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The Greater Cleveland Conference is an active OHSAA athletic league that originally existed from 1950 to 1998, then re-formed (including two prior members, Mentor and Euclid) to begin play in the 2015–2016 school year.

Current Member Schools

This second collection of schools was able to use the name "Greater Cleveland Conference" from the defunct league because Mentor retained the rights to the name from its previous tenure in the GCC. All of the initial members of the reformed league but one left the Northeast Ohio Conference to join, while Euclid came over from the Lake Erie League. As noted under "History", three schools have left the GCC since its reformation, while two have joined (including one that rejoined after leaving).

The current roster of members include four schools from Cuyahoga County (Euclid, Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, and Strongsville), two from Medina County (Brunswick and Medina), and one from Lake County (Mentor). The departed schools were from Lorain County (Elyria) and Cuyahoga County (Solon).

History

Original conference

The Greater Cleveland Conference was originally formed by six high schools in 1950: five from Cuyahoga County (Bedford, Berea, Euclid, Garfield Heights, and Maple Heights), and one from Lake County (Willoughby Union). When Willoughby Union split into two schools in 1957, one of those schools, Eastlake North, replaced it in the GCC; the other, Willoughby South, was not added. However, when the Berea district was similarly split into two schools, Berea and Midpark, in 1962, both were added to the GCC, with Euclid moving to the Lake Erie League along with a neighboring school, South Euclid-Lyndhurst Brush. But in 1968, when Garfield Heights also left the GCC for the Lake Erie League, Willoughby South, Mentor, and Mayfield (all from the Freeway Conference) joined the GCC to increase the league to eight schools. Seven years later, in 1975, Berea and Midpark left to join the Lake Erie League, which had more schools on the west side of Cleveland, but Euclid rejoined the GCC and brought Brush along, maintaining the league at eight. The conference remained unchanged after that for eighteen years until 1993, when Mentor left for the Lake Erie League and was replaced by Nordonia High School. However, that began a process of league dissolution, and the conference dissolved within the next five years, with Mentor retaining the rights to the league name.

Original GCC Members

• Bedford Bearcats (1950-1998 (to Lake Erie League))
• Berea Braves (1950-1975 (to Lake Erie League))
• Euclid Panthers (1950-1962, 1975-1998 (both times to Lake Erie League))
• Garfield Heights Bulldogs (1950-1968 (to Lake Erie League))
• Maple Heights Mustangs (1950-1998 (to Lake Erie League))
• Willoughby Union Rangers (1950-57 (school dissolved))
• Eastlake North Rangers (1957-1998 (to Premier League))
• Middleburg Heights Midpark Meteors (1962-1975 (to Lake Erie League))
• Willoughby South Rebels (1968-1998 (to Premier League))
• Mentor Cardinals (1967-1993 (to Lake Erie League))
• Mayfield Wildcats (1968-1998 (to Western Reserve Conference))
• Lyndhurst Brush Arcs (1975-1998 (to Western Reserve Conference))
• Macedonia Nordonia Knights (1994-1997 (to Western Reserve Conference))

Current conference

The inaugural lineup of the reformed Greater Cleveland Conference began in 2015 with Brunswick, Elyria, Euclid, Medina, Mentor, Shaker Heights, Solon, and Strongsville. But two changes happened within the first five years.

Shaker Heights announced in January 2019 that they would leave the GCC to rejoin the Lake Erie League for the 2020–21 school year. The district cited "new and improved leadership in the LEL, better geography and travel times, but also diversity/cultural sensitivity issues" as reasons for leaving. On January 16, 2020, Elyria accepted an invitation to leave for the Southwestern Conference, effective in 2021. These departures left the league with only six schools for the 2021–22 and 2022–23 school years.

More changes followed quickly. A unanimous vote on April 13, 2022, granted approval for Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights of the Lake Erie League to join the conference beginning with the 2023-24 school year. Later that year, in September, Solon announced plans to leave for the Suburban League at the conclusion of the current school year, a year earlier than conference bylaws allowed. At its December 2022 meeting, the GCC approved Solon's departure for all sports except for football, citing difficulties scheduling with seven teams. Under the agreement, Solon football will play the 2023 season in the GCC while all other sports will begin play in the Suburban League. Football will join the Suburban League in 2024. In May 2024, the conference approved Lorain to join the conference in all sports in the 2025-26 school year.<ref> https://gccohio.net/2024/05/15/lorain-to-join-the-greater-cleveland-conference/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Former Members

• Elyria Pioneers (2015-2021 (to Southwestern Conference))
• Solon Comets (2015-2023 (to Suburban League))

References

1. "Football Historical Games By Season" (PDF). Mayfield City Schools. mayfieldschools.org. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
2. "Chagrin Falls, Orange school boards approve efforts to create new athletic conference". 25 September 2013.
3. "Elyria and b County news | Chronicle Telegram".
4. "High school sports: Euclid to join Greater Cleveland Conference in 2015-16". 17 April 2014.
5. "Football Historical Games By Season" (PDF). Mayfield City Schools. mayfieldschools.org. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
6. WKYC Staff (January 11, 2019). "Shaker Heights to leave Greater Cleveland Conference, says athletes have dealt with 'multiple instances' of racial slurs". WKYC. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
7. "Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights approved to join Greater Cleveland Conference in 2023". 13 April 2022.
8. Noland, Rick (December 2, 2022). "Solon's move to Suburban League delayed by football season". Medina County Gazette. Retrieved January 13, 2023.

• Ohio high school sports conferences
• Sports in Greater Cleveland
• 2015 establishments in Ohio
• Organizations established in 2015