Keizertimes., December 17, 2021, Page 20, Image 20

PAGE A20, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 17, 2021
OSAA places Salem-Keizer schools in
fi ve-team, local league for next four years
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
After competing against the Bend
schools since 2018, McNary, as well as
the rest of the Salem-Keizer schools
(minus McKay) will get some relief
from going over the mountain for the
next four years.
On Tuesday, Dec. 14, the Oregon
Schools and Activities Association
(OSAA) announced their conference
realignment starting in the 2022-23
school year for non-football sports.
Among the notable changes, the Salem-
Keizer schools are slated to play in their
own fi ve-team league called the Central
Valley Conference.
McKay will drop down to the 5A
classifi cation and compete in the Mid-
Willamette Conference.
McNary athletic director Scott
Gragg said that some of the guiding
factors for the decision was less travel,
more instruction time and maintaining
historical local rivalries.
“People didn't want big changes due
to the fact that we are still operating
in a COVID environment. But some of
the people that gave testimony empha-
sized the importance of less travel and
what that might look like,” Gragg said.
“With every team in the conference
located in town, it makes it pretty easy
for standard operating procedures.”
While Gragg is pleased that McNary
won't share a league with the schools
in Bend, it wasn't the ideal outcome for
him.
In October, Gragg told the
Keizertimes that he was clamoring for a
fi ve-classifi cation system that featured
the Salem-Keizer schools in a confer-
ence with the Albany schools, plus
Silverton. However, he also said that
he
recognizes
that the OSAA is
trying to do what
is best for the
entire state.
“I
appreci-
ate the process.
I'm not super
happy with the
outcome, but the
OSAA has to act
in the best inter-
est of the state.
But in large, they
were able to miti-
gate some of the
concerns of the
past,” Gragg said.
With only a
McNary athletic director
fi ve-team league,
a barrier that
With every team in
the conference located
in town, it makes
it pretty easy for
standard operating
procedures.
— SCOTT GRAGG
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the Central Valley Conference (CVC)
will have to overcome is dealing with
non-league scheduling. For instance,
in sports such as basketball, volleyball
and softball compete against their con-
ference opponents twice during the
season. In order to fi ll a 26-game sched-
ule, CVC athletic directors will need
to schedule 18 non-league contests for
each of those sports.
During the COVID-shortened sea-
sons over the spring, Salem-Keizer
schools partnered with schools from the
5A Mid-Willamette Conference, which
featured teams from Albany, Corvallis,
Independence, Dallas and Silverton.
Due to the competitive nature of the
majority of contests played between the
two groups, Gragg says that a contin-
ued partnership could be in the works
in the future.
Gragg also said that he likes the idea
of holding conference tournaments at
the end of the season.
“I am confi dent that we will be able
to fi ll our schedule,” Gragg said. “We
will get things fi gured out.”
The Ad-Hoc football committee,
which Gragg is a a part of, will meet
multiple times over the next month to
discuss special districting as it relates
to football. A decision should come by
the end of January according to Gragg.
While there may be some diff er-
ences between football special districts
and regular leagues, Gragg believes
that contrasts will be minimal.
“The hard work has been done. We
are going to look at what has already
been established before making a fi nal
decision on what we are going to do,”
Gragg said.