Southwestern Conference invites Elyria! Pioneers accept!

Mike Gully

Mike Gully

Member
The Southwestern Conference's official Twitter account tweeted that Elyria has accepted an invitation and will officially join beginning in the 21-22 school year. Elyria has been looking to join the SWC for sometime now. What does this mean for the GCC who is now losing two schools?

Please see the article below

Southwestern Conference to welcome Elyria in 2021-22 – SWC Athletics

http://swcohio.net/2020/01/15/southwestern-conference-to-welcome-elyria-in-2021-22/
 
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Some questions I have right now are (all related to the GCC);

Will Medina, Strongsville & Brunswick want to remain in their current GCC situation?

Will the GCC look to add two new schools or remain at 6?

Is the GCC doomed?
 
Mike Gully said:
Some questions I have right now are (all related to the GCC);

Will Medina, Strongsville & Brunswick want to remain in their current GCC situation?

Will the GCC look to add two new schools or remain at 6?

Is the GCC doomed?
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I'd say doomed if Solon leaves. They would be fine without Elyria but only 2 Eastside schools would kill the league
 
The move does seem to benefit Elyria both from a competition (in football at least) and travel standpoint. They go from being an outlier in Lorain County to being a neighbor to quite a few other schools. It's one thing to play 4-5 football games once a year 30-60 minutes away but when you add in all the other sports it can be a grind. Probably longer when navigating rush hour on a bus during the week.

For those more familiar with the school dynamics in NE Ohio, what programs seem to be a good fit for the GCC?
 
Mike Gully said:
Any news on potential departures? Is Solon still flirting with the WRC? Who could the GCC add in an emergency?
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Suburban league spot is where Solon would go if invited. Don't see why the wrc woudk expand. Perfect 8 team league and Solon is above their level in the revenue sports and many others
 
OUcats82 said:
The move does seem to benefit Elyria both from a competition (in football at least) and travel standpoint. They go from being an outlier in Lorain County to being a neighbor to quite a few other schools. It's one thing to play 4-5 football games once a year 30-60 minutes away but when you add in all the other sports it can be a grind. Probably longer when navigating rush hour on a bus during the week.

For those more familiar with the school dynamics in NE Ohio, what programs seem to be a good fit for the GCC?
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I don't see many fits for the GCC now. Lel schools aren't good enough all around in sports. Big schools like berea and Elyria cant compete in revenue sports

Woudk have to be broad area and teams wanting to compete against high level teams. Most high schools don't want to do either. I mean mentor has to play eds and Ignatius out of conference in football and struggles to find the 3rd ooc game

Gonna be rough as an independent
 
OUcats82 said:
The move does seem to benefit Elyria both from a competition (in football at least) and travel standpoint. They go from being an outlier in Lorain County to being a neighbor to quite a few other schools. It's one thing to play 4-5 football games once a year 30-60 minutes away but when you add in all the other sports it can be a grind. Probably longer when navigating rush hour on a bus during the week.

For those more familiar with the school dynamics in NE Ohio, what programs seem to be a good fit for the GCC?
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Absolutely proximity. Ridgeville, Avon & Avon Lake, Amherst, Midview, Westlake and North Olmsted are under 15 mins away. B-M about 20-30 mins depending on traffic. Elyria has been trying to join the SWC since the Pioneer Conference was absorbed into the NOC in 2009. As far as competition Elyria is a streak program. 3 to 4 years of a competitive program then a drought. Basketball is down this year but always usually a top team in Lorain County. I'd say a perfect fit. Will not complain about the trek to Mentor and Solon anymore. SWC is a tough football league.

GCC needs to stay balanced. Medina would love another situation that is local. They have the best shot with the SL. This sucks for Strongsville & Brunswick who doesn't want to be in a eastside league. I'm sure several eastside schools like Heights & Garfield would jump to join the GCC. Lorain in the west would for sure. Not much to choose from other than less desirable districts.
 
I don't see those lel schools joining the gcc. Shaker fled the GCC because they couldn't compete in most sports besides basketball. Those other schools don't have great sports programs either. The LEL teams fit together fine

Shaker and Elyria were bottom feeders in GCC football. The league would be fine at 6 without them but I suspect more defections come soon
 
Mike Gully said:
Absolutely proximity. Ridgeville, Avon & Avon Lake, Amherst, Midview, Westlake and North Olmsted are under 15 mins away. B-M about 20-30 mins depending on traffic. Elyria has been trying to join the SWC since the Pioneer Conference was absorbed into the NOC in 2009. As far as competition Elyria is a streak program. 3 to 4 years of a competitive program then a drought. Basketball is down this year but always usually a top team in Lorain County. I'd say a perfect fit. Will not complain about the trek to Mentor and Solon anymore. SWC is a tough football league.

