Behind-the-scenes work two years in the making culminates Friday when the new-look Suburban League gets completely under way with the opening kickoffs of the football season.
“Intriguing” is the first word that comes to mind.
The big-school, small-school divisions mirror a developing trend throughout Ohio. Copley, Revere, Tallmadge and, up until recently, Highland will get to battle schools their size for the first time in decades, while Wadsworth must knock heads with the big boys consistently for the first time since leaving the Pioneer Conference in 1984.
How long the two-division SL will last will be the burning question, because history shows stability is never a guarantee. The exception is when multiple rural communities are jam-packed into one county (see the neighboring Wayne County Athletic League founded in the 1920s).
Entering its 67th season, the SL is a testament to resiliency despite only one school, Copley, having been in the fold since 1949 (Nordonia and Hudson left but returned). A lot of that has to do with the suburbs of Akron, as 14-of-15 schools either are located within Summit County or bordering it. Even former longtime members such as Green (1949-2015), Coventry (1969-83), Woodridge (1958-78) and Norton (1972-2005) fit the mold.
The reasonable travel is a major sticking point as to why the SL expanded from its traditional eight-team format, as Cuyahoga Falls, North Royalton, Hudson, Twinsburg and Stow were tired of having to bus teams to Mentor, Shaker Heights, Garfield Heights and Elyria in the annoyingly confusing (and thankfully now-defunct) Northeast Ohio Conference, where divisions were based on strength of sport and not geography. Rivalries never developed and athletic budgets were stretched because, seriously, what average fan in his right mind would drive an hour to watch two bad teams duke it out?
Kent Roosevelt had outgrown the Portage Trail Conference as the big fish in a small pond. Aurora had a similar reason to leave the Cuyahoga/Geauga/Lake county-based Chagrin Valley Conference, but travel was the largest concern.
So, here we are: Brecksville, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, North Royalton, Nordonia, Twinsburg, Stow and Wadsworth in the National Division; Aurora, Barberton, Copley, Highland, Revere, Roosevelt and Tallmadge in the American. Goodbye, Cloverleaf and Green, and best of luck to you.
With six former NOC schools in the National Division, the SL’s premier division is going to be awesome in many sports.
Getting fantastic-across-the-board Brecksville from the Southwestern Conference was a big coup. The Bees’ gymnastics team has won a gaudy 12 straight state championships, and the wrestling program could end Wadsworth’s 23-year reign atop the circuit.
Though a given early on the process, grabbing Hudson was huge, too, as the Explorers were regional participants in a half-dozen sports in 2014-15.
Don’t sleep on North Royalton’s girls programs, either. The same goes for Twinsburg track and field and girls basketball and Stow softball. Add them to Wadsworth and Nordonia’s prowess — they combined for 10 SL titles last season — and the National Division can stake a claim as one of the deepest public school leagues in Northeast Ohio (though boys basketball doesn’t look particularly promising this year).
The same can’t be said for the American Division, which feels like an afterthought despite legitimate depth in football, boys soccer and baseball and a pair of state girls golf powers in Highland and Kent Roosevelt.
Grouping longtime SL members Copley, Highland, Revere and Tallmadge made perfect sense, as all four are D-II/III football schools and don’t have a ton of room to grow much larger. The latter two in particular will benefit immensely as the smallest in the league.
The elephants in the room are the long-term viabilities of Aurora, Roosevelt and Barberton.
Aurora was no doubt recruited for its top-notch football program, which has won 104 games and four regional titles over the last 10 seasons. Outside of that and a state-level baseball team, however, the Greenmen are non-descript in many sports.
The same goes for Barberton, whose lack of talent other than a token basketball, wrestling or softball team barely made the Magics better than the school they replaced, Norton, when they were in the SL from 2005-11. They’re not much of an upgrade from Cloverleaf — dead last in 11-of-19 sports in 2014-15 — either.
Roosevelt had a bunch of paper titles while in the PTC Metro Division, but what did they mean, really? The Rough Riders were beating the pulp out of the Streetsboros, Springfields and Coventrys of the world, and when’s the last time anyone heard anything from them in the postseason on a consistent basis?
In essence, Roosevelt was to the PTC what Buckeye is to the Patriot Athletic Conference, but the Rough Riders will have a chip on their shoulders and make the American Division stronger if they can sustain a winning tradition. They are clearly the biggest unknown.
The other lingering question is finding an eighth team, because playing a non-league football game in the heart of the season against a random opponent (New Philadelphia at Tallmadge, Akron North at Barberton, Garfield Heights at Kent Roosevelt, Warrensville Heights at Revere and Aurora, Copley at Bedford, etc.) is unnatural and, to be blunt, a financial hit.
Bedford, CVCA, Maple Heights and Northwest expressed interest, but none garnered enough votes among the current SL schools for approval, resulting in the seven-team awkwardness. Travel is a concern with Bedford, Maple Heights and Northwest, while athletic directors would never admit that CVCA being a private school scared them off.
The Royals would be a great fit, however, as they are located in Cuyahoga Falls and lose a lot of potential athletes to parochial power Walsh Jesuit, which is located across the road. CVCA is strong in cross country/track, wrestling and basketball, but not exactly a juggernaut overall.
Luckily, SL Commissioner Keith Walker said finding an eighth team for the American Division is a priority.
Time will tell if all the work was worth it. At the very least, this corner is betting on the National Division lasting for a very long time.