When an organization grows in scope and size as much as the Ohio Capital Conference has in recent years, it was only a matter of time before some might fear the league would split at its seams.

Already home to 30 of Central Ohio's largest schools, the OCC is slated to add two more with new schools set to open in the Hilliard and Olentangy districts, calling for realignment in 2008.

Having realigned every two years since 2002, the OCC is scheduled to move from a five 6-shool divisions to four 8-school leagues in the next shuffle starting with the 2008-09 school year.

With 32 entities involved not everyone is going to be happy with the results of realignment and soon after the lineup was announced, rumors of league unrest started circulating.

Internet chat rooms and sideline conversations during the recently completed high school football season buzzed with supposed news that some school systems would leave the OCC to form new leagues.

Some of the prime suspects included Southwestern City Schools and the Westerville Schools, but Pickerington, New Albany and the Olentangy Schools were also being talked about as possibly abandoning the OCC ship.

It turns out any talk of a league hemorrhage is premature.

"There was never any intention for the Westerville schools to be leaving the OCC," Westerville Central athletics director Andy Ey said. "I don't think that was ever anyone's intention and there was never even any talk about it. The only thing that came about as a result of discussions is we came up with a new way to realign our divisions."

The key issue was the philosophy used in creating those new divisions. Some school systems with multiple schools wanted their schools in the same division while others did not.

The Westerville Schools, for example, wanted Westerville South, North and Central to compete with one another. Southwestern, on the other hand didn't want Grove City, Central Crossing, Franklin Heights and Westland to play each other.

When the Conference was realigned, Westerville got what it wanted but Southwestern did not.

Sister Schools Align

With the 2008 alignment, Westland and Central Crossing will be division rivals. Hilliard Schools Darby and Davidson join that same division, as do both Worthington schools.

And there are other situations where sister schools are together.

Pickerington Central and Pickerington North will be in a division with Grove City , Groveport Madison, Lancaster, Gahanna Lincoln Newark and Reynoldsburg.

"I think that's probably where (the rumors) came about," Ely said. "I think there were a couple of school districts that were reluctant with the new way of lining up the league. There were some of them that didn't like that."

"(Other schools) have talked about (leaving the OCC), thinking the OCC is too big," Pickerington Central athletics director Pete Laihr said. "Pickerington doesn't want to leave the OCC. Neither one I think wants to leave. I don't think the board of education would want us in two different leagues. I think there are too many advantages to playing in the OCC. It's a great league.

"Reynoldsburg and Lancaster will be in our league. North will, too, so you'll have three of our rivalries. My concern is Pickerington Central will be the smallest school by close to 900 students. Some of our coaches like the alignment, I think they can be successful.

Football-wise it will be a battle, but it's something we'll have to deal with.

While SWCS officials say forming a new league has been discussed, it looks like the move has not gone beyond that stage.

"My principal and I had one quick conversation about it and we haven't discussed it since," Westland athletic supervisor Greg Burke said. "With the levy and everything going on, I think the focus now has been in other ways. So it's really not been a topic of discussion in the last few weeks at all>"

A Southwestern school levy failed by more than a 2-to-1 margin Nov 7 and money continues to be a major issue there and in other districts.

Costs and Travel

Money was a concern for those in Westerville, who like everyone, saw transportation costs soaring.

Ey said it wasn't just the cost, but also the travel time to far-away schools that was an issue.

"in addition to that, when you play schools that are close by that you have relationships with, your gates are bigger," he said. "So you spend less money on your trip and you generate money are your games."

Transportation costs could become a major concern at Southwestern's fourth school, Franklin Heights, which winds up in the OCC's fourth and most scattered division in 2008.

The Falcons will compete with Big Walnut (103 mile round trip), Delaware (71 miles), Mount Vernon (115 miles), New Albany ( 46 miles), Watkins Memorial (54 miles) and with the two new schools from the Hilliard and Olentangy districts.

Money problems have plagued SWCS in recent years. Just two yeard ago, there was talk of abandoning extracurricular activities as a budget-shaving measure. Only by passing a levy in that district did sports and other activities survive.

But now another levy has failed and the districts financial future is hard to predict. Burke said leaving the OCC is not currently an option, but things could change.

"There hasn't been any timetables set for any other meetings," he said. "I think where we are right now is, if it was something that presented itself and it was in the best interest to the students in Southwest, it would be looked at. But right now, I think we should focus on more pertinent matters at this time."

On one thing most OCC member schools agree. No one liked the realigning every two years for obvious reasons. Just when rivalries started to develop, teams were acquainting themselves with new foes. And in some cases, some old rivalries went by the wayside.

The hope is the 2008 alignment will last a minimum of four years. Ey said that agreement has not yet been formalized by the OCC, but he hoped to get the item on the agenda for finalization.