GCC accepting applicants

Mentor AD touts league’s top level of competition

The Greater Cleveland Conference seeks new members for the 2021-22 school year, when the league will consist of six schools.

At the end of the 2019-20 school year, Shaker Heights will depart for the Lake Erie League. Elyria will join the Southwestern Conference after the 2020-21 school year.

The GCC hopes to attract applicants similar to the six members that will remain: Mentor, Euclid, Solon, Medina, Strongsville and Brunswick.

“Obviously, I think we’re looking at big schools that have a multitude of different sports that can compete with the schools in our conference,” Mentor athletic director Jeff Cassella said. “We think that we have a lot to offer as far as our schools, not only on the athletic fields but as far as academically, we’re all pretty big, well-respected schools that compete at a high level.”

The deadline to apply is May 15. The application can be found on the league’s website, gccohio.net. Interested schools should contact league president Denny Ziegler at dziegler@ scsmustangs.org.

Brunswick, Strongsville, Medina and Solon had applied to join the Suburban League earlier this year, in

part to ease travel associated with membership in GCC play, but the conference opted to remain at 15 schools.

Since, Cassella said the league’s remaining athletic directors resolved to try to keep the conference together.

“We’ve all said that we’re in it,” Cassella said. “At our last AD’s meeting, we all talked after the Suburban League decided not to take those schools in. We said, ‘Well, let’s try to make this

work and stay together, let’s see if there’s anybody out there that might want to join us.’”

Cassella cited the GCC’s recent athletic success in football, basketball, softball, cross country, soccer and baseball in what makes the league attractive to prospective members.

In boys basketball alone this season, three of the league’s member schools advanced to the Division I regional tournament at Cleveland State. Mentor defeated

Medina to set up a regional title game against Shaker Heights to decide a trip to Columbus.

“You think about all those sports, we’ve had state champions and all kinds of stuff coming out of our conference,” Cassella said. “There aren’t too many conferences around that can say that. That’s what we’re most proud of, that we compete at a high very level and we’re looking for schools that want to do that with us.”