West Holmes seeks stability with conference change

With its district enrollment shrinking like the size of a carton of ice cream, West Holmes had little choice but to seek refuge in a new league. The Ohio Cardinal Conference, though all leaking a bit in terms of the number of students, was not experiencing similar attrition.

“We can project 25-50 kids a year,” West Holmes Superintendent Eric Jurkovic said of potential drops to come. “We used to be over 2,500 kids 10 years ago or so. Now we’re down under 1,700. There’s been a drastic decrease in enrollment. It could be an issue. When we go into the PAC enrollment-wise, it would be as much of an issue.”

In the 2019-20 school year, the district was home to 2,000 students. This year that number was close to 1,600. Losing 20% of a district’s enrollment in roughly half a decade is nearly unheard of.

Taking it back a bit further, West Holmes had 2,800 students in 2003-04, and just 20 years later, that number was 1,773. That loss of a little more than 1,000 students represented a nearly 37% overall drop in just two decades. Those numbers are based on the district’s 20-year enrollment recap published two years ago.

The OCC’s larger districts all have seen enrollment decline over similar periods, just not nearly as much. Wooster has fallen by 11% over a decade or so, Ashland by 22% in 15 years and Lexington by around 19% over most of two decades.

So beginning in the 2028-29 school year, the Knights will indeed head to the Principals Athletic Conference, along with Cloverleaf. Those two will replace Fairless and Tuslaw, which will both join the Northeast Senate League.

“West Holmes had tremendous drops in enrollment,” PAC Commissioner Gary Wood said.

West Holmes will compete against Canton South, Akron Manchester, Canal Fulton Northwest, Orrville, Triway and Tuslaw. Triway and West Holmes were members of the defunct Mohican Area Conference throughout most of its history from the late 1980s to early 2000s.

“We want our kids to have a chance to be successful,” Jurkovic said.

Wood said on-field athletic success is a prime reason why schools change affiliations. He believes that’s the case for both West Holmes and Cloverleaf, which 30 years ago was part of the Pioneer Conference with the likes of enrollment giants Brunswick, Medina and Strongsville but now is considered a mid- to small-sized district.

“Everybody goes to a place where they have a chance to win,” Wood said. “Maybe the competition level is better for them, and that’s what they go for. I would say the vast majority of the changes are caused by football, only because for most athletic departments, football has the largest attendance, therefore the largest gate receipts, and that helps them financially.”

That likely wasn’t the case at West Holmes. Though the Knights were 5-5 each of the past two seasons, 3-3 in the OCC, they have not had a losing season this decade and are just three years removed from a stretch of three consecutive 10-win seasons, a run that included a state semifinal appearance in 2021 as one of the smallest teams in Division III.

Other sports are a bit more indicative of the struggle. In “game” sports, West Holmes teams entered the week a combined 18-55 this school year. In aggregate sports, while the Knights have had four conference runner-up squads this year, they have not produced a league championship in 2025-26.

This year marked the second consecutive year the district contacted the PAC about a possible move. At that point Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy had announced its departure was imminent. CVCA was replaced by Akron Coventry.

Playing Coventry will mean a 75-minute trip, one way, for conference events. Cloverleaf is nearly an hour. Only Triway can be considered close.

“Travel was a question for us,” Jurkovic said.

It’s bound to be in most instances, though. To find similar-sized schools, West Holmes is going to have to be road warriors.

Despite that one shortcoming, the conference switch was a move most agree had to be made.

“Currently in the OCC, we are the smallest school,” Jurkovic said. “There are great schools and great competition. Week in and week out, it’s a grind. We have great relationships with them. We were very fortunate to have this opportunity (with the PAC).”