By Rick Palsgrove
Eastside Editor
The Reynoldsburg Raiders boys varsity basketball team in action earlier this year against Gahanna. With the Ohio Capital Conference’s new division realignment set for 2020-21, Reynoldsburg will no longer be in the same division with Gahanna nor with Pickerington North or Grove City.
The Ohio Capital Conference realigned its divisions again and Reynoldsburg finds itself grouped with some familiar foes.
The high school athletic league’s new realignment will be in effect starting with the 2020-21 school year. The five new divisions, which are not yet named, will be:
•Central Crossing, Groveport, Lancaster, Newark, Pickerington Central, Reynoldsburg;
•Gahanna, Grove City, New Albany, Pickerington North, Westerville Central, Westland;
•Big Walnut, Canal Winchester, Delaware, Dublin Scioto, Franklin Heights, Westerville North, Westerville South, Worthington Kilbourne;
•Dublin Coffman, Hilliard Bradley, Hilliard Davidson, Olentangy Orange, Olentangy Liberty, Upper Arlington;
•Dublin Jerome, Hilliard Darby, Olentangy, Olentangy Berlin, Marysville, Thomas Worthington.
“We have long standing rivalries with Pickerington Central and Groveport that go back many years, but also have developed rivalries with Lancaster and Newark in certain sports over recent years,” said Reynoldsburg Athletic Director Jacob Perkins.
Perkins thinks the Reynoldsburg Raiders will be “very competitive in this division.”
“Particularly, some of our sports that have struggled somewhat in our current division,” said Perkins. “This new division aligns us with schools that match not only in geography, but also in socio-economics and competitiveness in all sports.”
Regarding travel time and expenses with the new alignment, Perkins said, “It’s roughly the same as our current division with regard to travel.”
In their long athletic history, the Raiders have been members of three leagues. From 1922 to 1966 Reynoldsburg was in the Franklin County League. The Raiders were in the Metropolitan League (also known as as the Metro League) from 1966 to 1968. Reynoldsburg has been a member of the Ohio Capital Conference from 1968 to the present.
