HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS It's official: City schools agree to join Steel Valley

Rayen, Chaney and Wilson will join in all sports except football in 2005.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- For one day at least, past frustrations were banished and all complaints were brushed aside as the Youngstown City Series joined hands with the Steel Valley Conference and looked forward to the future.
"It's a great day in Youngstown," said City Series commissioner John Tullio, who announced the merger at a press conference on Tuesday at the Irene Ward Building. "It's a great day for the Youngstown City Schools."
And an important day.
"There are a few people who think we're crazy," said Tullio, smiling. "They think we're putting the cart before the horse. But we look at this as an opportunity for us to step up to bat and improve our athletic programs.
"We're excited about the challenge."
Unanimously approved
The three City schools -- Chaney, Rayen and Wilson -- will join the SVC in all sports except football beginning in the spring of 2005. The move was unanimously approved by the Youngstown Board of Education last week.
Canton Timken, the fourth team in the City Series, has opted to leave for another conference.
Beaver Local and Warren JFK have already joined under a similar setup. Ursuline, Mooney and Warren Harding will compete in all sports.
"If you take away football, there's a lot of parity in this league," said Harding athletic director Paul Trina, who has worked hard over the past two years on league expansion. "We think this is good for the teams that are joining and we think it's also good for the teams already in the SVC.
"Now we can sit down, work things out and begin to grow together."
Rayen and Wilson will consolidate into Youngstown East in 2006 and there are already plans for Chaney and East to begin playing football at that time.
East Liverpool, Campbell invited
The SVC also invited East Liverpool and Campbell. Today is the deadline for them to respond.
East Liverpool, which belongs to the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference, plans to wait a few weeks to see if they can get the OVAC to guarantee a minimum number of football games each year.
Campbell, which has been independent since the Mahoning Valley Conference disbanded in 1994, is still trying to get into the proposed superconference involving the Metro Athletic Conference and the Inter-County League. The Trumbull Athletic Conference voted not to join the superconference, but may still reconsider.
Messages left for Campbell principal Rick Gozur and athletic director Ed Rozum were not returned.
"If we could get East Liverpool and Campbell, there's a good possibility of us going into two tiers for football," said SVC commissioner Mike Butch, a retired teacher from the Youngstown City Schools. "Of course, everyone wants to focus on football, but the most important thing this does is it helps the lower level sports.
"This gives them a better schedule and a more complete schedule. I think it will help them get better at what they do."
Hope to add sports
The City schools do not compete in all 18 varsity sports and Tullio said he hopes to see the schools add sports such as cross country, tennis and golf in the next few years.
"Eight years ago, we were not very competitive in all sports," said Trina. "But playing up has made us more competitive and I'd like to see that happen with the Youngstown schools."
Fitch and Boardman voted to leave the SVC two years ago and began playing in the Federal League last fall. Warren JFK, which also became independent in 1994, voted to join the SVC last fall and began league competition this spring, winning league titles in girls track and boys tennis.
Beaver Local, which also belongs to the OVAC, will begin SVC play next spring.
The SVC will continue to explore its options and may try to join forces with the proposed three-tiered superconference.
"Our doors are open," said Trina. "And if Fitch and Boardman wanted to come back in, we'd accept them tomorrow."
Tradition will remain
And just because the City has joined with the SVC doesn't mean that the league's long tradition is gone.
Chaney and East will play in the 10th week of the football season after the consolidation and a similar setup is planned for basketball, Tullio said. And, as a show of unity, the first SVC track meet will be held at Chaney.
"We don't want to lose our history," Tullio said. "We're just joining forces."
scalzo@vindy.com