Changes ahead for Nevada High School sports

Nevada High School sports will likely have a couple of new coaches next year, and if athletic director Kevin McKinley has his way, a new conference for Nevada students to participate in.

Nevada superintendent of schools Dr. David Stephens said Monday afternoon that the district has decided to look at recruiting new head coaches for the varsity football and volleyball programs. The district has currently listed those positions on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Web site. He said that coaching positions have annual contracts and it does not require school board action to allow the contracts to expire.

As far as new conference, Kevin McKinley told the Nevada R-5 School Board during their regular monthly meeting on Dec. 8 that although Nevada is not yet in a conference he is optimistic.

He told the board that he and Nevada R-5 assistant superintendent Tyson Beshore attended an appeal hearing at the Missouri State High School Activities Association the first week in December and updated them on what Nevada has done over the past two years to gain membership in a conference and ask that MSHSAA place Nevada and McDonald into a conference. They also had an opportunity to detail the hardships lack of a conference affiliation was causing Nevada students.

Nevada's lack of a conference affiliation started when Webb City, Carthage and Neosho left the Southwest Conference to join the Central Ozark Conference, leaving Nevada and McDonald County without a viable conference.

McKinley said that he told the MSHSAA board that the lack of a conference requires that students make longer road trips which makes them arrive back in town later on school nights. It also does not give students an opportunity to compete for team championships or be selected for all-conference honors, creates difficulties in filling the schools athletic schedules and increases the transportation costs for both the Nevada and McDonald County districts.

He said that he told the MSHSAA board that over the past two years Nevada and McDonald County have unsuccessfully attempted to create and/or join a conference eight times.

* The Big 8 Conference has turned both schools down three times.

* Central Ozark Conference turned them down in 2007.

* The West Central Conference turned Nevada down in 2007.

* The Show Me West Conference turned Nevada down in 2007.

* Nevada and McDonald County have tried unsuccessfully three times to create a new athletic conferences with selected area opponents.

McKinley said that both Nevada and McDonald Counties have strong ties to the Big 8 Conference, with Nevada having been a charter member of the conference from the 1920's until the 1980's. McDonald County was member of the Big 8 Conference from 1975 until 1982. And both schools already play Big 8 opponents in about 105 athletic events.

The current members of the Big 8 Conference include: Lamar, East Newton, Carl Junction, Seneca, Aurora, Cassville Monett and Mount Vernon.

"We play everyone except Aurora in the Big 8," McKinley told the board.

He said the main arguments the Big 8 members use for denying Nevada and McDonald County membership in the conference are the size of the schools and the travel distance to Nevada.

Nevada currently has about 125 more students than the average of the schools in the Big 8, while McDonald has about 400 more students.

"In 1930 Aurora traveled to Nevada; if you can do it then, why not now," he said that he told the MSHSAA board.

McKinley said that the visit to the MSHSAA succeeded in having them agree to appoint an ad hoc committee to look at the situation and come up with a recommendation. McKinley said that Nevada and McDonald County representatives will be attending another meeting in January or February to make a presentation to this committee.

"They don't have to recommend the Big 8 Conference," McKinley said.

"Our challenge is to make them understand that the Big 8 is the right choice," he said.

He told the board that the letters of support from students, board members, former athletes and community members made a big impression on the MSHSAA board members, and he would like to have more letters to present to the Ad Hoc committee when they present their case to them.

"The more letters I can take to them the better. I really believe that's an effective thing. Some letters are really heartfelt letters from students and alumni," he told the board.

"I'll take those until I leave sometime in January," he said.

"We are by no means home free, but we are further down the road than we were in July," McKinley said.

He said that he hopes to have this resolved by this time next year, because the athletic directors meet in January 2012 to make the football schedule for the next two years. If it is not resolved by that time it will be at least another two years before Nevada will be able to join a conference.