Chip Shots: Is The TRC Creating Problems Vs. Solving Them?
April 28, 2023 at 10:27 p.m.
Chip Shots: Is The TRC Creating Problems Vs. Solving Them?
By Chip Davenport-
Some businesses, either for competitive reasons, or due to proactively transitioning away from a departing employee, will show those employees the exit upon notice, or as soon as all out-processing is completed.
It appears the latter reaction noted is the approach the Three Rivers Conference (TRC) took earlier this week when they voted Tippecanoe Valley High School out of the TRC for next year’s 2023-24 scholastic athletic year.
This vote is noted in a letter signed by Wabash athletic director Floyd McWhirt on behalf of his and eight other TRC member schools and posted in turn on April 25 on the TRC website.
I’ll note, before moving along this morning, this is a developing story where additional reported facts will eventually be released, so I’ll discuss what’s in black and white for now, and present opinions mostly in the form of rhetorical questions.
To the TRC’s credit they did thank the Vikings athletic department for its participation since 1974 and wished the exiting school the best in its newly formed, yet unnamed conference.
The TRC offered three options in their response to Valley’s firm, politely written letter noting the challenges continued membership in the league presents Valley’s athletic continually evolving athletic programs.
Let’s leap ahead to the options Valley was offered extracted from the most recent TRC letter.
1. Finish two years, which would be ’23-’24 and the ’24-’25 school years as part of the TRC.
2. If Tippecanoe Valley leaves for the school year of ’24-’25, they would pay each remaining TRC School (sic) $1000 (sic) by May 5, 2023.
3. If Tippecanoe Valley does NOT want to use Options one (1) or two (2), they will be voted out effective at the end of the ’22-’23 School (sic) year.
Valley chose the third option, and noted they would remain in the TRC for the upcoming scholastic athletic year, leaving the league as planned in the 2024-25 scholastic athletic year.
The TRC responded by voting Tippecanoe Valley out of the conference as previously noted.
Is this a case of sour grapes? Is this a jilted lover out on a limb to write the final chapter?
Is the $1,000 payment requirement to each conference school remaining aboard justifiable even though Tippecanoe Valley gave sufficient notice to the league, or is this very round figure an unnecessarily punitive move?
Is this something the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (MIC) did when Carmel and Center Grove withdrew from the league?
My immediate reaction to the payout was how round the agreed-upon payout was. Additionally, how was such a round number formulated? It seems unilateral, and it raises my antennae because of how I’ve been wired for most of my 58 trips around the sun.
Tippecanoe Valley’s withdrawal letter noted the diminishing athletic participation numbers affecting the availability of sub-varsity opposition among multiple TRC opposing teams playing a part in the school’s decision to join a new league.
I believe this is a very solid reason to move to a new league comprised of teams where, except for LaVille, the difference in enrollment from top to bottom among the other schools is only 135 students. These schools also offer Valley valuable sub-varsity reps to continue developing its programs on a more consistent basis.
It should be noted Valley’s junior varsity football team scrambled to fill a scheduling gap in the 2022 season, and the Warsaw Tigers – in the same situation – agreed to engage in what turned out to be a well-played ballgame.
Valley also offered, in its exit letter, “…scheduling select non-conference contests as (they) begin to reshuffle (their) schedules for the 24-25 athletic seasons.”
Maconaquah, and Peru would be prime examples of schools offering worthy opposition during the transition period. Valley’s archrival, Rochester, would be another obvious non-conference opponent.
I do not know, and cannot yet report, what will happen among the schedules of all TRC sports in the 2023-24 scholastic athletic year. I’m eager to learn what the next steps will be in place for the league and Valley.
Will Valley have to scramble to fill at least nine vacancies in each sport because of being voted out by the other nine TRC members?
Will the 2023-24 athletic schedules remain in place with the Vikings on the remaining TRC’s schedules, but deemed ineligible for any conference titles next year?
The other nine TRC member schools wanted to get the last word on Valley’s exit as far as I’m concerned, but we’ll learn more, and it might shift my opinion. We’ll see whether their collective next steps create problems despite Valley’s reasonable proposal for transitioning from the TRC.
