03/24/2025
SO LONG TAAC … Pending the approval of the OHLS board of education, Ottawa Hills schools will move its athletic affiliation to the Sandusky Bay Conference effective July 1, 2026.
The board is scheduled to vote on the matter at its meeting Wednesday.
Ottawa Hills is a founding member of the Toledo Area Athletic Conference, a league formed in 1988. The Green Bears will remain in the TAAC for the 2025-26 school year before making the move to the SBC for the 2026-27 season.
“The move to the SBC is an exciting one for Green Bear Nation,” Athletic Director Ryan Wronkowicz said. “We will reunite with some previous rivals that were opponents of ours in the TAAC. The SBC is a highly competitive conference that will challenge us moving forward in a variety of sports. The schools are all similar in size to us, which provides us this unique opportunity to join forces.”
When Ottawa Hills joins the league, the SBC will become a nine-team conference. The Green Bears will join Gibsonburg, Lakota, Margaretta, Northwood, and Woodmore as 11-man football. Danbury, St. Joseph Central Catholic in Fremont, and St. Mary Central Catholic in Sandusky, are also full-time members.
Of the sports that the SBC sponsors, Ottawa Hills fields teams in boys’ cross country, girls’ cross country, football, volleyball, boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, boys’ swimming, girls’ swimming, baseball, boys ‘track and field, girls’ track and field, and softball.
The Green Bears’ field hockey, boys’ and girls’ soccer, boys’ and girls’ tennis, and boys ‘and girls’ lacrosse teams will compete as independents. Currently, all those sports, with the exception of both soccer teams, are independents, so their status will not change, officials said.
“While we look ahead to creating some new rivalries in the new league, we will look to finish our tenure in the TAAC strong next year,” Wronkowicz added. “We are thankful to have been a founding member of the league and have enjoyed the competition over the years. We will battle hard in our final year in the conference with the goal of adding more championships to our trophy case before we make the move.”