GCC needs to stay balanced. Medina would love another situation that is local. They have the best shot with the SL. This sucks for Strongsville & Brunswick who doesn't want to be in a eastside league. I'm sure several eastside schools like Heights & Garfield would jump to join the GCC. Lorain in the west would for sure. Not much to choose from other than less desirable districts.
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Westlake and North Olmsted are supposedly leaving
 
OUcats82 said:
The move does seem to benefit Elyria both from a competition (in football at least) and travel standpoint. They go from being an outlier in Lorain County to being a neighbor to quite a few other schools. It's one thing to play 4-5 football games once a year 30-60 minutes away but when you add in all the other sports it can be a grind. Probably longer when navigating rush hour on a bus during the week.

For those more familiar with the school dynamics in NE Ohio, what programs seem to be a good fit for the GCC?
Click to expand...

To be honest, I can see the GCC eventually disbanding entirely after the 2020-21 school year. Shaker and Elyria will be gone. Solon more than likely will go to the Suburban League, leaving only Euclid, Mentor, the two Medina county schools (Brunswick and Medina), and Strongsville. To be honest, I can't see any area schools really fit in. I can see Euclid going back to the Lake Erie League at some point. It makes a lot of sense geographically as they're no more than 25 minutes away from the other schools, and the only outlier is Lorain. The only downside is that it would put the LEL at an odd number of teams.

If Mentor didn't stick out like a sore thumb, l could see THEM rejoining the LEL too, to make an even number. But I can also see the argument for them going independent. And if the Suburban League wants to go past 16, could see Brunswick and Medina being added as travel members.

Tier 1: Suburban Red (Wadsworth, Medina, Brunswick, Stow, Brecksville, North Royalton)

Three schools here are in Medina county, plus North Royalton and Brecksville aren't terribly far away. Stow's the only outlier, simply because they're one of the bigger schools in Summit County.

Tier 2: Suburban White (Cuyahoga Falls, Copley, Barberton, Highland, Revere, Tallmadge)

Here, the smaller Summit County schools stay together. Highland stays in this tier, because even though they're in Medina County, they're a good fit size wise.

Tier 3: Suburban Blue (Twinsburg, Solon, Nordonia, Hudson, Aurora, Kent Roosevelt)

All these schools are within 15-30 minutes of each other. Is perfect geographically. Aurora is the lone outlier, being Division III, so that COULD potentially lead to some issues down the line.
 
Mike Gully said:
Sounds like an NOC cluster f@&$
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Exactly my thinking. 8 teams is perfect for a conference. Suburban having 2 evenly 8 could work. You go bigger than that and it's extremely unstable. With 8 on each division you have your 7 opponents and 3 out of conference for football. With 6 in 3 divisions it's a mess

Mentor , Strongsville Brunswick and possibly Medina could have troubles finding a league if Solon gets the suburban
 
The new 8 team SWC is an ideal number, and I like the addition of Elyria, but Westlake and North Olmsted leaving the SWC is odd. Especially North Olmsted making a move without Olmsted Falls? Also, does Berea-Midpark jump at a move to a new league with Strongsville, Brunswick and Medina? Doesn’t seem finished yet.
 
Have Westlake and NO announced officially yet? Agreed it doesn’t seem finished, but not sure where schools can really go. If I had to give a rough guess (with trying to leave as few schools as possible independent) I would probably see:

SL
+ Solon

SWC
+ Strongsville, Brunswick, Medina, Lorain, Elyria
- North Olmsted, Westlake, Lakewood

GLC
+ North Olmsted, Westlake, Lakewood

LEL
+ Euclid
- Lorain

Independent
Mentor

16 team Suburban League (two, 8 team divisions)
12 team Southwest (two, 6 team divisions)
12 team Great Lakes (two, 6 team divisions)
8 team Lake Erie League

I know there’s a lot of moving pieces with that, but I don’t see how the dominoes could fall any other way unless you have more teams independent.

I’m curious how the GLC is going to be set up, by geography or size. I can’t imagine it’ll be one 12 team league. I’m not even going to bother speculating the SWC since that is somewhat far fetched.
 
