Bethany Christian High School has contemplated joining an athletic conference for many years, but has yet to join one for several reasons.
The biggest difficulty that Bethany reaches when trying to join an athletic conference is that there are very few schools our size in a reasonable travel distance that are not already in a conference. Bethany does not want to join a conference where student-athletes arrive home late in the night after playing an away game.
To join an already existing conference, a school must make a request to the schools in that conference. Said schools will vote whether or not it is beneficial to have the new school in their conference. In previous years, former athletic director Daniel Bodiker attempted to join the NECC (Northeastern Corner Conference) but was denied by a number of votes. Bethany was voted down because it was not worth the other schools’ time to add a school that does not have popular sports such as football, wrestling, or swimming.
Bethany was invited to join a conference with Elkhart Christian Academy, Argos, and other schools further southwest of Goshen, but declined due to the distance of some schools. There is talk amongst area athletic directors of forming a christian school conference with Blackhawk Christian, Canterbury, Elkhart Christian Academy, Lakeland Christian, and Lakewood Park. “It’s more a matter of finding similar schools” says Daniel Bodiker.
Gary Chupp, current Bethany athletic director, explains that if Bethany were to join a conference “it would be easier to set up schedules for all sports [and] it would be fun playing for a conference championship every year.”
~Jesse