The History of The Ohio Cardinal Conference

The Ohio Cardinal Conference was developed when the athletic directors of eight schools met at the Eastbrook Center in Mansfield Ohio to discuss a league for area schools. They took the information back to their board of education and all schools but one voted to join and make this new league.

The OCC is made up of the old Cardinal Conference which began playing in 1960 (Wooster, Madison, Ashland, Dover) were the charter members. In 1964 the Cardinal Conference expanded to 7 members (New Philly, Coshocton, Mansfield Malabar) which is now Senior High. So, as you can see, it has a touch of the old and the new with West Holmes, Orrville and Lexington.

In the fall of 2004 Clear Fork was included with their major sports. The Cardinal Conference disbanded in 1986, but over those 26 years it was a very competitive league. Some the ideas from the old Cardinal Conference are still being used now.

The seven member schools held a month-long contest to determine the name and logo for the Ohio Cardinal Conference. The contest was open to students and residents of the seven founding districts and drew more than 100 entries.

The winners of the naming contest were Greg Cooper, Jessica Peterson and the husband and wife team of Phil and Pat Bush. Cooper was a junior at Wooster High School. Peterson was a sophomore at Madison Comprehensive High School. Pat Bush is a teacher at Madison Junior High School and Phil Bush was a teacher at Madison High School before retiring. Cory Hosfeld of Ashland won the contest to design the logo. The winners received lifetime passes to all OCC games.

Crestline athletics director Jim Glauer was the first commissioner of the Ohio Cardinal Conference. He resigned due to the time commitment required. In November 2002, high school football official Ron Dessecker from Orrville, was selected as the commissioner of the OCC.