AKRON, Ohio -- Will the Akron City Series be an eight-team league soon?

Barberton school officials and Athletic Director Jay Glaze could decide as early as October whether the Magics will join the league. Akron Public Schools Athletic Director Joe Howard has been wooing Barberton to join the Series for the past year after the district decided to bow out of the Suburban League.

Howard says there are two factions within Barberton with different agendas that are hoping to influence the final decision. One group favors joining the city schools, while the other does not.

On one side are those who think that the time and circumstances may be right to join the Akron schools. They don’t oppose such a marriage, as long as it benefits the Barberton athletic program in the long term.

The other camp seeks to revisit the glory days past of Barberton athletics, when the school competed successfully against other “suburban” schools. This group dreams of a new league with traditional rivals like Cuyahoga Falls and Stow as members.

Puttin...