Former Teays Valley athletic director to remain as Mid-State League commissioner
Jim Hayes is used to wearing multiple hats, serving as the Treasurer of the Central District Athletic Board and the commissioner of the Mid-State League.
So the former long-time athletic director at Teays Valley figured why not try a third hat on for size?
The Central Buckeye League announced on Wednesday that Hayes will become the first commissioner of the reincarnated league for the 2023-24 school year.
Hayes confirmed to Sporting Pumpkin on Wednesday night that he will also remain commissioner of the MSL.
Founding members of the CBL include Bishop Ready, Bexley, Buckeye Valley, Columbus Academy, Columbus School for Girls, Grandview Heights, Whitehall and Worthington Christian.
As commissioner of the MSL, Hayes is familiar with the new league’s membership as they all previously competed in the MSL’s Ohio Division. Last August, those schools gave the MSL notice that they would leave the league following the 2022-23 school year to form the CBL.
This is the second attempt at a reincarnation of the CBL, which previously existed from 1929-66 and 1976-1991. Bexley, Buckeye Valley, Columbus Academy, Columbus School for Girls, Grandview Heights and Whitehall were all previous members of the CBL.
The original CBL also has a Pickaway County connection, as the Circleville Tigers left the South Central Ohio League to join the CBL from 1931-39 and then returned to the SCOL, where they remained a member until they joined the MSL for the 1990-91 school year.
“It is an exciting time for this group of schools as they venture out to start a new league,” Hayes said in a press release. “…As the athletic directors discussed the name of the new league, it was pointed out that several years ago some of them were members of a league called the Central Buckeye League. Bexley even found a trophy they had earned while members of that league.
“The athletic directors decided to use that name as a return to some of their history. The schools that are leaving the MSL are looking forward to building on their current relationships as well as developing new ones.”
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