Lehigh Valley Conference

The Lehigh Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference, known informally as the Lehigh Valley Conference or LVC, was an athletic conference consisting of 12 of the largest high schools from Lehigh and Northampton counties in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. It was part of District XI of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). In 2014, its teams were mostly assimilated into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, an even larger 18-team league of the largest high schools in the Lehigh Valley and Pocono Mountains regions of eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania.

History
See also: Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

Founded on November 14, 2001, the newly formed Lehigh Valley Conference (LVC) rejoined most of the 12 schools that formerly competed in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference at various times from 1976 to 1997, before five schools left in 1997 to join the Mountain Valley Conference (MVC).[1][2]

Phillipsburg High School had previously left the East Penn Conference in 1994 to join the Skyland Conference in New Jersey to be eligible for NJISAA football playoffs; Northampton Area High School joined the MVC for the 1994–95 school year. Eleven of these schools reunited to form the LVC, along with Nazareth Area High School, which had previously competed in the Colonial League before moving to the MVC in 1994. One additional former East Pennsylvania Conference school, Bethlehem Catholic High School, was admitted to the new conference in February 2002.[3] Conference play began with the 2002–03 school year.[4]

In 2012, Allentown's two large public high schools, Allen High School and Dieruff High School, decided to join the MVC as associate members for football only. Then, on October 2, 2013, the LVC voted to invite six Monroe County high schools: Stroudsburg High School in Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg High School North in Dingmans Ferry, East Stroudsburg High School South in East Stroudsburg, Pocono Mountain East High School in Swiftwater, Pocono Mountain West High School in Pocono Summit, and Pleasant Valley Area High School in Brodheadsville. The remaining MVC school, Lehighton Area High School, had already announced in 2012 they would join the Schuylkill League.[5][6]

High schools

The 12 high school teams in the Lehigh Valley Conference (and their locations) were:

Former member of the East Penn Conference (predecessor to the Lehigh Valley Conference):

Dieruff High School and William Allen High School competed in all sports except football where, beginning in 2012, in the smaller Mountain Valley Conference.

In 2013, the Lehigh Valley Conference invited the six Monroe County members of the Mountain Valley Conference to join the LVC. The schools accepted the invitation and formed an 18-school conference, called the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, that began play in the 2014–15 school year.[7]

Records

Among Lehigh Valley Conference schools, Emmaus High School holds the record for most Pennsylvania state championships in all sports since the league's creation. Parkland High School holds the record for the most conference championships in all sports.[8]

Television coverage

Lehigh Valley Conference football, boys and girls basketball games and wrestling matches were broadcast during the respective seasons on Service Electric's Channel 2 in the Lehigh Valley and other broadcast markets. RCN 4, another local television station, also broadcast the Lehigh Valley Conference's football, basketball and wrestling events.

Service Electric also broadcast a weekly "Plays of the Week" segment, sponsored by Yocco's Hot Dogs, which featured the best football, basketball, wrestling and other Lehigh Valley Conference sports highlights of the week.

Sports

Lehigh Valley Conference football

Lehigh Valley Conference football teams routinely ranked highly in the state and nationally in USA Today's annual ranking of the nation's top high school sports teams. In 2008, Liberty High School won the AAAA-level Pennsylvania state football championship, was ranked second in the Eastern United States and 20th among all high schools nationally. In 2002, Parkland High School won the AAAA-level Pennsylvania state football championship, was ranked fifth in the East and 11th among all high schools nationally.[9] In 2007, Parkland High School also appeared in the AAAA-level Pennsylvania state football championship finals (losing to Pittsburgh Central Catholic). In 2008, Liberty High School won the AAAA-level state football championship to Bethel Park. Liberty also appeared in the AAAA state final in 2005 and 2006, but lost. In 2010, Allentown Central Catholic High School won the AAA-level Pennsylvania state football championship, and was ranked fifth in the Eastern United States.[10] They were also ranked in the top 50 nationally, according to maxpreps.com.

High schools currently in the LVC were dominant in local football prior to the conference's formation.[11] Bethlehem Catholic High School won state championships in 1988 (at the AA level) and 1990 (at the AAA level). Allentown Central Catholic High School won the AAA-class state title in 1993, 1998, and 2010. For 1993 they were ranked 10th among all high schools nationally.[12][13]

The conference also has been particularly successful in generating extremely successful collegiate and NFL football talent.

To date, 18 alumni of Lehigh Valley Conference schools have gone on to play in the NFL, and one of them, Chuck Bednarik from Bethlehem High School (now Liberty High School), was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the top honor afforded an NFL player, following his 1961 retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles. Bednarik's tackle of New York Giants running back Frank Gifford on November 20, 1960, known as The Hit, has been regularly ranked as one of the hardest hits and best plays in NFL history.

