CCC - How does the the Cross County Conference stack up in 2008?

Covington - Still the team to beat in the CCC. Should be a more experienced unit with talent. Their conference to lose.

Miami East - Had a fantastic season last year. Lost some good talent, but their excellent running back - Smallwood is back. Probably the team with the best chance at knocking off the Bucc's.

Everyone else - Lots of coaching changes in the CCC this season. About half of the league has had a coaching change this season. New systems, new coaches - who can get their team to adapt faster?

Ansonia - Should have a winning record. One of the smaller schools in the CCC, but they still play good ball. Graduated a good running back in Beisner, so someone will need to fill his shoes.

Arcanum - Also a program with a new coach. Have some solid returning players. They just have to gel.

Bethel - Mayes is gone, who will take his place? Have some returning linemen, should be in the mix this season.

Tri-County North - Return a lot of players. This is their second year under their new coach. So the team will know what to expect on July 31 when they report in. Should have the talent to be around .500 and if things break right, a winning record.

Twin Valley South - Lost a lot of talent at the skill positions. But almost all of their line is back. New coach here as well, Shondlemeyer who has a proven record at Arcanum. Struggled at Versailles, but he was trying to fill the shoes of a legend. If history holds true, look for South to run, run, run.

Mississinnewa Valley - Graher has left and he is the glue that held everything together. The Blackhawks have been respectable under his tenure. Will the new coach be able to continue the success, or will the program backslide and become doormats again?

Bradford - Low numbers last season. Another new coach. Program needs to right itself. Can the coach reenergize the community and get the numbers and enthusiasm back up?

National Trail - Another program plagued by apathy. Low numbers, not much help at the skill positions. This season will be another struggle.

Tony Augsperger is the new Athletic Director at TVS. Dan Bassler decided to step down. With South's financial woes, maybe he decided that now may be a good time to get out before budget cut backs get worse. Tony will have his hands full with pay to play. That will effect numbers at all sports. Also it may make parents more anxious. If a parent is paying X amount of money and my kid is on the bench then that may be something to gripe about. I do know that Tony will be stretched thin, wearing multiple hats this school year.


Shawnee Summer League for Junior High Girls.
Congrats to the champs - Eaton! Runners up was Twin Valley South. Third was Valley View, then Trail, last was Shawnee. South did have a little upset over Valley View in the opening round. In their first meeting South got thumped. But in the tournament, South played well enough to beat the Spartans and advance to the finals.

For next season, I think that a weekend shoot out might work out better. Maybe the weekend before the 4th of July. Everyone plays three games over a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We can work with scheduling to a degree. If a bunch of your girls have a Sunday softball game, then we can schedule your three games for Friday and Saturday.

I see the value in a league in that you can work with and develop players. But I also know that in the summer the girls are doing so much that it is difficult to get a team together every week for the games.