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Conference Realignment Q&A with East Central Head Coach Jacob Meiners


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Question 1
Athletic conferences have been at the heart of high school sports for decades.  Winning conference championships at one time was the primary goal for hundreds of schools around the state.  Do you feel that the introduction of the state tournament, and the emphasis that it receives, has devalued the conference championship over these past few decades?
 
Response
Our program still puts a ton of stock in winning the EIAC. We have some really good teams in the EIAC and I think that shows when EIAC teams play teams from other conferences. This year was another year where we had two EIAC teams competing for Regional Championships. We have been fortunate to win quite a few EIAC Championships in a row, but it definitely has not devalued it. It is one of our goals every season to win the EIAC. Our players understand the amount of effort that goes into winning a conference championship, and we celebrate winning it.
 
Question 2
Do you feel that the recent events in The MIC could potentially create a domino effect where other schools begin to reassess their current conference homes and potentially seek better opportunities?
 
Response
Where we are located in the state and our current schedule, what happens in the MIC does not affect us. It will be interesting to see how things play out.
 
Question 3
We have seen a few conferences go to 10 schools (SIAC/SAC) and play a full round robin schedule. eliminating the need for non conference games to fill open dates.  Many like this format primarily due to ease of scheduling and reduced travel.  Others would prefer to have open dates so their schools can seek opportunities to play out of area against stronger competition.  What are your thoughts on the subject and do you have a preference of one option over the other relative to conference makeup?
 
Response
I favor what the EIAC currently does. We have 3A and 4A divisions with 4 teams in each division (although most teams in the EIAC are now 3A teams). We still play two schools from the 3A division, although there will most likely be some conference realignment with the new enrollment numbers. This setup allows us to compete for a conference championship and the freedom for schedule flexibility. We have utilized this freedom to play our rival Harrison (OH), as well as Cincinnati Moeller, Guerin Catholic, and Roncalli. We have played Cincinnati LaSalle, Beech Grove, Oak Hills (OH), and Chatard over the past few seasons. We try to use these non conference games to challenge ourselves and create premier matchups. It allows our players to compete with other top programs and allows our fanbase to see how we stack up with other top teams. If we had a closed conference of 10 teams, we would not be able to do this, which personally I would not be in favor of.
 
Question 4
We are also seeing more conferences move to a divisional set up, sometimes to reduce travel and others to group schools by class designation.  What are some of the positives and negatives of utilizing the divisional setup?
 
Response
The EIAC has had this setup in football for the last several years. It has allowed for smaller schools the opportunity to compete for conference championships and provided others the ability to schedule more non conference games. It has also allowed for more recognition for players around our conference (we do a 3A All-Conference Team and a 4A All-Conference Team). Our conference is spread out a little more than some others, but the travel times are not too bad. The setup is not perfect, but the EIAC schools work well together and offer schools the opportunity to compete.
 
Question 5
With regards to your school and your conference affiliation, how would you assess the current competitive balance situation within your league, and what changes or improvements would you like to see to help move the conference forwards and remain competitive at both the local and state level?
 
Response
The EIAC is a very competitive conference every year. We are obviously the big school in the conference, but other schools have made nice runs recently. Again, I think this shows every year when EIAC teams compete against teams from other conferences. Lawrenceburg has been a top tier program for a while. Franklin County, South Dearborn, Greensburg, and Batesville have won a lot of games. Most of their losses have been to conference schools. Connersville has shown improvement (making their first sectional title), and Rushville will continue to improve under first year head coach, Coach Sliger. All of our schools have put an emphasis on continuing to grow the game in Southeastern Indiana. 
 

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