That move created two divisions — the big school CBC Kenton Trail and the small school CBC Mad River.
“When we expanded and went with the divisional concept that was a pretty bold step at the time,” said CBC Commissioner Mike Ludlow. “There were not that many conferences around with divisional formats. We had to design ours for our specific needs, and it has worked out extremely well.”
Competition-wise, the CBC has flourished since the division format was put in place in 2001-2002. They’ve had 13 state team title winners — including 10 straight from the Graham High School wrestling team — and 49 different state champions, including 34 in wrestling.
The CBC teams have made deep runs into the tournament in nearly every sport — including volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, girls golf, softball and baseball.
In football, five of the Springfield area’s seven CBC teams have made the playoffs.
Reshaping league
The conference’s goal, Ludlow said, was to have a champion in each division, as long as four teams per division were sponsoring the sport.
“You make a lot of compromise and serve everybody as best as you can,” he said. “The CBC has really struck a good balance.”
That’s allowed for the big and small schools to gain recognition for their programs.
The league structure has also changed over the years as certain issues arise.
“Coaches have an influence in that, and that’s where it goes,” said Tecumseh Athletic Director Craig Eier. “We always try to look at consistency, but every sport is different in its own way. There has to be some legitimate arguments, but we’ve got to look at the whole picture.”
One sport that’s changed quite a bit is basketball. The league has changed the format several times.
A lot of the changes come from two schools of thought between the CBC schools, which formerly played a 14-game home-and-home schedule, and the old SRC, which played just seven league games.
“Basketball was the big sticking point at first,” said KR Athletic Director Kris Spriggs. “We voted, voted and voted on that and came up with every situation known to man.”
They tweaked it again this season, playing a 10-game home-and-home schedule against teams within the division. They also scheduled the other schools as non-league opponents in a rotation.
Other changes
The league has also had a few membership changes since it went to a division format.
In 2006, Miami East left the CBC to join the Cross County Conference. Stebbins then joined the league as part of the Mad River Division, then moved to the Kenton Trail with Kenton Ridge. Urbana and Indian Lake moved from the Kenton Trail to the Mad River Division.
The league has been very good for travel, Spriggs said. There are a few long trips, but nothing out of the ordinary for other schools.
“As far as travel goes, it’s ideal,” Spriggs said. “This is where our rivalries are, and if we need to schedule non-league games, we can play the teams in the other division.”
The same can be said for the athletic budgets, although a lot of factors can play into bringing more fans to athletic events.
“It goes through cycles,” Spriggs said. “If you’re having a good season, then your gates are going to be better. It all depends on the weather. It’s the nature of the beast. Some of those things you can’t control from year to year.”
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