Warren Harding officially joins LEL

By Joe Scalzo

Warren Harding has a league home — officially.

Tuesday night, the school’s board of education approved a move to the two-tiered Lake Erie League, beginning in 2010-011.

Harding will compete in the Lake Division with Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Mentor and Shaker Heights. The Erie Division will have Maple Heights, Admiral King, Bedford, Southview, Warrensville Heights and East Cleveland Shaw.

The Raiders, who left the Steel Valley Conference after the last school year, are required to compete in the LEL in 10 sports: football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls swimming, boys and girls track, baseball and softball. They can join in the other eight sports — boys and girls golf, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls soccer and boys and girls cross country — but it is not mandatory.

“It’s been a long haul,” said Raiders athletic director Paul Trina. “We’re happy our kids have a home.”

After Boardman and Fitch left the SVC for the Federal League after the 2002-03 school year, Harding first tried to expand the SVC (leading to five area schools temporarily joining in everything but football), then tried unsuccessfully to join the All-American Conference and the Federal League.

“If you continue to work, good things will happen,” said Trina. “This [the LEL] may not be our first choice, it may not happen when you think it’s going to happen, but when it does, you’ve got to go.

“If this had been our first choice, and we hadn’t done our due diligence with the local leagues, it may not have been the right choice. But the way it played out, it’s the right choice.”

The five-team Lake Division gives the Raiders scheduling flexibility and pits them against programs of similar size. Plus, fans are already somewhat familiar with the schools — Harding’s basketball team played Euclid, Shaker Heights and Mentor in the regular season last winter and Cleveland Heights in the district tournament. They’ve also played Mentor in the football playoffs twice since 2002 and tied Shaw in football in Week One.

Trina said the Raiders will still try to schedule local teams for non-league games, but don’t expect their annual football games with Mooney and Ursuline to continue.

“We’re going to play public Division I and II schools,” he said.

Harding will keep Chaney, East and Massillon on the schedule, with plans to add Steubenville. Trina would like to see the Raiders resume football rivalries with Boardman and Fitch and is trying to arrange a game with Howland as early as 2010.

“We want to play those local kind of games with other public schools that will bring their community along,” Trina said.

scalzo@vindy.com