Some businesses, either for competitive reasons, or due to proactively transitioning away from a departing employee, will show those employees the exit upon notice, or as soon as all out-processing is completed.
It appears the latter reaction noted is the approach the Three Rivers Conference (TRC) took earlier this week when they voted Tippecanoe Valley High School out of the TRC for next year’s 2023-24 scholastic athletic year.
This vote is noted in a letter signed by Wabash athletic director Floyd McWhirt on behalf of his and eight other TRC member schools and posted in turn on April 25 on the TRC website.
I’ll note, before moving along this morning, this is a developing story where additional reported facts will eventually be released, so I’ll discuss what’s in black and white for now, and present opinions mostly in the form of rhetorical questions.
To the TRC’s credit they did thank the Vikings athletic department for its participation since 1974 and wished the exiting school the best in its newly formed, yet unnamed conference.
The TRC offered three options in their response to Valley’s firm, politely written letter noting the challenges continued membership in the league presents Valley’s athletic continually evolving athletic programs.
Let’s leap ahead to the options Valley was offered extracted from the most recent TRC letter.
1. Finish two years, which would be ’23-’24 and the ’24-’25 school years as part of the TRC.
2. If Tippecanoe Valley leaves for the school year of ’24-’25, they would pay each remaining TRC School (sic) $1000 (sic) by May 5, 2023.
3. If Tippecanoe Valley does NOT want to use Options one (1) or two (2), they will be voted out effective at the end of the ’22-’23 School (sic) year.
Valley chose the third option, and noted they would remain in the TRC for the upcoming scholastic athletic year, leaving the league as planned in the 2024-25 scholastic athletic year.
The TRC responded by voting Tippecanoe Valley out of the conference as previously noted.
Is this a case of sour grapes? Is this a jilted lover out on a limb to write the final chapter?
Is the $1,000 payment requirement to each conference school remaining aboard justifiable even though Tippecanoe Valley gave sufficient notice to the league, or is this very round figure an unnecessarily punitive move?
Is this something the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (MIC) did when Carmel and Center Grove withdrew from the league?
My immediate reaction to the payout was how round the agreed-upon payout was. Additionally, how was such a round number formulated? It seems unilateral, and it raises my antennae because of how I’ve been wired for most of my 58 trips around the sun.
Tippecanoe Valley’s withdrawal letter noted the diminishing athletic participation numbers affecting the availability of sub-varsity opposition among multiple TRC opposing teams playing a part in the school’s decision to join a new league.
I believe this is a very solid reason to move to a new league comprised of teams where, except for LaVille, the difference in enrollment from top to bottom among the other schools is only 135 students. These schools also offer Valley valuable sub-varsity reps to continue developing its programs on a more consistent basis.
It should be noted Valley’s junior varsity football team scrambled to fill a scheduling gap in the 2022 season, and the Warsaw Tigers – in the same situation – agreed to engage in what turned out to be a well-played ballgame.
Valley also offered, in its exit letter, “…scheduling select non-conference contests as (they) begin to reshuffle (their) schedules for the 24-25 athletic seasons.”
Maconaquah, and Peru would be prime examples of schools offering worthy opposition during the transition period. Valley’s archrival, Rochester, would be another obvious non-conference opponent.
I do not know, and cannot yet report, what will happen among the schedules of all TRC sports in the 2023-24 scholastic athletic year. I’m eager to learn what the next steps will be in place for the league and Valley.
Will Valley have to scramble to fill at least nine vacancies in each sport because of being voted out by the other nine TRC members?
Will the 2023-24 athletic schedules remain in place with the Vikings on the remaining TRC’s schedules, but deemed ineligible for any conference titles next year?
The other nine TRC member schools wanted to get the last word on Valley’s exit as far as I’m concerned, but we’ll learn more, and it might shift my opinion. We’ll see whether their collective next steps create problems despite Valley’s reasonable proposal for transitioning from the TRC.
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