“When you’re independent, especially when you’re building yourself out of nobody, you’re coming from a spot where people aren’t sure they want to play you,” said Emmanuel athletic director Danny Moore. “Even if they’re looking for a game, they’re thinking: ‘What’s the upside?’ ”
Five years ago, the Lions made a push to join the Metro Buckeye Conference and entered the league in 2009. They’ve already won four league titles.
“The difference is night and day,” Moore said. “I feel everybody is confident we’ll play them and be competitive with them. It gives you an identity and a chance to earn all-league awards. It’s been a good fit.”
As an independent, the Lions would often travel across the state to play different teams. That’s changed in the MBC, allowing them to cut down on travel time.
“We’re as locally based as we’ve ever been,” Moore said.
Over the last few years, the Lions have scheduled more and more area teams in marquee sports like boys basketball, like Ohio Heritage Conference schools including Triad, Mechanicsburg and Catholic Central.
“It kind of went the way we thought it would,” Moore said. “Once you get one name or two on, then all of a sudden, you start to get a phone call. It’s nice the way that goes.”
This fall, Emmanuel had its best participation numbers in school history.
“This is what we need to continue to keep building strong programs,” Moore said.
The school is also growing in enrollment numbers, and is hoping it can grow with one another marquee program — football.
“Our goal is to continue to grow, and we want to have football,” Moore said.
Moore said the school has had a special committee in place to help begin a football program at Emmanuel.
Moore said they’ve lost athletes in the past because they wanted to play football and left the school. With a football team, students might stay or even decide to attend Emmanuel.
“We’ve talked about it for a long time,” Moore said. “As far as numbers go, we’ve only got 57 boys in the high school. We need some more boys in the junior high, and that’s where we’d like to start it.”
They’re hoping to have a middle school football team next fall.
“We’ve definitely got people interested in it,” Moore said. “We’re excited to see what happens.”
Although it’s been a long battle for respect, the Lions are happy with the way their programs have grown since the school’s inception.
“We like the pace that things have come along, and we want to continue to grow,” Moore said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0365 or mcooper@coxohio.com.
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