Girls field hockey

The Lehigh Valley Conference was recognized nationally as one of the premier leagues in the nation for girls field hockey. In 2010, the national sports web site, topofthecircle.com, ranked the Lehigh Valley Conference's Emmaus High School as the best girls field hockey team in the nation for the third time in the program's history. Since its inception, close to 200 members of the Emmaus High School girls field hockey team have gone on to compete on the collegiate level. Emmaus High School has won the Pennsylvania state championship in girls field hockey 10 times and won the District XI title in 22 consecutive seasons, as of 2010.[14]

Wrestling

The Lehigh Valley Conference is also recognized nationally for its hugely successful wrestling programs, which are widely considered among the most competitive and elite in the nation. Easton Area High School, Nazareth Area High School, Northampton Area High School, and other Lehigh Valley Conference high schools are usually national powerhouses and each competes at prestigious national tournaments. Lehigh Valley Conference wrestling matches, especially those between rival Lehigh Valley Conference high schools, are among the Lehigh Valley's most popular athletic events, often selling out large indoor high school arenas with thousands of spectators. LVC schools have won numerous PIAA state individual wrestling championships and six team championships, including three straight 2A team titles for Bethlehem Catholic from 2010 to 2011 through 2012–13.[15]

A sign of its national stature, at one time in the early 2000s, the National High School Coaches Association had Easton Area High School, Nazareth Area High School, and Northampton High School all ranked in their "National Top 25" rankings simultaneously. Individual wrestlers from Lehigh Valley Conference schools are often a fixture in national rankings, and collegiate wrestling scouts from around the nation recruit heavily among Lehigh Valley Conference wrestling teams. Division I collegiate wrestling is filled with wrestlers from the Lehigh Valley Conference, and the U.S. Olympic wrestling team also has often included wrestlers from the conference. Many Lehigh Valley Conference alumni have gone on to compete in college wrestling. One alumnus, Bobby Weaver from Easton High School, went on to win the gold medal in wrestling at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Lehigh Valley Conference high school wrestling was televised locally on Service Electric, WLVT-TV and other radio and television stations.

Lehigh Valley Conference professional and Olympic athletes
Matt McBride, Liberty High School
Brian Schneider, Northampton Area High School
Aaron Gray, Emmaus High School
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Freedom High School
Jim Molinaro, Bethlehem Catholic High School
Tony Stewart, Allentown Central Catholic High School
Matt Millen, Whitehall High School
Andre Reed, Dieruff High School

Current and former professional and Olympic athletes who played high school athletics at the schools currently comprising the Lehigh Valley Conference include:

Former MLB players

Former NBA players

Current and former NFL players

Olympic cycling

Olympic field hockey

Olympic wrestling

Professional auto racing

Professional cycling

Professional soccer

Former WNBA players

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

Lehigh Valley Conference professional and collegiate coaches

Lehigh Valley Conference athletes who have gone on to athletic coaching and team management careers include:

College basketball coaches

College football coaches

National Basketball Association (NBA) coaches

National Football League (NFL) coaches and management

See also

References
  1. "FLASHBACK: In '01, LVC was formed — minus Bethlehem Catholic". The Morning Call. November 14, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  2. "Time line leading to formation of Lehigh Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference". The Morning Call. 2001-11-15. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  3. Groller, Keith (2002-02-14). "Lehigh Valley sports league lets Becahi in the game". The Morning Call. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  4. Fox, John Jay (December 22, 2001). "LVC may suit up in 2002". The Morning Call. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  5. "Lehigh Valley Conference's addition of MVC schools creates new super-conference". LehighValleyLive.com. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  6. Boyer, Leroy (2012-02-11). "Schuylkill League officials approve addition of Lehighton to league ranks Indian welcome". standardspeaker.com. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  7. "Lehigh Valley Conference sends invites to Mountain Valley Conference schools". mcall.com. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  8. "District Titles," LVIAC.net. Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Super 25 prep football regional rankings". USA Today. December 22, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  10. "USA Today Super 25 regional rankings". USA Today. December 20, 2010. Archived from the original on September 5, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  11. "Groller's Corner: List of East Penn Conference football champs, 1976-2001, and more". The Morning Call. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
  12. "PIAA Football Championships (1988-2009): Champions /Appearances" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-11-18.
  13. "High School Football Database: USA Today Super 25 (1990-1999)". High School Football Database. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
  14. "Sportspersons of the Year: Emmaus' Butz-Stavin in a class by herself," The Morning Call, December 31, 2010..
  15. Bailey, Christopher (9 February 2013). "Bethlehem Catholic wrestling team claims third straight state title". The Express-Times. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  16. "Eagles sign former Emmaus standout Kyzir White to one-year deal," WFMZ, March 26, 2022
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