centerburg and Miller City could play. It was kind of a timing thing because that’s when this Foundation Game came up. It just kind of seemed like the right thing. Miller City’s athletic director and myself got together and talked last June. We decided that this would be a good thing.”
Highland will take its home court on Friday night against Crestline. The varsity girls will play at 6 p.m. with the varsity boys to follow at 7:30. Junior varsity squads will not be playing.
“We are approaching this as another scrimmage situation,” said Highland head boys basketball coach Mike Hoyng, who is also the athletic director. “It gives us another chance to look at kids, only this time in uniforms. I think it will help us when we start the season, especially that first game. Now, they will have had the uniforms on and played under the lights. Maybe some of that apprehensiveness and first-game jitters will have subsided a little bit.”
Crestline was not chosen at random. This preseason, each school in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference is playing a school from the North Central Conference.
“Our league decided to do this, and we joined up with the NCC,” Hoyng said. “All of the schools in our league are playing someone from the NCC. It is a two-year deal that we are going to flip-flop. This year, Crestline comes to us and next year we will go up there.”
Two other area programs are also participating. The Clear Fork High School girls basketball team will be playing a Foundation Game at Galion on Tuesday, while the Utica High School boys basketball team is taking on host Granville in a Foundation Game on Dec. 2.
Each team is required to donate $250 to the OHSAA Foundation and perform a service project. All proceeds from the games are donated to charity, and the $250 contribution will be returned to the schools in the form of scholarships, leadership conferences and educational materials for all student-athletes.
“The Foundation Games are a nice opportunity for the kids to give something back to the communities,” said Hoyng. “It is a win-win for everybody. It makes the kids realize that as they move into communities and their lives, there are service responsibilities for them. This is a good thing for them as they become young adults.”
Miller City plans to donate its proceeds to the Norris Simpson Scholarship fund, as well as The Putnam County Hospice Program. Centerburg is donating its proceeds to Food for the Hungry campaign. Highland’s charity of choice is the Morrow County Red Cross, while Crestline is donating its’ proceeds to the Crestline Area United Way. Clear Fork is donating its proceeds to the Butler Food Pantry, and Galion’s go to the local Multiple Sclerosis chapter. Utica’s charities are the Utica Community Fund and the Utica Food Pantry, while Granville’s donations will go to the Clayton Manos Scholarship Fund and the Licking County Food Pantry.
“This is a unique thing because you have to do a service project as part of this,” said Stoyle. “What we ended doing was a food drive. We did one locally here and Miller City did one there. We collected over 12,000 items, and we donated that to Interchurch and the Food for the Hungry campaign. Miller City was over 1,000 items as well. That got the kids involved in the community, and that’s what this is all about. ... This is a win-win situation.”
Over 270 schools are participating statewide.
