The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mission remains same as broad CVC expansion looms
Here is one vivid indication a conference fields a high standard of football:
Two coaches catch up in the back of a room at a conference function.
One has guided his squad to three state championships and six state final fours in the last seven years, with aspirations for a fourth title in 2018.
The other has guided his squad to a final four and an elite eight the last two falls — and they’re gearing up for another charge this year.
And if they wanted to make it a complete reunion of all the teams who made runs toward December from their conference a year ago, a third coach would have to join that chat.
Few conferences in Ohio can boast those interactions. But the Chagrin Valley Conference can.
With six new additions coming next season, the CVC hopes it can ratchet up the caliber and depth just a little bit more.
Kirtland’s Tiger LaVerde and Perry’s Matt Rosati were the two aforementioned coaches catching up in the back of the room.
Cuyahoga Heights’ Al Martin could have jumped in that chat as well.
And no one is less surprised such a scenario can transpire than Chagrin Falls’ Mark Iammarino.
Iammarino, now this area’s dean in the CVC on the gridiron after the retirement of Hawken’s Cliff Walton, has guided the Tigers to three state final fours and a pair of state title tilts in 2009 and 2010.
“I’ve been involved in the CVC for quite a long time,” Iammarino said. “Even prior to Chagrin Falls, being at Solon when they were in the CVC at that time. I’ve seen a lot of teams come, and I’ve seen a lot of teams go. I think the one constant is traditionally it’s an outstanding conference with great schools, great academics, great reputations, great communities. They support their academic programs.
“I think it’s one of the premier conferences on the East Side of Cleveland, we are proud to be part of it. We’ll certainly do our best to hold up our tradition in the Chagrin Division.”
A Chagrin Division that will be a little different come this time next year.
Brooklyn, Edgewood, Grand Valley, Lakeside, Lutheran West and Trinity are the six schools that will join the CVC ranks for 2019-2020. The change will revert the CVC back to its three-division format that was used briefly earlier this decade with Chagrin, Metro and Valley divisions.
For football, the Chagrin Division is going to be Chagrin Falls, Edgewood, Geneva, Harvey, Lakeside, Orange, Perry and West Geauga.
“It really helps us out, too, simply because for example Hawken won’t play us this year, and we have to play St. Vincent-St. Mary,” Rosati said. “So getting back to knowing who you’re going to play year in and year out is going to be a big help. So Edgewood and Lakeside, I’m sure, will be great teams to add to our conference, and I’m sure will be competitive.”
The Metro Division will consist of Brooklyn, Cuyahoga Heights, Fairport, Independence, Lutheran West, Richmond Heights and Trinity. The Valley Division will be Beachwood, Berkshire, Cardinal, Grand Valley, Hawken, Kirtland and Wickliffe.
“I just want to keep seven or eight league games,” LaVerde said. “It’s really hard for us to find nonconference games. So as long as we have seven or eight league games, I’m OK with wherever they put us.
“I kind of liked two leagues of eight, because the crossover games, some years they counted, some years they didn’t. It always made it hard. I know Cuyahoga Heights played us every year, so that was their crossover every year and we beat them a couple times and it cost them a league title. And other teams on their side have to play us — sometimes it wasn’t fair. I liked eight teams in a league — you play all seven — and then there’s a true league champion.”
Having the three-division separation may also assist in what, at times, has been a rocky ravine between the upper echelon and others trying to translate the remaining scraps of computer points into playoff berths and seek competitive games week after week.
Among the current Valley Division teams, for example, Kirtland, Cuyahoga Heights and Independence have combined to go 233-62 (.790 win percentage) this decade, including the Hornets’ astounding 109-7. Cardinal, Wickliffe, Richmond Heights, Berkshire and Fairport have combined during that same span to go 142-263 (.351).
To a certain extent, parity amid a divide like that becomes a pipedream.
Geographic alignment is tricky for any conference — because it will never be perfect. But with the strategic additions to the CVC as far as location and size, traveling a little for schedule stability and parity is worth the effort. Especially when you have a conference in which a breakout meeting can take place between coaches who know December football well.
“From (the geography) aspect, it’s going to affect teams more like Chagrin and Orange more so than us,” Rosati said. “Because Lakeside and Edgewood, we’re right in the middle. To them, they’re actually going to have to travel quite a long way to play those teams. But for us, we really don’t care. As long as we have seven games, we’re fine.”