LVC DOMINANCE

By Keith Groller

OF THE MORNING CALL

December 20, 2009
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It all started with an invitation for lunch.

On Oct. 5, 2001, then Central Catholic principal Rev. Frans Berkhout and Dr. Herman Corradetti, the principal at Emmaus, reached out to Parkland principal Rich Sniscak for a little conversation over a lunch at the Shanty Restaurant in west Allentown.

The topic would be forming a new conference that would reunite many of the same schools that had been part of the East Penn Conference for nearly a quarter-century from 1975 to 1998.

The EPC had splintered under a cloud of accusations and distrust with recruiting and sportsmanship issues at the forefront.

Once the dust settled on that mass exodus, only five schools remained in the EPC -- