GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The landscape of high school athletics in and around West Michigan took a slight turn over the last couple of years with the creation of the River Cities Alliance that moved seven schools away from the OK (Ottawa Kent) Conference. Lowell and Coopersville, two highly successful programs not only in the area but the state, were two of those and we took some time with their coaches to see how they have adjusted to a slightly different schedule.
We caught up with two long-standing head coaches in West Michigan – Shane Balcom (Coopersville) and Jordan Drake (Lowell)
***One of the biggest changes has been how their schedules come together – “what are some positives you have seen with this change over the last couple of years with schedules?”
Jordan – Positives for us from the change in the last two years are that we are only using seven dates now instead of 10 with conference matches. In the OK-White, we played 7 matches and then did a 3 day conference tournament. However, in the RCA we only have 6 matches as we have one less team than we did in the OK-White, but we also do a 1-day conference tournament. This has allowed us to have 11 dates outside of the RCA and really allow us to go find great competition to challenge us.”
Shane – From the beginning, the administrations brought in all the ADs and coaches to get feedback of what we envisioned each sports schedule to look like. Volleyball is different with conference scheduling as we can lay out a few different formats unlike your traditional schedules of football and basketball. We were able to sit down and build a schedule that we thought was best for the conference and we still continue to work on it. It’s great that we as coaches are asked for our input and can set up what we believe is the most competitive and beneficial schedule for our league. I also love the fact that we have an established league now and knowing you’re going to be building new rivalries from schools that were not possible before is very exciting.
***Rivalries are something that make high school sports even more special and both coaches talked about how that has changed between the natural rivalries for their schools as well as within the area
Jordan – Some long lasting rivalries in sports overall at Lowell would probably be with EGR, FHC, and Greenville. However, in volleyball in the RCA, I would say that we have naturally created a rivalry with Coopersville with both of us being towards the top of the conference. In volleyball in general, our best rivalries are probably with Lakewood, GRC and Hudsonville. We have a dual with Lakewood that we have every year that bounces back and forth each year with who is hosting, but this is definitely a match that our girls always look forward to competing in. GRC and Hudsonville are both just tough opponents that we have played a lot in my time and Lowell and they are always fun battles.
Shane – Regardless of the sport, Allendale has always been a huge rival with Coopersville and this has been in existence well before I started coaching at Coopersville. With all the changes in conference realignment while in the OK Blue, Allendale has always been in our conference so that rivalry has continued to thrive in my time at Coopersville. The “Battle of the Bridge” is and will always be one of the biggest rivalries between our two schools regardless of the sport. Sparta and Kenowa Hills also boarder our school district so it’s great to be back in the same conference and competing against them to revive the rivalry they’ve had in the past.
***Getting outside of conference competition is always on the brains of these coaches and we asked them “how have you gone about scheduling for the remaining dates you have available outside of conference play and what are you doing to prepare your team for the postseason
Jordan – we try to go find the toughest competition possible for our kids. We go over to the east side 3 times this year with the Program Cup, the East vs West tourney this weekend, and also a quad with Marian, Lake Orion and Grand Haven. We play Lakewood every year which is always a tough match. The 16 team tournament that we host at the end of the season on October 25th is in my opinion one of the toughest tournaments in the state and we just try and get ourselves into the best tournaments that we can. I have always had the thought that you need to play tough competition in the regular season as otherwise you won’t be ready to face adversity once you get to the playoffs.
Shane – We have to really work to fill out our remaining schedule as the conference schedule only fills 7 of our 18 play dates so it can present challenges at times. We also fill some of our dates with Saturday tournaments but we try not to do too many in a season as it can get taxing on the athletes. Between a hand full of weekday tris/quads and Saturday tournaments spread throughout the season, we can set a pretty competitive schedule and also give the athletes breaks and well deserved days off. We have traveled to the east side over the past several years to compete in the Beast of the East tournament in which most of the top level teams in the state are invited. This tournament gives you a measuring stick to who you really are as a team and what you need to work on for the post season. Lowell is now running the same high level tournament at the end of the year with those same types of teams so it again helps prepare you for districts and beyond.
MSR Weekly Top-10 Poll – OK Conference and River Cities Alliance
- Rockford – suffered first defeat of year but still is top team in D1
- Jenison – went 5-0 on the week including 4-0 at the East/West
- Grand Haven – Will go head to head against Rockford next week
- Lowell – Played elite competition at the East-West and went 1-3
- FH Northern – went 1-0 on the week in conference play
- GR Christian – won conference match but fell to EGR at Lakewood
- Byron Center – won the Cristi Curtis title after falling to Jenison in conference play
- Hudsonville – swept Grandville in lone match of week
- Zeeland East – picked up two conference wins last week
- GR Catholic Central – moved into Top 10 in MIVCA D2 rankings
Honorable Mention – Holland Christian, East GR, Caledonia, South Christian, Mona Shores , Northview, Fruitport
The week that was….
Tuesday
- OK Black – Holland Christian def. Unity Christian 3-0 and Zeeland East def. Zeeland West 3-1
- OK White – FHN def FHC 3-0 and GR Christian def FHE 3-0
- OK Gold – Northview def. Wayland 3-0, South Christian def. West Catholic 3-0
Thursday
- OK Green Jenison def. Byron Center 3-0 and Caledonia def. Mona Shores 3-0
- OK Red – Hudsonville def. Grandville 3-0 and Grand Haven def East Kentwood 30 and Rockford def. West Ottawa 3-0
- OK Silver – Fruitport def. Hopkins 3-2
Saturday
- East vs. West Tourney hosted by Legacy VBC – Jenison (4-0), Rockford (3-1), Lowell and Northview represented West Michigan in one of the top tourneys in the state
- Cristi Curtis Memorial (Byron Center) – the host Bulldogs took home the title and included a win over Fruitport earlier in the day
The week ahead….
Tuesday
- OK White – FH Northern vs. East GR and FH Eastern vs. Catholic Central
- OK Gold – Thornapple Kellogg vs. West Catholic
- South Christian at Hudsonville
- OK Black – Holland Christian vs. Zeeland East (**MSR Match of the Week**)
Thursday
- OK Green – Caledonia vs. Reeths Puffer and Byron Center vs. Mona Shores
- OK Red – Rockford vs Grandville and Hudsonville vs Grand Haven and East Kentwood vs West Ottawa
