UPDATED: Greencastle to compete in WIC in '24-25 season bar football

This story has been updated on Nov. 9 with information from the Greencastle High School administration

Details surrounding several votes made by the Western Indiana Conference over the last month, brought into focus following a Monday Facebook post, have been cleared up following a final meeting on Nov. 6.

Greencastle principal Chad Rodgers and athletic director Doug Greenlee both explained the series of events that led to the Tiger Cub football program being removed from conference consideration for the 2024-25 school year.

Original reports stated that the conference members had voted to remove Greencastle entirely from the WIC following the 2023-24 school year at a meeting on Oct. 6.

Rodgers, who was not in attendance at the meeting, said the lack of representation at the meeting was part of the reason the original vote was not acceptable by Greencastle.

“The initial vote was improper,” Rodgers said. “We, as a voting member of the conference, were told that we were voted out of all sports for the 2024-25 school year but, according to the WIC charter, that is not how the process is done.

“We said we would accept the original vote as a notification that the motion was up for discussion and that we wanted a hearing, as is in the by-laws, as we believed that we had done the right thing throughout the process. The conference members agreed to a heading and it was said that we had followed the by-laws.

“The hearing was held on Oct. 30, where a variety of concerns were raised,” Rodgers added. “A lot of these were misunderstandings and there was a lot of emotions involved but no vote was held; the vote was tabled until Nov. 6.”

The original vote from Oct. 6, according to Rodgers, was followed by a letter from the conference stating the school had been dismissed from the conference for just cause, with a two-thirds majority needed.

While the threshold was met, Greenlee said there was another part of the by-laws that hadn’t been observed in the Oct. 6 meeting.

“The original meeting was held with nine of the members, not the full membership,” Greenlee said. “They had a vote for dismissing us from the conference for all sport in the 2024-25 season but we did not receive written notification that this was going to happen, a step in the WIC constitution that was not taken.

“The 9-0 vote to dismiss us, then, was not done according to the by-laws. We responded with a written letter to the conference, understanding the vote that was held was not done in accordance with the by-laws, and asked for a hearing, which a school may do by submitting a written request. That meeting was set up for Oct. 30.”

At the second meeting, Greenlee said several of the original complaints that were brought forward from the original meeting were answered by Greencastle officials, filling in several gaps in information; both Greenlee and Rodgers pointed out none of the information addressed at the meeting was intentionally withheld from other members.

“The item on the table was the interpretation that we were not transparent in our decision to join the new conference,” Greenlee noted. “What we found through a discussion, which should have happened earlier, was that we were communicating information but not all members of the conference were getting that information as time went along.

“There was a belief that we had decided at the end of the 2022-23 school year that we would be leaving and were hiding this information, which is why other member schools were upset. When it was found out we had been in communication with the conference leadership, especially that we hadn’t made any decisions prior to September, and had still given notice after we had made a decision within the 22-month period as required by the by-laws, that anger went away.

“At the third meeting, on Nov. 6, which included the principals, the issue was revisited and the chance to do the vote over in accordance with the by-laws was available,” Greenlee added. “No recommendation was made and the item was off the table.”

While the main issue was cleared up, the meeting itself was not over as attention turned to the Greencastle football team’s game with Brown County Sept. 22, a game the Tiger Cubs won 84-0.

After a series of discussions, a vote was held to remove Greencastle from WIC consideration in the sport for the 2024-25 school year, which carried in favor by a 9-2 margin.

“There were a whole lot of emotions and feelings that were brought up and discussed,” Rodgers said. “While we thought the meeting was done, concern over the Brown County game came up and, after a lot of conversation, a motion to remove the football team from WIC honors was held.

“We can still participate in the conference in the sport but cannot win the conference title or receive All-WIC recognition for our athletes.”

Arguments were presented to try and find a different solution according to Rodgers, including other schools bringing up several other lopsided margins over the years, as well as discussions held in the wake of the game, but to no avail.

