RBHS soccer switches leagues amid MSC shakeup | Technoscoob
Riverside-Brookfield Excessive College’s soccer group will make 4 journeys to the far south suburbs and past subsequent 12 months as group is becoming a member of the Southland Convention as an honorary member for soccer solely in 2023. RBHS will the eighth group within the Southland Convention.
The opposite seven colleges within the Southland Convention for soccer are Bloom, Crete-Monee, Kankakee, Thornton, Thornridge, Thornwood and Wealthy Township. Subsequent fall RBHS may have highway video games at Crete-Monee, Kankakee, Thornwood and Wealthy Township.
For many different sports activities, RBHS will stay in a shrunken model of the Metro Suburban Convention with Elmwood Park, Ridgewood and Westmont excessive colleges whereas persevering with to search for a long-term convention affiliation.
“It permits us to strengthen our non-conference schedules,” Assistant Principal for Athletics Brendan Curtin stated.
The personal colleges presently within the Metro Suburban Convention are leaving to hitch both the Chicago Catholic League or a brand new Chicagoland Christian Convention.
As a substitute of taking part in soccer within the Metro Suburban League, which might have necessitated two video games in opposition to every faculty within the convention as was briefly accomplished greater than a decade in the past, RBHS officers tried to discover a higher match.
“Simply didn’t assume it will be a satisfying expertise to ask our boys to play the identical opponents twice inside a season,” Curtin instructed the RBHS faculty board at their Dec. 13 assembly.
RBHS, with about 1,600 college students, is a considerably greater faculty than Elmwood Park (958 college students), Ridgewood (843 college students) and Westmont (375 college students). The Bulldogs defeated Westmont, which has just one degree of soccer, 55-0 final 12 months. RBHS didn’t play Elmwood Park or Ridgewood in soccer final season as a result of they had been in a special division of the Metro Suburban Convention.
In gymnastics, water polo and swimming, RBHS competes in unbiased conferences as a result of the opposite Metro Suburban Convention colleges don’t have groups in these sports activities.
Ideally, RBHS wish to be a part of a convention of colleges of comparable dimension and athletic applications. Curtin and Superintendent Kevin Skinkis have been wanting a brand new convention affiliation for almost two years however have up to now been unable to seek out one that matches and is prepared to permit RBHS to hitch.
“We’re looking for a convention that may accommodate all of our ranges,” Skinkis stated which means a convention that has competitors within the bigger sports activities on the freshman, sophomore and varsity ranges and no less than two ranges in different sports activities.
Conferences usually include an excellent variety of colleges, so many should not all for including one new member.
“What occurs is [potential partner conferences] need you to carry a date,” Skinkis instructed the varsity board. “So not solely are you looking for your self an invite however then it’s a must to discover somebody who’s trying to depart their convention and is of appropriate dimension and has a number of ranges and may slot in nicely with that convention.”
Skinkis instructed the Landmark that RBHS officers have approached the West Suburban Convention, with is made up of 14 colleges, cut up into two divisions.
The West Suburban Gold Convention could be the perfect match for RBHS. It has seven colleges that vary in dimension, for sports activities functions, from Morton, (almost 8,200 college students) to Hinsdale South (1,407 college students).
For the previous few years RBHS has opened the soccer season with a sport in opposition to Morton, one the Bulldogs usually win. Subsequent 12 months, the RBHS soccer is including Hinsdale South as its different non-conference opponent earlier than taking part in the seven Southland Convention colleges.
Becoming a member of the Southland Convention for many sports activities would end in important journey instances for RBHS groups to compete at away contests, which could possibly be a burden in sports activities that compete extra incessantly than the as soon as every week, like soccer.
Enrollment on the Southland Convention colleges, for soccer functions, vary from 1,065 for Thornridge to 2,804 for Bloom, which like Morton combines the enrollments of two colleges for sports activities groups.
The most effective soccer groups within the Southland Convention final season had been Crete-Monee, which completed 9-3 and gained two playoff video games, and Kankakee, which completed 8-3 and gained one playoff sport.
