The move has been finalized awhile now, but as Ottawa and De Soto get closer to officially joining the Frontier League the schools’ coaches can’t help but be excited.

The two high schools will become a part of the expanded league this school year, and will boost the league’s total to 13 schools ranging from Class 3A to 5A. Along with newcomers Ottawa and De Soto, area schools in the Frontier League include Baldwin, Eudora and Wellsville.

“It’s just a great league,” OHS football coach Pat Boeh said. “It’s highly competitive and very organized. You’re looking at some of the premier schools in the state. It’s going to be a huge challenge, but we’re looking forward to it.”

De Soto parted ways with the Kaw Valley League, while Ottawa left the Huron League, which disbanded after last school year. The five member schools of the Huron League have gone their separate ways.

Kansas City Sumner Academy and K.C. Turner joined the Kansas City Kansas League, and K.C. Ward grabbed the vacant spot in the KVL. Atchison, for the time being, is independent, though it is looking for someplace to go.

For Ottawa, the move makes things a whole lot easier for all of its sports teams. No longer are all the road games so far away, like they often were with trips to Kansas City, Kan., and Atchison.

“On the way to Kansas City, we basically go by all the Frontier League schools,” Boeh said. “Not only that, but there was so much uncertainty about the Huron League, and it started to become apparent that it was going to break apart.”

For football only, the Frontier League will be divided into two divisions. Ottawa has been placed in the big-school division, alongside Baldwin, Gardner-Edgerton, Spring Hill, Paola and Louisburg. De Soto will go to the small-school division with Eudora, Wellsville, Anderson County, Prairie View, Osawatomie and, the third school merged into the league this year, Central Heights.

The other sports will have a one-division format with all 13 schools.

De Soto athletic director Roy Hawley cited size differences as De Soto’s reason for the switch. Since the opening of Mill Valley in 2000, De Soto has seen minimal growth and was the second-smallest public school in the KVL, larger than only Perry-Lecompton.

“It felt like it was getting away from us,” Hawley said. “Even though you might have some good teams from year to year, being the smallest school, you’re not going to be as competitive.”

The De Soto school district plans to re-map boundaries in the near future. For now, Mill Valley has ballooned to some 850 students, while De Soto stays steady at a little more than 400.

“It wasn’t like in Lawrence where it was an easy split,” Hawley said. “Our growth was just exploding in the east side.”

Now, De Soto is right in the middle of the Frontier League in terms of size: six schools larger, six schools smaller.

Both Ottawa and De Soto will see their first Frontier League competition almost immediately when fall sports begin. For football, the Cyclones open Sept. 3 at Spring Hill, while the Wildcats will tangle with Osawatomie the same night.