Beshore excited about conference affiliation with Big 8

The future of Nevada R-5 athletics further brightened with the recent announcement that Nevada High School and middle school will be joining the Big 8 Conference at the start of the 2018-19 school year.

Currently, Nevada High School is in year three of its affiliation with the West Central Conference, which includes three Kansas City-area schools as well as Clinton, Warrensburg and Sedalia Smith-Cotton.

Two WCC schools, St. Pius X and Warrensburg have already announced their intentions to leave the WCC at the conclusion of the 2017-18 school year. In addition, Archbishop O'Hara's WCC status is currently in doubt with the creation of a new school underway.

With all these moving parts, the WCC is in clear jeopardy of disbanding.

Big 8 origins

Nevada High School was a charter member of the Big 8 Conference. In 1920, Nevada was one of 10 schools in the Southwest Inter-high League, later renamed the Southwest Activities Association.

In 1929, Joplin and Springfield were voted out of the conference. The remaining eight schools formed the original Big 8 Conference, which stayed intact until it added a ninth team in 1952.

The charter members of the Big 8, were: Nevada, Lamar, Aurora, Carthage, Monett, Mount Vernon, Neosho, and Webb City.

Super-conference

The Big 8 expansion to 14 teams transforms it into a super-conference, with the schools split into East and West divisions.

The Big 8 is now comprised of its six new members: Nevada, Springfield Catholic, Rogersville, Reeds Spring, Hollister and Marshfield, who are set to join existing members Lamar, Cassville, Mount Vernon, Monett, East Newton, Aurora, Seneca and McDonald County.

Nevada R-5 Superintendent Tyson Beshore said he was saddened with the news of the WCC possibly dissolving, but is thrilled to be able to join the Big 8.

"This will be a great move for our district," Beshore told the Daily Mail Thursday.

"The stability of a big conference is something (the Nevada R-5 board) loved. Because of the situation we're in right now with losing Warrensburg and St. Pius ---- it's gotten down to where it's just a handful of teams left in the West Central Conference."

Beshore continued, "With a 14-team conference, you can lose a handful of teams and you still have more than you've ever had before."

Beshore said it's also important the school is getting back to its roots while playing schools Nevada is somewhat familiar with.

"Being an original member of the Big 8, something that appealed to us was competing against similar-sized schools," Beshore said.

The switch to the Big 8 is also beneficial to Nevada Middle School, who will be leaving the Tri-County Conference for the Big 8.

"The Tri-County Conference was looking to probably disband in a few years due to a lot of those schools being in the Central Ozark Conference (COC)," Beshore said.

As it pertains to the East and West divisions at the Big 8 high school level, Beshore said scheduling and other logistical items will get ironed out at the Big 8 athletic directors meeting slated for early 2017.

Nevada has been slotted into the Big 8 West Division, along with Lamar, Cassville, Monett, East Newton, Seneca, and McDonald County.

According to a recent Big 8 press release, "The expanded Big 8 Conference will provide for two divisions that will represent the best interest of all member school demographics and location while also honoring traditional rivalries and athletic scheduling options."

The release continued, "By expanding to the 14 member conference, all schools immediately benefit as eight additional sports will be considered and eligible for conference recognition and awards."

Beshore said as far as scheduling for football, Nevada will play each of the six teams from the West Division, while playing two teams from the East Division on a yearly rotation.

Tentatively, week nine of the football schedule will determine the true conference champion, as the top teams from the East and West divisions will square off for all the marbles. Further, the No. 2 through 7 teams from each division will face each other, making it possible to play a Big 8 opponent twice during the regular-season.

"What they would have is a (regular-season) Western Division conference champion and Eastern Division conference champion," Beshore said. "And then those two would play for the overall conference championship."

Beshore said he sees the Big 8 as one of the premier conferences in the state of Missouri.

"With the addition of the six new schools to the Big 8, I think it's one of the power conferences they've created in the state of Missouri," he said. "With the number of schools and the success of a lot of the schools in the conference, we're in a great place."

Travel burden eased

With Southwest Missouri as Nevada's new geographic footprint, the travel burden of frequent trips to Kansas City has now been eased.

"I think it will be a lot easier to get to some of these places compared to the West Central schools because of the traffic. "We're not going to have to deal with the traffic in the Kansas City metro-area," Beshore concluded.

"It seems like with all of our game times, we're going right into the city when it's rush hour. So we're not going to have to deal with that issue."

Beshore continued, "Lamar is closer than any of the WCC schools. The rest of the Big 8 schools are either less miles or similar to what we're currently driving.

"Our furthest drive is Cassville, and it's a much easier drive than going to Sedalia, for example. We will be able to stay on I-49 for the majority of our games instead of having to take side-roads and highways as much as we did with Warrensburg, Clinton and Sedalia."

West Central Conference

Beshore said it will be tough bidding farewell to the West Central Conference at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season.

"We were very pleased that the West Central Conference took us in when no one wanted us," he said, "and have given us a home for the past three years.

"We've had great relationships with each of the school districts. Hopefully, we can maintain those and keep our rivalries with the WCC going into the future when we can play them (in various) sports in non-conference games.

"We have nothing but great things to say about everyone in the West Central Conference. Every one of the schools has been a class act to deal with."

Beshore added that Nevada was not looking to leave the WCC until it was revealed that St. Pius and Warrensburg were parting ways.

"We feel very fortunate that the Big 8 was looking to expand and considered us," Beshore said. "We feel this move is a great fit for our community, the district, and our kids."