UPDATED: North Putnam votes to join new athletic conference, leave Western Indiana Conference

Updated 5-19-23 with North Putnam press release

Updated 5-19-23 with comments from NP athletic director Bart Jochim

North Putnam will be joining a new athletic conference in the near future after a vote was made Thursday at the North Putnam School Board Meeting.

The Cougars will be joining Montgomery County schools Crawfordsville, North Montgomery and Southmont, along with Western Boone and Frankfort as the sixth team in the conference, which is slated to begin competing as early as the 2024-25 school year and no later than the 2026-27 school year.

North Putnam issued a press release Friday morning, which stated:

“Following the approval by the North Putnam Board of School Trustees on Thursday, May 18; North Putnam High School administration submitted a letter of separation to the administrations of the member schools of the Western Indiana Conference in accordance with conference by-lays.

“This timeframe should allow us to work with the Western Indiana Conference schools to insure a smooth transition while working with the new conference schools to form conference by-laws, confirming schedules, etc.”

Announced May 10, the former Sagamore Conference members broke from fellow schools Danville, Lebanon and Tri-West. The three schools will retain the Sagamore Conference name.

North Putnam has competed in the Western Indiana Conference since the merger of the conference with the five remaining member of the West Central Conference in the 2015-16 school year.

Once put up for a vote, the school board approved the motion unanimously with the athletic department sending out notice of the decision to the Western Indiana Conference schools that night.

North Putnam athletic director Bart Jochim said talks had happened between the school and its northern neighbors in the past but a meeting earlier this year raised the possibility of making a move to levels not seen before.

“Conversations have been happening the last 10-15 years,” Jochim said. “When it was brought to our attention late this winter, all three athletic directors from Montgomery County reached out to us within a week, so we thought there might be something to this.

“After hearing from them, there was a preliminary meeting we attended with the other athletic directors where we discussed things and saw if this was a possibility. After we met with them, we were pretty open and forthright with the WIC schools that we were exploring things, though nothing was official at the time.

“It makes a lot of sense on our end,” Jochim added. “Everybody has been supportive, understanding and things have been well-received all around. The geographic status makes sense for us as well and it’s a no-brainer for the community as well.”

Inside the building, Jochim added the reception among the coaches was very positive to the move.

“All of coaches were very enthusiastic and I don’t think we had anyone that thought the move wouldn’t be beneficial to the athletic department,” Jochim noted. “One thing that makes this easy for us is that, aside from Frankfort, we already play most of these schools in most of our sports, so we wouldn’t be seeing a host of new opponents.

“The new conference also helps a little bit with the traveling issue as we have kids and coaches getting home very late sometimes on weekdays. If we could avoid doing that, we would definitely look into it.”

Once the move is completed, it will be the first time since the 1976-77 school year that the four Putnam schools will not compete in the same conference.

Once North Putnam was formed through consolidation, it joined the West Central Conference as a founding member alongside six other schools, including Avon, Cascade, Cloverdale, Edgewood, Owen Valley and South Putnam, maintaining its membership until the merger noted above.

Greencastle would join the West Central Conference from the former iteration of the Western Indiana Conference in the 1977-78 school year and all four schools have remained in the same conference since.

Though there had been times where a move was discussed, which Jochim said principal Jason Chew had seen before, talks with the other schools this time were much more organized and driven.

“Jason has been here a lot longer than I have and had been around in talks previously,’ Jochim said. “Once we went to the first meeting and saw it had legs, we were both excited.

“We met with the athletic directors and principals of the other schools, who answered a lot of our questions and concerns and we were excited after those meetings.”

Little will change for the next two years as Jochim said the school will fulfill its obligations to the rest of the Western Indiana Conference members and, once ready, the school would be eager to jump into the new conference when the time came.

“We want to make sure, first and foremost, that we’re not leaving any WIC school high and dry,” Jochim said about the timeframe for the move. “We want to honor the by-laws and give those schools an opportunity to fill holes in their schedules if our departure creates any. We also want to honor and keep good relations with those schools for the future.

“I assume the athletic directors and principals will jump right in to figure out the scheduling going forward. We have a two-year window to stay in the WIC during this transition period and we’re hoping we can get rolling in the 2025-26 school year.

“A lot depends on the Sagamore schools and how quickly they can honor their by-laws,” Jochim added. “We’re willing to work with them and get this going as quick as possible.”