Lakewood Schools Joining Great Lakes Conference

LAKEWOOD, OH — The Lakewood City Schools are joining the Great Lakes Conference in 2020. The school district will leave the Southwest Conference, which has been home to the Rangers since 2015.

“We look forward to joining the Great Lakes Conference and providing our student-athletes with spirited competition coupled with less travel time, allowing a better balance for students and families,” said Lakewood High School Principal Mark Walter. “We thank the SWC for its support over the last four years.”

Lakewood Schools officials are hoping the change in conference will provide more "balanced" competition for students and will rekindle rivalries with school systems that are closer to Lakewood geographically.

The Great Lakes Conference includes neighboring Rocky River, Bay Village, Buckeye, Elyria Catholic, Fairview, Holy Name, Normandy, Parma and Valley Forge high schools.

Lakewood football has struggled to compete in the Southwest Conference. The Rangers football went 1-9 last year and 1-9 the year before that. The squad changed coaches in 2018.