Touchy subject at Bath

Well there’s a firestorm brewing just south of here.
Here are a couple of stories from today’s Lima News:

High profile transfer at Bath spurs debate
Bath Superintendent under fire for allowing transfers
Essentially a couple of boys from Bath have transferred to Lima Central Catholic. They aren’t just your average students, they are pretty good football players. Bath’s football program has struggled in recent years while LCC has been on an upswing ever since former Columbus Grove coach Jerry Cooper took over as head coach.
While Catholic schools get the bad rap on this most of the time, you can’t fault LCC for bringing them into the fold. They want to change schools so they should be allowed to…it’s their choice and their parent’s choice.
I do have a couple of problems with the situation though. What ever happened to loyalty for the school district you live in and the kids around you you’ve played with for so many years? All that stuff has apparently gone out the window with the way prep athletes change schools these days.
It’s a double-edged sword. You want to see kids maximize their potential and I also understand they may not always be able to do it at their hometown school. It’s a tough issue.
Believe me I coached at a private school and I know what it was like to see kids you developed through elementary school and middle school leave when they get to high school. It seemed to happen quite often for us when I was coaching wrestling at St. Wendelin. Honestly, I can’t remember getting one transfer student into our program the 13 years I was there --- But I saw plenty leave and that always left a bad taste in my mouth as a coach.
But the key in the Bath-LCC situation seems to be the actions of Bath Superintendent Bill Lodemeier. He had to sign an exemption for the athletes to be immediately eligible. The OHSAA waiver states that a student’s physical and emotional well-being must be at stake for the release to be signed by the superintendent.
A lot of Bath people are angry Lodemeier signed the waiver. I think it’s fairly common for supers to sign off on students transferring.
We have a few public to public transfers each year in this area…thankfully most area athletes and their parents aren’t school shopping for sports programs.

NEWSWORTHY:
Findlay Courier Thursday Local Sports
Fostoria Review Times Thursday Sports
Fremont Ross beats Marion in home finale
Oak Harbor has no answer for Royals’ Reynolds
Marion Harding eliminates Fremont Ross girls
Dyer sets season scoring record for Harding girls
Clear Fork wrestler turns it around
Wauseon girls end Bryan’s season
Chasing Jay Burson
What Ashland area coaches say about Diebler
Bucyrus area boys previews
Browns get ready for NFL combine
Fort Jennings shoots down Antwerp girls
Defiance Crescent News Sports
Mansfield area prep roundup
Lima News Thursday Sports
Upper Sandusky, Norwalk in big game Friday