The Greater Cleveland Conference is set for another round of realignment, and Shaker Heights will be forced to adapt to the changing high school sports landscape.
Medina will leave the GCC for the Suburban League following the 2025-26 school year. Medina Athletic Director Todd Hodkey said the school district is excited to join the Suburban League. “This transition will provide schools with closer proximity, reducing transportation time and costs while maintaining the high-quality competition we’ve experienced in the GCC,” he said.
Lorain joined the GCC at the start of this year. Lorain Athletic Director Brian Koury said joining the GCC fits for Lorain historically. “Most of the existing GCC schools were in the Lake Erie League back when we originally joined, and we have competed against all of the schools in the GCC in non-league play in recent years, so there is definitely a familiarity,” he said. Lorain initially joined the LEL in 1923.
Painesville Riverside will also join the GCC following the 2025-26 school year. Painesville Riverside Athletic Director Dave Bors said the GCC fits their desire to test their athletic abilities. “We look forward to showcasing the dedication, talent and pride of our community,” he said.
Shaker Heights Athletic Director Mike Babinec said conference shifts are about logistics. “It’s about trying to reduce travel and trying to find schools that are good fits with you from an athletic standpoint,” he said. “A lot of it is also driven by football, if you play the same sports as schools and what relationships you have with schools.”
The Suburban League is expanding in response to the departure of member schools Kent Roosevelt, Cuyahoga Falls and Tallmadge, which announced plans to leave for the Metro Athletic Conference beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
Kenston and Mayfield Heights, former members of Painesville Riverside’s current Western Reserve Conference, will join the Suburban League in the 2026-27 school year along with Medina.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association expanded its football playoffs from four to seven divisions in 2024. Now, a typical playoff region includes 12 schools, making conference prestige crucial to postseason seeding.
For the Raiders, these changes come a few years after Shaker Heights rejoined the GCC in 2023, alongside rival Cleveland Heights. “We’ve always had a kinship with Cleveland Heights. If there is one school we would hitch our wagon to, it would be them because of the proximity, history and tradition,” Babinec said.
Shaker Heights previously left the GCC in 2019 to return to the LEL, citing travel times, geography and diversity concerns. Cleveland Heights joined the LEL in 1928, while Shaker Heights joined in 1923.
Babinec said that the Raiders’ rivalries aren’t erased by conference shifts, but have evolved uniquely. “I think the rivalry depends on the sport. For basketball, it’s always going to be Cleveland Heights and Garfield Heights. But field hockey has to drive all the way down to Columbus to play a good game. Other sports, I don’t know if there are those rivalries. I don’t think it’s a byproduct of changing conferences,” Babinec said.
The GCC was established in 2016 with eight founding members: Brunswick, Elyria, Euclid, Medina, Mentor, Shaker Heights, Solon and Strongsville.
Beginning in the 2026-27 school year the GCC will comprise Brunswick, Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Lorain, Mentor, Painesville Riverside, Shaker Heights and Strongsville. The conference has lost three of its original eight members in 10 years.
Elyria left the GCC in 2021 to join the Southwest Conference, and Solon left in 2023 to join the Suburban League. A rumor of Brunswick following Medina to the Suburban League has gained traction on Facebook and X in recent months, Babinec said. “I think it’s speculation at this point, but I would not be surprised in the next year or two that Brunswick and Strongsville are out of the GCC. They’ve been open about the fact they’re looking,” he said.
Babinec said travel efficiency was a key factor in Solon’s switch. “Instead of going to Mentor, Strongsville and Medina, they were able to get into a conference with Twinsburg, Stow and Aurora, so from a time standpoint it’s a great fit for them,” he said.
Babinec said that schools work hard to maintain their relationships even after conference switches. “You are always looking for the best fit that has the most impact for the most amount of kids. We have really good relationships with the LEL schools. We play those schools in a lot of non-conference sports,” he said. “If Solon called me tomorrow and said, ‘We’d like to form a conference and we have these schools in mind,’ we’d be stupid not to listen.”
Koury’s point about the GCC schools’ historical rivalries is supported by Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Euclid, Lorain, Mentor and Shaker Heights spending significant time in the LEL. Of those schools, Cleveland Heights served the longest in the LEL from 1918-2023 while Mentor spent the least from 1993-2011.
Babinec said community pressure doesn’t make it easier to find a conference of similar schools. “I have people call me and say, ‘Why don’t you just join a conference with schools that are like Shaker?’ I say, ‘If you can find me seven other schools that are like Shaker, I’ll pay you,’” said Babinec. “We’ve been looking, but there’s not a lot of communities that match our diversity.”
A version of this article appears in print on page 10 of Volume 96, Issue 1, published Sept. 26, 2025.
