Turpin Boosters

By Anthony Amorini
Forest Hills Journal 

The realignment of Fort Ancient Valley Conference divisions sees the 17-team league shift from three divisions to two divisions for the 2010-2011 school year.

The FAVC Buckeye, FAVC Cardinal and FAVC Scarlet divisions are officially gone for everything but football.

Replacing the old divisions for the rest of the sports is the FAVC East Division and the FAVC West Division in a move designed to capitalize on more localized rivalries.

The FAVC East Division is comprised of Anderson, Glen Este, Loveland and Milford from the FAVC Buckeye and Turpin, Walnut Hills, Kings, Little Miami and Wilmington from the FAVC Cardinal.

The FAVC West Division is comprised of Winton Woods from the FAVC Buckeye and Edgewood, Harrison, Mt. Healthy, Norwood, Northwest, Ross and Talawanda from the FAVC Scarlet.

Amelia, formerly of the FAVC Cardinal, is now part of the Southern Buckeye Conference, which leaves only five football teams in the FAVC Cardinal.

The FAVC Buckeye and FAVC Scarlet remain six-team divisions for football.

"I think it's awesome. You have all the East side teams in the same division now and it'll be great for the rivalries," Turpin Athletic Director Tony Hemmelgarn said. "The league championships will mean even more now in the bigger divisions.

"I think it's a win-win for the conference, our school and our kids," Hemmelgarn added.

For the already strong rivalries between Forest Hills School District's Anderson and Turpin, competing for league titles will add even more weight to the annual grudge matches.

"It's going to add a little bit more spice to the games, I'm sure," Hemmelgarn said. "For most of history, Anderson and Turpin have been in the same division of the same league and we kept playing each other along the way in everything but football."

The FAVC was a three-division conference from 2006 to 2010. Before that, teams were separated into two divisions with the FAVC Buckeye and FAVC Cardinal.

Loveland captured the final FAVC Buckeye Division All Sports Trophy in 2010 with 111.5 points to Anderson's 94.5.

Turpin won the final FAVC Cardinal Division All Sports Trophy in 2010 with 108.5 points to Kings' 93.5.

Ross was the FAVC Scarlet Division All Sports Trophy winner in 2010 with 96.5 points to Talawanda's 92.5.

"The FAVC East Division is a perfect fit for Milford and it will be a great division for us," Milford Athletic Director Mark Trout said. "The rivalries will be more meaningful with championships on the line even though we've played a lot of those teams in the past (including Turpin, Little Miami and Kings).

"With more teams it will be tougher but we were facing a high level of competition before with Anderson and Loveland (in the FAVC Buckeye)," Trout added. "We are up to the challenge."