The drive to compete- Eagle Ridge has a plan to play closer to

It was a crowning moment, a victory over New Salem Baptist Academy of Marble Hill, Mo., for the Class 2A Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association girls' basketball state title.

But it was on the western fringe of the state in Joplin, Mo., characteristic of what Eagle Ridge Christian Academy has endured throughout the sports program's seven years in Cape Girardeau.

"Here we are 30 minutes from each other and we had to drive six hours to play for the state championship," Eagle Ridge athletic director Clint Karnes said. "It's not ludicrous. It's unfortunately the way the system is set up."

In the future, when Eagle Ridge coaches speak of getting proper rotation or tuning up for a game, they could be talking more about game preparation than vehicle maintenance.

The 20-year-old private school will play its sporting events closer to home if its plans to join the Missouri State High School Activities Association for the 2003-04 school year come together.

It's a plan that will allow Eagle Ridge to play MSHSAA member schools, which it's prohibited from doing now as a non-member. With the school forced to play non-MSHSAA schools, Karnes says his teams average about a three-hour round trip to games.

The school, with an enrollment of 29 students in grades 9-12, competes in the Ozark Christian Athletic Conference with New Salem, its closest opponent, and Southern Missouri Christian of Poplar Bluff, Mo. Eagle Ridge regularly travels to St. Louis, Illinois, Arkansas and Kentucky to find competition.

"It restricts the days you can play," Eagle Ridge principal Janice Margrabe said.

It also restricts the sports played since many Christian schools don't offer more than basketball and volleyball.

"A lot of Christian schools don't have as many other sports that we would like to be in to," Margrabe said.

Eagle Ridge is accredited by the International Christian Accrediting Association, which is recognized in 28 states. In Missouri the organization has applied for recognition by MSHSAA, but has not yet received approval.

Eagle Ridge is planning to use a cross-over program to the North Central Accrediting Association, which is the major accrediting organization recognized by MSHSAA. The ICAA and North Central have different standards, which Margrabe said vary in strictness.

"It's just a matter of matching up," she said. "We participate in a lot of things public schools do, but it's just that little piece of paper right there that we've got to get."

Margrabe said Eagle Ridge could complete the cross-over program as early as this summer, but will wait a year before joining MSHSAA due to difficulty of scheduling opponents on short notice.

And when it joins MSHSAA, Eagle Ridge will cross a threshold into a entirely new world of high school sports full of opportunity and potential problems.

"Even though we play large Christian schools, it will be different bumping over to a public school setting," Margrabe said. "They have a much bigger draw than we do right now. We're ready. You know that your record is going to suffer for a while."

The Eagle nest

Eagle Ridge, operated by the Christian Faith Fellowship, is located on Route K, a mile west of Interstate 55 and a half-mile east of Notre Dame Regional High School, a private catholic high school. Named Christian Faith Academy when it was founded in 1982 in Scott City, Mo., it originally serviced families of the church. The school changed its name to Eagle Ridge when it relocated to Cape Girardeau in 1994, and moved to its present location in 1998.

Margrabe has been principal for about a decade and has seen tremendous growth over the past four years. The student body, which ranges from pre-school to grade 12, has more than tripled since 1998 when it had 65 students.

The enrollment is 207 this year, and the school has plans for expansion. The facility, equipped with a tile-floor gym where the congregation holds its Sunday services, can handle an enrollment of 350 to 400 students.

"Our plans are to grow," Margrabe said.

A phase two is already designed and there are plans for a new pre-school with an ultimate goal of achieving an enrollment of 1,000.

The school has 20 acres of land and options to purchase more to accommodate expansion.

Sports program

The athletic program is a big part of the expansion plan.

"Our whole purpose is to raise a child in a Christian environment -- to really model the life of Christ," said Margrabe. "We're a discipleship and training program for young people, but we like sports as much as anyone.

"I think athletics are an important part of the school program. I think academics is why you have a school, but to have a well-rounded individual you need to develop all parts of the child. I think athletics teach a lot of lessons that we need for life."

Eagle Ridge began its sports program in the 1995-96 school year. It has boys and girls basketball, girls volleyball, and for one year had baseball and softball, but dropped those sports when there weren't enough other schools to play.

"We'd love to have baseball, track and soccer," said Margrabe. "Almost all our kids are playing in the Cape soccer program right now."

Karnes said the school is looking hard at adding boys soccer, but admits its hard to add a sport which requires 11 players when enrollment is low.

"I'm hoping it will be the next evolution of the program," Karnes said.

The obstacles

The school has 14 full-time teachers and five part-time teachers. It's this area where Eagle Ridge faces its primary obstacle to joining MSHSAA. To get the necessary accreditation to join MSHSAA, teachers must be state certified.

"Our teachers are degreed, but we may have someone who is not certified in English who may have to apply for that," Margrabe said. "A lot of times it's just a matter of a course or two. Most of our teachers are certified."

There is also the problem of finding opponents. If Eagle Ridge joins MSHSAA, it will have to drop schools like New Salem and play MSHSAA members.

"I've never been in the middle of a situation like this or seen a situation like this, where you have a new school join an existing group of schools that is out there," Karnes said. "We'd be a little bit at their mercy and be hopeful they would extend games to us and allow us to play in tournaments."

Karnes said the school would hope to play 1A schools and would likely start with a light schedule.

A small-school conference affiliation would definitely help, but Karnes has yet to delve seriously into the matter.

"They can't really have anything at all to do with us until we meet MSHSAA requirements," Karnes said. "I think it would be improper for us to begin a dialogue."

Karnes said some schools that start programs begin with a JV schedule, but he hopes Eagle Ridge can play a varsity schedule from the start.

"We'd jump in with public schools if they would let us," Karnes said.

Even in the world of 1A schools, which can have enrollments up to 118 students, Eagle Ridge would be dwarfed. In fact, among MSHSAA's 573 members, only three have smaller enrollments.

Karnes said he's optimistic the school can be competitive against 1A schools. The girls basketball team, which attended the national tournament for the fist time, finished its year at 20-6, while the boys went 11-12. Karnes said the coaches are also for the move to join MSHSAA.

"They want to be the best and play the best," he said. "We think by going that direction they'll be able to accomplish that."

jbreer@semissourian.com

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