GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Look out West Michigan high schools, there's a new conference in town. Seven schools from the OK Conference have broken off to form the River Cities Alliance: Allendale, Cedar Springs, Coopersville, Greenville, Lowell, Kenowa Hills, and Sparta.
“I love the [OK Conference]," said Pete Bush, the commissioner of the River Cities Alliance. "It's done an outstanding job at creating opportunities. I think, for the seven school districts in the River Cities Alliance, it just is the time where the conference has gotten very large. When you have a conference that has gotten as large as it has, I think some of the districts feel like maybe they don't have a voice in some of the changes that happen.”
Back in April, the OK Conference gathered all 48 member schools to vote on the next realignment, which happens every four years.
The vote was 42-6, resoundingly in favor of the next setup.
FOX 17 learned that four of the yes votes came from schools who've since left to join the River Cities Alliance.
“Travel is certainly a concern for some of the districts that are moving," Bush said. "Then, obviously, creating that consistent rivalry that, you know, has been really hard, I think, to establish in some of the OK Conference realignments for some districts — when you have neighboring communities who get shifted in a different conference, or a different division, and then you don't participate or play with them in a lot of competitions."
Typically, OK schools have two options when they want to leave early: either give two years notice or have support from 75 percent of the conference.
In this case, neither of those guidelines were met. In fact, during a vote Tuesday night, 35 schools voted against the move, while only 13 voted in favor.
Still, they made the move anyway.
Dave Feenstra, the OK Conference Commissioner, said there's no real consequence for withdrawing early without abiding by the rules in place.
"It's just a difficult situation for everyone," Feenstra told FOX 17.
However, Bush said their actions are nothing new.
"I'm not aware of any districts, in my mind, that have actually followed that bylaw, given the notice.," he said.
Only four other times have schools left the OK Conference in its 65-year history. Those all came in different years.
Watching seven schools leave at the same time is "unprecedented," as Feenstra put it.
Feenstra added, "I'm very disappointed and saddened by the result of that for all our member schools."
FOX 17 brought that comment to Bush. Here's how he responded:
“I admire and respect them immensely," he said. "We have nothing but the best of the OK Conference. I certainly want to continue to collaborate and work with them as best we can moving forward as well.”
Bush said, when this process began, a few more schools had expressed interest in joining the River Cities Alliance. However, those conversations have stalled.
As of Wednesday, Bush said the River Cities Alliance will have those seven aforementioned schools during its inaugural season, which will be in the fall of 2024.