From what I’ve been told from my contact in the know is that west side AD’s from traditionally less competitive districts want to be attached to the GLC. Equal playing field. Sports generate revenue thus giving their programs more opportunities to make more money. He also said AD’s understand realignment is inevitable. He expects major shifts every 5 to 6 years. Schools are looking for ease of travel, competitive balance and to not be stuck in a situation which they cannot benefit.
 
bmss17 said:
Have Westlake and NO announced officially yet? Agreed it doesn’t seem finished, but not sure where schools can really go. If I had to give a rough guess (with trying to leave as few schools as possible independent) I would probably see:

SL
+ Solon

SWC
+ Strongsville, Brunswick, Medina, Lorain, Elyria
- North Olmsted, Westlake, Lakewood

GLC
+ North Olmsted, Westlake, Lakewood

LEL
+ Euclid
- Lorain

Independent
Mentor

16 team Suburban League (two, 8 team divisions)
12 team Southwest (two, 6 team divisions)
12 team Great Lakes (two, 6 team divisions)
8 team Lake Erie League

I know there’s a lot of moving pieces with that, but I don’t see how the dominoes could fall any other way unless you have more teams independent.

I’m curious how the GLC is going to be set up, by geography or size. I can’t imagine it’ll be one 12 team league. I’m not even going to bother speculating the SWC since that is somewhat far fetched.
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Why would the swc go to 12? Doubt many will want the 3 big westside schools of the gcc and Lorain. 8 makes much more sense
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
Why would the swc go to 12? Doubt many will want the 3 big westside schools of the gcc and Lorain. 8 makes much more sense
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I’m not saying they would. I’m saying that would be the scenario that would have as few teams as possible being independent; I don’t see a scenario where those teams could go elsewhere, because they don’t have enough to make their own league, especially with Elyria joining the SWC.

It is possible to set up a pretty good two divisions:

Strongsville
Brunswick
Medina
Elyria
Lorain
Berea-Midpark

Midview
Olmsted Falls
Avon
Amherst
Avon Lake
North Ridgeville
 
bmss17 said:
I’m not saying they would. I’m saying that would be the scenario that would have as few teams as possible being independent; I don’t see a scenario where those teams could go elsewhere, because they don’t have enough to make their own league, especially with Elyria joining the SWC.

It is possible to set up a pretty good two divisions:

Strongsville
Brunswick
Medina
Elyria
Lorain
Berea-Midpark

Midview
Olmsted Falls
Avon
Amherst
Avon Lake
North Ridgeville
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Then you have the dreaded crossovers. And you have weeks 4 and 5 open to schedule which can be a pain when many teams are in conference

8 is much easier for all of them. Lorain has some undesirsable areas and circumstances which is why they are in the LEL. The big 3 westsiders would kill it in most sports and a lot of the swc teams are not step up and play anyone type of programs. Similar to suburban league in that way

I think your scenario would be similar to the WRC on the Eastside taking Mentor and Euclid while already at 8. Doubt that would ever happen either
 
I’m curious to know what the worst case scenario for Mentor would be? Obviously they need the GCC to stay somewhat intact. No many options due to its athletic dominance and school size.

If the GCC folds what can Mentor do besides going independent?
 
Mike Gully said:
I’m curious to know what the worst case scenario for Mentor would be? Obviously they need the GCC to stay somewhat intact. No many options due to its athletic dominance and school size.

If the GCC folds what can Mentor do besides going independent?
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Probably nothing. It's inevitable. We had teams that couldn't compete with us in the Noc and now the gcc so those ones left. And we are surrounded by smaller schools who wouldn't take us.

The best case scenario is that a smaller school league like the wrc takes us for the non revenue sports. That means independent in just football and boys basketball. Don't think they would though Or at least a scheduling alliance besides those two sports with some playing basketball vs us

Independence as I said would suck for the players and coaches who can't win titles. Would suck for the AD having no league games in all sports. And for football we schedule Ignatius and eds out of conference and have a hard time filling just ONE out of conference game. So imagine having to fill 10...

From a fans perspective like mine who just watches football and boys basketball:

Basketball would be much better independent. Plenty of open dates to play many teams. Teams aren't as scared in basketball because you can lose every game and make it. We could schedule a lot of wrc teams locally along with lel teams , fed teams , wgh types, Solon etc

Football would be better too for fans but much harder for the AD. The 4 westside schools haven't challenged us much and the rivalries arent there. Would prob still play eds , Ignatius , Solon and Euclid and hopefully one westsider school at least. But more flexibility can get smaller catholics and more public's. And could be more changing opponents for variety
 
I am disappointed that Elyria High's tenure in the Greater Cleveland Conference has been during a down time in football. Just based on history and what I've seen from the program since I've been around it (Early 2000's) Elyria should be on the verge of being moderately competitive in the next two seasons. Plus the current coach isn't the answer. I really hope a relationship continues with Brunswick and Strongsville as we've been conference mates for the better part of the last two decades. Good rivalries, kids know each other pretty well etc.
 
