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LAKEWOOD TO JOIN WEST SHORE CONFERENCE IN 2012
Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the Lakewood City Schools athletic teams will move from the Northeast Ohio Conference to compete in the West Shore Conference, which is a better geographic match for Lakewood. The move will allow Lakewood to better develop school rivalries with other western suburbs that are in closer proximity to Lakewood Schools than most NOC teams.
The change of conferences also will reduce significantly travel time for student athletes and transportation costs for the district as the teams travel to places such as Twinsburg, Stow, Hudson and Cuyahoga Falls for NOC games. Shorter travel times will reduce the time-crunch on student athletes balancing homework and games as well as allow more family and friends to see the teams perform at away games.
“The NOC is a class organization,” said Lakewood Athletic Director Bob Thayer. “However, it has not been a good fit for Lakewood. Being a geographical fringe team in the NOC has created significant travel problems for our athletic teams and fans. The move to the WSC will create a better travel situation and provide greater opportunities to build exciting rivalries.”
WSC President and Rocky River High School Principal Debra Bernard said the league is “estatic about Lakewood Schools joining the West Shore Conference league in 2012. Lakewood Schools are the perfect complement of competition to the other seven schools in our league and we look forward to developing competitive rivalries.”
The West Shore Conference is currently made up of Avon, Bay Village, Elyria Catholic, Fairview Park, Firelands (Oberlin), Midview (Grafton), North Ridgeville, Rocky River and Vermilion. Fairview and Firelands will be leaving the conference after the 2010-2011 school year. Lakewood has been a member of the NOC since fall 2007.
Lakewood’s move to a new athletic conference was one component of an overall athletic program review undertaken by the district this past school year. In June, the Lakewood Board of Education passed a resolution based on recommendations from a committee that conducted the research and review. The resolution outlines a district philosophy that centers on improving academic achievement for the student athlete and increasing participation in athletics and recreational activities.
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