“We did have internal dialogue the Monday after that game,” Rodgers said following the Brown County game. “It was fair for all of us, coaches and administrators alike, to reflect on a situation like that and assess what happened as we all might have done something different if we were to play the game again.

“To vote us out and to punish the kids over that situation is what we were looking to have some options over. Other schools brought up what this would look like in other sports because some teams in this conference are going to be really good in other sports and there are going to be some large margins of victory.

“The result of the game against Brown County is the result; it’s black and white,” Rodgers added. “We feel there was some misinformation about how we got to that result, something others who weren’t there at the game didn’t see, and that we had a lot of internal conversations after what happened.

“We’re still proud of our student-athletes and what they’ve accomplished this year. Moving forward we can learn from our past experiences.”

While disappointed by the decision, Rodgers said the school did not harbor any ill-will toward the WIC member schools, adding Greencastle was still ready and willing to work with the conference throughout its remaining time as associates.

“We do have a good working relationship with the other WIC schools and the conference leadership,” Rodgers pointed out. “It’s OK to disagree on things on a professional level, have a vote and resolve those items.

“The conference still wants to put kids first and we’re glad to be part of the conference for the next year and a half. We have no negative feelings going forward.

“While we do disagree on the ruling, I don’t think that spoils any athletic or academic relationship with any of the other schools,” Rodgers added. “It’s important to note that you can disagree on a topic while not disliking what another school has to say about it.”

Internally, Rodgers said the coaches were informed Monday afternoon of the decision and, while disappointed as well by the decision, were still looking forward to their remaining seasons in the conference and beyond.

“We wanted to meet with the coaches and communicate the results of what happened to them first,” Rodgers said after the meeting concluded. “From there, (Greencastle football head coach) Dave (Stephens), since it affected him and the families of our football players, communicated with the coaches and parents in the best way possible.

“The rest of our coaches were galvanized by the vote as these kids not only play football but are involved in other programs as well. They hurt the same as Dave did and made several statements in support of and to unify with Dave.

“At the end of the day, we’re still going to make decisions with our kids in mind first,” Rodgers added. “We will honor that commitment to them and look forward to having them compete for championships in the WIC this year and next year and in the new conference starting in the 2025-26 school year.”

Original story

After being voted out of the Western Indiana Conference a month ago, most Greencastle athletic teams will compete in the conference next year bar football.

In a statement posted to ‘The Tigers Den’ Facebook page, Greencastle football head coach Dave Stephens relayed the message that, following a pair of meetings between administrators from the school and the members of the WIC, the Tiger Cubs will not be forced to spend the 2024-25 school year as an athletic independent ahead of joining a new athletic conference in the 2025-26 school year.

At the September Greencastle Community School Board Meeting, a vote was held for the school to leave the WIC in two years’ time, joining North Putnam in a eight-team league that currently does not have a name, joining soon-to-be former Sagamore Conference members Crawfordsville, North Montgomery, Southmont, Western Boone, Frankfort and additional newcomer Cascade.

The Cadets were slated to join the WIC in the 2024-25 school year but, as part of their decision to accept an invitation to the new conference, voted to withdraw consideration from rejoining the conference the school left in 2019-20 school year.

In the weeks that followed Greencastle’s announcement, the members of the WIC, with the exception of Greencastle and North Putnam, held a vote pertaining to the membership of both schools and to consider Cascade’s withdrawal, the latter of which was accepted, for the 2024-25 school year.

The conference members elected to remove Greencastle from all athletic competitions for the 2024-25 school year; the schools also voted to allow North Putnam to compete in all competitions ahead of its departure to the new conference in the 2025-26 school year.

Greencastle appealed the decision and, according to the statement posted by Stephens, held two sessions with the WIC member schools, from which a following vote allowed the Tiger Cubs to remain in the conference for the additional year before joining the new conference in all sports with the exception of football.

Stephens’ statement is included below:

Hello Greencastle, football family. I come to you today with some difficult news and some clarification about rumors that you may have heard as it pertains to Greencastle High School, and the WIC.

Coach Stephens