Sebring admitted to Northern 8 Football Conference, will begin 8-man football in 2023
Less than one week after playing their final 11-man regular-season high football game, Sebring learned it will begin a new chapter in eight-man football starting in 2023.
The Northern 8 Football Conference late last week approved Sebring's as a member for next season.
More:Sebring commits to 8-man football for 2023 season, seeks league membership
"After speaking with administrators and officials from the [Sebring] school district, we learned they have similar [roster] issues as we do, and we feel comfortable adding them to our conference," Northern 8 Football Conference commissioner Joel Miller said.
Sebring lost 55-0 to Springfield Local in its final 11-man regular-season game, finishing 0-10 overall and 0-7 in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference.
The Trojans have historically struggled with small roster sizes; their last winning season was a 6-4 mark in 1992. Since then they've won just 37 games in 31 seasons.
"We're excited," Sebring coach Anthony Agresta said. "We began the season with an 18-player roster, including seven players who had never played varsity football before, and we finished with 15. We made it through the season, and I appreciate what the kids who stayed with us did, but we competed in a great football conference and we just feel we needed a more [comparative conference] for us."
Despite its lack of personnel and experience, Sebring scored in seven of its first eight games and finished the season with 66 points and Agresta, who finished his first year as coach, implemented the foundation for a program he believes is headed in a more positive direction.
"Football is football, whether it's 11-man football, or 8-man football," he said. "The length of the field is still 100 yards long, although it's narrower in width."
Northern 8 Football Conference members located near Michigan, Indiana
Holgate, Stryker, Danbury, Toledo Christian, Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic and a home school located in Fort Wayne, Indiana are the other Northern 8 Football Conference members. The other five Ohio-based teams, which are located close to both the Michigan and Indiana borders, fill out the rest of their regular-season schedules against 8-man football teams from those two states.
"Eight-man football is very popular in both Michigan and Indiana, so we're close enough to find teams outside [Ohio] to schedule," Miller said.
Agresta, who also serves as Sebring athletic director, said the Trojans are assured of a seven-game regular-season schedule in 2023.
Even though Sebring is located in the northeast part of Ohio, there are other schools in the same geographical area similar in enrollment numbers either competing in 11-man football with small rosters or not even fielding a team.
"I think 8-man football is important because it can keep football thriving in northeast Ohio, which has excellent high school football tradition," Miller said. "It can open the doors for schools [who don't currently] have football."
Agresta proposed switching to 8-man football and submitted a request to the Sebring Local Schools Board of Education. That request was approved by the board recently and forwarded to Northern 8 Football Conference officials.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Northwest Ohio 8-man football conference accepts Sebring Mckinley
