Brush leaving WRC

 
Why is Brush leaving the WRC? Life as an Independent is not always easy, especially in football. They should join the LEL, there are a lot of school with similar demographics in that League.
 
Auggie said:
Why is Brush leaving the WRC? Life as an Independent is not always easy, especially in football. They should join the LEL, there are a lot of school with similar demographics in that League.
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I believe the big factor is competing in football now and in the future. I’ve heard their program is having difficulty with numbers and competing, especially at the lower levels for junior high/freshman.

“https://www.cleveland.com/highschoo...g-the-western-reserve-conference-in-2021.html
 
HCFootball2010 said:
US use to be in the old WRC which was formally known at the PAC. US has been down and honestly there is no light in front of them for a while!! It’s a tough place anymore with success at Gilmore which is a stone throw away!
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I agree. They were also left out when much of the PAC “ transformed” into the WRC. Based on the reporting from the News-Herald, it sounds like invitations were sent to specific schools. I’m not sure why US would be a consideration now if they were not 5 years ago. But, strangers things have happened.
 
This is tough. Almost no one in the area falls between the top and bottom of the WRC in enrollment. Any smaller schools that would fit with Chardon and Kenston (~300-350 boys) are too small to pair with Riverside and North (~500-550 boys). And bigger schools that would fit with Riverside and North are too big for Chardon and Kenston. Others mentioned like Aurora and Maple Heights seem to be in a nice conference that fit what they need competitively and geographically. One that might work is Nordonia. They are sort of the small fish in the big school Suburban league. They play Mayfield every year. Madison would be a hike for them. Tough to picture a suitable replacement
 
Brush is/was having competitive issues in the WRC across the sports, outside of basketball (boys) where they run laps around that conference. Outside of scheduling weeks 4-10 (especially 6-10) in football, being an independent is not the end of the world.

Remember the WRC is essentially the rebranded Premier Athletic Conference with five of those schools in the league - North, South, Riverside, Madison, and Chardon. Geneva and Lakeside were excluded, as was University School; Geneva went straight to the CVC, Lakeside is now in the CVC after a couple years elsewhere, while U.S. is an independent.

Riverside and Mayfield are the biggest schools in the league, with over 500 males in three grades; Madison, Kenston, and Chardon are the three smallest with under 400 males.
Geneva would become the smallest school if they joined the league.
Lakeside would be fourth from the bottom in male enrollment.
Nordonia would be fourth from the top in male enrollment, whereas starting next year they'll be the smallest school among seven in the bigger SL. HOWEVER, the bigger SL is very compact for them except for Wadsworth (North Royalton, Brecksville, Stow, Hudson, and Twinsburg are all closer or relatively equidistant to their closest opponent in this proposed league)
Harvey is very similar in size to Kenston, but they are having major competitive issues in football in the CVC big division, and were the team bumped down to a lower division despite being the second largest school in the CVC behind Lakeside.
West Geauga is smaller than Geneva, though they are an excellent geographic fit; Perry is smaller than West G, and would make Madison and Riverside happy to be the new team in.
Aurora is very similar to Kenston in terms of enrollment and overall profile. I don't know how this configuration is any better for them than the one they are in right now (Highland, Copley, Cuyahoga falls, Revere, Kent Roosevelt, Tallmadge, Barberton)
Solon would be the biggest school in this new league. I think their ultimate best fit is being the 8th school in the current SL big. If the SL big doesn't want Solon in, why the heck would this group of teams want Solon when they have smaller enrollments and are not as competitive as the SL big.
 
I think travel would be easier in the WRC for Aurora by staying on the east side and just heading north vs commuting into or through the major metro areas of Akron/Cleveland. It would actually be very similar to their travel when they were part of the CVC until they were booted. Kenston is right next door and is a big rivalry. The larger schools in the WRC are aging communities, so the enrollment gap will continue to narrow.

I think Solon and Nordonia both could be possible options, especially if the WRC will consider adding more than one school. Also, I know Euclid is larger than all the schools in the WRC, but geographically they are convenient as a straight shot down I-90 for most.
 
Geneva and Perry wouldn’t leave the CVC to be the smallest school in this league. Geneva has already been there, done that. I think they like being one of the big boys of the CVC. Solon would probably rather stay put if they can’t ever get into the Suburban.

This league might stay at 7 for a bit unless they are willing to take a risk or think outside the box. A private school? Maybe take a chance with a big school?

Brush to the LEL makes too much sense.
 
Brush out grew the WRC. Coach Mason has improved the basketball program into a national brand and it is time to move on. Let’s not cry about it.
 
brusharc1986 said:
Brush out grew the WRC. Coach Mason has improved the basketball program into a national brand and it is time to move on. Let’s not cry about it.
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Plus you guys suck in every other sport so you need to be in a LEL type conference. Wrc programs kill brush in everything but boys basketball

You guys can lose in districts just as easily in another league after you hype them all year long
 
Mr. Red Raider said:
I know they're a bit big, but maybe Solon? That's the only school I could see making sense geographically.
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I could very well see Solon getting an invite. They are a former WRC school and would replace Brush as Mayfield’s rival. Also, their enrollment is on the decline, much like the other larger schools in the WRC. It almost makes too much sense.
 
