Miamisburg has been a member of the Greater Western Ohio Conference since 2006.
“On behalf of the Miamisburg City School District, I am writing to formally request consideration for admission of Miamisburg High School into the Southwestern Buckeye League (SWBL),” the letter from MCSD Superintendent Stacy Maney, athletic director Jason Shade, and high school principal Michael Black said.
The letter stated Miamisburg officials believe joining the SWBL would help strengthen some of its regional partnerships, provide meaningful competition for the school’s student-athletes and enhance the athletic experience for its community.
“We provided the GWOC notice back in October and we have been very transparent with them,” Shade said.
Shade said the school spoke with several area league commissioners to gain feedback before deciding to pursue the SWBL.
“The SWBL has received a letter of interest from Miamisburg City Schools,” SWBL commissioner Nate Baker said in a statement to the Dayton Daily News. “The league is currently working through the process outlined in our SWBL Bylaws regarding membership. At this time, Miamisburg is scheduled to have a district presentation for our current member schools in December.”
The expanded five- and seven-division formats used for nearly all Ohio High School Athletic Association sponsored sports has made it more difficult for the school’s teams to properly compete, Shade said.
Many Miamisburg athletic teams have been placed in Division II, including football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball and soccer. Northmont also competes in D-II in the same sports except for football, which was in D-II for one season in 2023.
All other GWOC members — Beavercreek, Centerville, Fairmont, Springboro, Springfield and Wayne — compete in Division I.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Miamisburg has experienced a decrease in enrollment, according to OHSAA figures, over the past few years. Enrollment figures show 587 boys and 550 girls for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 cycle. The previous two-year cycle had 46 more boys and 58 more girls enrolled. Miamisburg’s total enrollment of 1,137 is its lowest since 2015, per OHSAA figures.
The GWOC has undergone a significant reduction in its membership over the last decade. The league at one point in the spring of 2019 had expanded to as many as 20 schools split across four divisions.
Butler, Fairborn, Greenville, Piqua, Sidney, Stebbins, Tippecanoe, Troy, West Carrollton and Xenia all left the league by the fall of that year and together re-formed the Miami Valley League. Trotwood and Lebanon left the following year as Trotwood went independent and Lebanon joined the Eastern Cincinnati Conference.
The SWBL currently has 14 members. This year saw Talawanda and Dayton Christian join the league in all sports except for football. Talawanda will join the league in football in 2027.
The SWBL Southwest Division, which includes Bellbrook, Edgewood, Franklin, Monroe, Ross and Talawanda, primarily competes in D-II and D-III. The other eight schools that make the up SWBL Buckeye Division — Brookville, Carlisle, Dayton Christian, Eaton, Middletown Madison, Oakwood, Waynesville, Valley View — compete in D-IV and D-V.
Miamisburg was part of the initial membership of the Miami Central Conference which began in 1975 and it remained a member until the league folded in 1982. The school then joined the Mid-Miami League where it stayed until joining the GWOC.
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