Hanover Community School Corporation’s athletics are moving into a new conference in the 2023-2024 school year. Since the 2008/2009 school year, Hanover Central has been in the Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) where they have competed against schools including Calumet, Hammond Bishop Noll, and Griffith. The school also plays schools from other conferences throughout the sports seasons. Beginning in the 2023/2024 school year, Hanover Central will be joining the Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC), which includes Andrean, Kankakee Valley, Lowell, and many other schools.
The Athletic Director of Hanover Central High School, Kelly Bermes, has been attending both NCC and GSSC meetings to ensure a smooth transition. Bermes and Assistant Athletic Director, Ryan Bridges, discussed the idea of a conference change with their coaches, as well as the Captain’s Council, which is comprised of student-athlete captains of the various sports offered at Hanover. Making this exciting change has been a long process that the students and staff of Hanover are ready to see put into action. In 2021, the athletic department applied to join the NCC and had to petition to leave the GSSC. After approval, Hanover started scheduling games for the upcoming season in the new conference.
There is no doubt that the Hanover community is growing rapidly. Due to their growth, Hanover Community School Corporation just opened a new 3rd through 5th grade building, a new preschool, a new resource center, and new athletic facilities, including a new astroturf football field, all for the current 2022-2023 school year. The athletes at Hanover take up about forty percent of our student population at both the middle school and the high school, with many students playing multiple sports.
Hanover is one of the biggest schools in the GSSC which limits some of our teams from having anyone to play against. They have more teams than some of the other schools in their current conference. Moving into the NCC will allow student-athletes to have more competition and prepare for harder games and matches. Since Hanover has played teams in both the GSSC and NCC in the past, they will not be playing against any schools that they have not played against previously. Hanover will have the advantage because we play the same teams in sectional but the new conference will better prepare for challenges.
Thirteen-year girls soccer coach, Jim Pattison, expressed his feelings about the conference change by saying, “I feel good about the conference change. It will definitely make us work on our numbers. We will need to have a junior varsity team going forward.” He is also excited to eventually build a middle school soccer program in the future.
After coaching 9 years of track and cross country, Michelle Duffy is excited about the upcoming conference change. Duffy noted, “It will better our athletes, challenge them, and humble them. If we want to be the best, we must face the best, and the NCC will force us to get better VERY quickly.”
Brian Parker, head coach of the Hanover Central football team for 5 years, is excited about the conference change and what it will do to the football program. Parker voiced “We will face quality players, coaches, and programs on a weekly basis. It'll challenge us throughout the season and better prepare us for the postseason.”
Junior, multi-sport athlete, Emmi Doty is very active in the Hanover Central athletic program. She’s been playing soccer for 13 years, basketball for 9 years, and football for 2 years. Emmi said, “Switching conferences in all of the sports I play, means better opportunities and better competition. I am excited to compete with my teams at a higher level and prove that Hanover should be in the NCC. I feel like in each of the sports I play we are going to be just fine within the competition.” She expressed her excitement to then play soccer in college in the future.
Another junior and multi-sport athlete, Gabi Comia has goals for the coming seasons in softball and basketball. “The goal for the conference change in both sports is to have a winning record in the conference. If anything the main goal is to be in the running for conference champions. This conference is going to test us on how competitive we really are.” She plans to continue her softball career at the University of Florida.
Brad Rohde plays basketball and baseball for Hanover and has been playing both sports since he was 5 years old. He is a sophomore and mentioned, “I’m really excited to move up a conference, so people can finally give Hanover some respect. I’m excited to compete against better competition.” He wants to continue playing basketball and baseball in college after he graduates high school.
Football and basketball player Henry Mauer is a sophomore at Hanover Central. When asked about his thoughts about the conference change, he expressed, “I think that the conference change was necessary. There will be good teams all across the conference and there won't be an easy game at all. We will be tested next year and I totally believe that we are capable of continuing a winning season in both sports.” He is willing to put the work into continuing his basketball career in the future.
When asked about the goals of this conference change, Bermes said, “Our goal is to be competitive in all sports.” With Hanover’s change from the GSSC to the NCC, the athletes will gain a better experience in the world of sports. Coaches and athletes will be able to play similar size schools with similar skill sets. This will then allow the students to continue their sports careers into college and maybe further. With the Hanover community growing, so must the programs within it.
