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Athletic directors from the Greater Thumb Conference (GTC) are meeting Thursday in Cass City to ponder two major topics - accepting Vassar as a new member and deciding on scheduling for the boys and girls basketball seasons next winter.

Just last week, the Vassar school board voted to approve a move from the Tri-Valley Conference to the GTC. The GTC AD's will likely make a motion Thursday to accept Vassar and then formerly vote the school in at their May meeting. It is expected that Vassar would join USA, Reese, Cass City, Lakers and Bad Axe in the West Division, making for two seven-team divisions. Brown City, Deckerville, Marlette, Harbor Beach and Ubly comprise the East Division.

The GTC could also finalize its scheduling of boys and girls basketball games for the 2007-08 school year. The two programs will be sharing gym space and playing in the same season for the first time ever in Michigan. U. S. court rulings recently forced the Michigan High School Athletic Association to move girls basketball from the fall to the winter and girls volleyball from the winter to the fall.

The two main possibilities, according to North Schramm, GTC Executive Director, are scheduling the boys and girls varsity games on the same night at the same site or have girls teams (varsity, JV, freshmen) and boys teams alternate nights, Tuesday/Thursday one week, Wednesday/Friday the next week. There also are other options that could come out of the meeting.

Meanwhile, the North Central Thumb League (NCTL) was to meet yesterday (Tuesday) for a twofold purpose. Deckerville, a current member of the GTC, had reapplied for acceptance into the league recently and a vote on the application was set to take place. Deckerville has cited decreasing school enrollment has made it difficult to compete in most sports in the GTC. If Deckerville would leave the GTC and Vassar comes in, an imbalance in the two divisions could continue.

The NCTL was also set to look at how it will schedule the boys and girls basketball season for next school year.