Mike Gully said:
I am disappointed that Elyria High's tenure in the Greater Cleveland Conference has been during a down time in football. Just based on history and what I've seen from the program since I've been around it (Early 2000's) Elyria should be on the verge of being moderately competitive in the next two seasons. Plus the current coach isn't the answer. I really hope a relationship continues with Brunswick and Strongsville as we've been conference mates for the better part of the last two decades. Good rivalries, kids know each other pretty well etc.
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Elyria has always done well at times they’ve had good coaches. That is always the key. Get the right coach in football and basketball and all of a sudden the Pioneers become a force.
 
bmss17 said:
I’m not saying they would. I’m saying that would be the scenario that would have as few teams as possible being independent; I don’t see a scenario where those teams could go elsewhere, because they don’t have enough to make their own league, especially with Elyria joining the SWC.

It is possible to set up a pretty good two divisions:

Strongsville
Brunswick
Medina
Elyria
Lorain
Berea-Midpark

Midview
Olmsted Falls
Avon
Amherst
Avon Lake
North Ridgeville
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same.
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
Probably nothing. It's inevitable. We had teams that couldn't compete with us in the Noc and now the gcc so those ones left. And we are surrounded by smaller schools who wouldn't take us.

The best case scenario is that a smaller school league like the wrc takes us for the non revenue sports. That means independent in just football and boys basketball. Don't think they would though Or at least a scheduling alliance besides those two sports with some playing basketball vs us

Independence as I said would suck for the players and coaches who can't win titles. Would suck for the AD having no league games in all sports. And for football we schedule Ignatius and eds out of conference and have a hard time filling just ONE out of conference game. So imagine having to fill 10...

From a fans perspective like mine who just watches football and boys basketball:

Basketball would be much better independent. Plenty of open dates to play many teams. Teams aren't as scared in basketball because you can lose every game and make it. We could schedule a lot of wrc teams locally along with lel teams , fed teams , wgh types, Solon etc

Football would be better too for fans but much harder for the AD. The 4 westside schools haven't challenged us much and the rivalries arent there. Would prob still play eds , Ignatius , Solon and Euclid and hopefully one westsider school at least. But more flexibility can get smaller catholics and more public's. And could be more changing opponents for variety
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Another option is joining the LEL as football only, like Warren Harding did. If LEL can get Euclid and Mentor to re-join and Lorain to stick around, they can go back to a ten-team two division format based on enrollment and competitive balance like they have done before:

Lake Division
Cleveland Heights
Euclid
Lorain
Maple Heights
Mentor

Erie Division
Bedford
Garfield Heights
Shaker Heights
Shaw
Warrensville Heights

Mentor already plays many of the WRC teams in non-revenue sports, so I think it would be great for all schools to add a local rival and league competition. Also, Mentor would add another team for some sports that some of the other WRC teams don't have like bowling and gymnastics.
 
BlackandGold said:
Another option is joining the LEL as football only, like Warren Harding did. If LEL can get Euclid and Mentor to re-join and Lorain to stick around, they can go back to a ten-team two division format based on enrollment and competitive balance like they have done before:

Lake Division
Cleveland Heights
Euclid
Lorain
Maple Heights
Mentor

Erie Division
Bedford
Garfield Heights
Shaker Heights
Shaw
Warrensville Heights

Mentor already plays many of the WRC teams in non-revenue sports, so I think it would be great for all schools to add a local rival and league competition. Also, Mentor would add another team for some sports that some of the other WRC teams don't have like bowling and gymnastics.
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Are you saying join the wrc in non revenue sports and the LEL for football and boys basketball?

Yeah I'd take that in a second but I doubt either league would want a partial member

But I wouldn't want lel in all sports or the WRC in the revenue sports.

And shaker has to replace maple in the d1 division
 
I know we're getting into highly speculative territory regarding the future of the GCC, but I want to make one thing abundantly clear: Solon is never, and I mean assuredly, unequivocally, undoubtedly NEVER going to get an invite to the Suburban League. A lot of those schools/districts still feel burned by them from the WRC/NOC years.
 
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