Bob Foos
Webb City R-7 School Board members were caught up Tuesday on the ongoing changes with the Central Ozark Conference, which will affect which schools Webb City competes with starting next fall.
Superintendent Tony Rossetti reported that on Friday he and other COC administrators granted the requests of Carl Junction and Branson to leave the conference.
Athletic Director John Roderique said he has been in talks with other COC representatives about ways to fill the resulting holes in their football schedules.
Since the COC expanded by accepting Carl Junction (2016) and Joplin (2018) COC member schools haven’t had to go outside the conference to schedule the regular season.
The two outgoing schools may continue to compete against COC schools beyond next year. But those games will be non-conference.
Roderique said he may look to fill the two openings in the football schedule with Springfield schools in the Ozark Conference, which is losing Bolivar and West Plains.
Branson and Carl Junction are two of the six schools establishing the Ozark Mountain Conference, which was formally announced today.
The four other schools and the conferences they’re currently in are: Bolivar (Ozark), Logan-Rogersville (Big 8), Marshfield (Big 8), and West Plains (Ozark).
Enrollment disparities and travel distance are factors in the shakeup of the leagues.
Carl Junction and Branson were the smallest schools in the COC. Bolivar was the smallest school in the Ozark Conference.
The following 2023-24 enrollment numbers, from the MSHSAA website, are for grades 10-12.