BlackandGold said:
I could very well see Solon getting an invite. They are a former WRC school and would replace Brush as Mayfield’s rival. Also, their enrollment is on the decline, much like the other larger schools in the WRC. It almost makes too much sense.
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Really cant see the wrc wanting Solon at all despite recent football decline. They get it back going and they'd run the league in football and basketball which make all the revenue

I think brush wanted more competitive basketball but I also think the wrc was tired of them kiling the league in a major sport
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
Really cant see the wrc wanting Solon at all despite recent football decline. They get it back going and they'd run the league in football and basketball which make all the revenue

I think brush wanted more competitive basketball but I also think the wrc was tired of them kiling the league in a major sport
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No doubt Solon would be consistently at or near the top of the league. No debate there. But if you look back to recent history with WRC schools prior to the formation of the WRC, it’s been pretty competitive. Split with South, split with Mayfield, a 1 score win and a blowout over Kenston all in 2013/2014. Maybe they were way better between 2015 and 2019 though. Even still, the teams at the top of the WRC in each of the 6 years would at least compete with Solon in each of those 6 years. The bottom feeders would be destroyed.
 
Many of the football programs play by the motto anyone, anywhere. For basketball, if they were fine with Brush running the table, they wouldn’t have an issue with another school IF they can achieve it. I would say Solon is the most likely for the WRC.
 
BlackandGold said:
Many of the football programs play by the motto anyone, anywhere. For basketball, if they were fine with Brush running the table, they wouldn’t have an issue with another school IF they can achieve it. I would say Solon is the most likely for the WRC.
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That's just it. I don't think they were fine with brush running the table. I think that bugged people and contributed to them leaving.

Solon isn't going to the wrc. It's beneath them in plenty of sports.

I like the wrc and cheer on the teams but you have an inflated view of how competitive the schools are. I've said that before. Mentor would be playing a few a year in football if they truly took on anyone anywhere
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
That's just it. I don't think they were fine with brush running the table. I think that bugged people and contributed to them leaving.

Solon isn't going to the wrc. It's beneath them in plenty of sports.

I like the wrc and cheer on the teams but you have an inflated view of how competitive the schools are. I've said that before. Mentor would be playing a few a year in football if they truly took on anyone anywhere
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You know Brush chose to leave, they weren’t asked to leave right?

You have an inflated view on the gap between the rest of the GCC (not Mentor) and the top of the WRC.
 
Bad Blake said:
You know Brush chose to leave, they weren’t asked to leave right?

You have an inflated view on the gap between the rest of the GCC (not Mentor) and the top of the WRC.
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If teams are down, the top teams in the wrc can compete. Can say that when comparing the gcc to any league. But as a public school league , you'd struggle to find 6 better all around schools in any public school league vs the gcc. And yes the gap there is huge compared with the wrc.

I understand the story is brush merely chose to leave. But I don't think that says it all. I think the wrc was tired of getting wrecked in bball.
 
I
MentorGrad2002 said:
If teams are down, the top teams in the wrc can compete. Can say that when comparing the gcc to any league. But as a public school league , you'd struggle to find 6 better all around schools in any public school league vs the gcc. And yes the gap there is huge compared with the wrc.

I understand the story is brush merely chose to leave. But I don't think that says it all. I think the wrc was tired of getting wrecked in bball.
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I agree with that. My original comment was to say that in most years Solon vs the winner of the WRC would be a great game. I did not mean to imply that the WRC at the bottom was as strong as the GCC at the bottom.

Basketball sour grapes may have played a part, but I doubt it. Don’t forget that Brush opted out of the WRC schedule this season when presented with the opportunity in football.
 
The WRC is first and foremost a football conference. It actually makes sense to replace Brush with a competitive football program that will rival Mayfield. My money is on Solon to the WRC.
 
BlackandGold said:
The WRC is first and foremost a football conference. It actually makes sense to replace Brush with a competitive football program that will rival Mayfield. My money is on Solon to the WRC.
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We shall see but imo you'd lose your money on that. Solon would wreck that league badly in some sports. They've had a few down football years but there sports as a whole fit way more competitively with the GCC.

If you care about football most and location and take on all comers then why not Mentor ?
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
We shall see but imo you'd lose your money on that. Solon would wreck that league badly in some sports. They've had a few down football years but there sports as a whole fit way more competitively with the GCC.

If you care about football most and location and take on all comers then why not Mentor ?
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Didn’t Solon lose to a division 5 school this year?
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
We shall see but imo you'd lose your money on that. Solon would wreck that league badly in some sports. They've had a few down football years but there sports as a whole fit way more competitively with the GCC.

If you care about football most and location and take on all comers then why not Mentor ?
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MentorGrad2002 said:
We shall see but imo you'd lose your money on that. Solon would wreck that league badly in some sports. They've had a few down football years but there sports as a whole fit way more competitively with the GCC.

If you care about football most and location and take on all comers then why not Mentor ?
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Because Solon would add geographical balance to the WRC, including a natural rival for Mayfield. Mentor would not.
 
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