For decades, people questioned the sense of having two school districts, each with its own superintendent, central office and high school, operating in the same small town of The Dalles on the banks of the Columbia River in north-central Oregon. But election campaigns to consolidate repeatedly failed because each community had strong emotional ties to its high school and varsity athletic teams. To lose a school and its colors and mascot would be to surrender one's identity. Communities often resist consolidation to protect their sports teams. But in some places school districts have lost so many students they can no longer field a starting lineup and face little choice except to merge operations to sustain reasonable quality athletics and academics for their students. In this article, the author discusses how interscholastic sports play a pivotal role helping or hindering decisions about school district mergers.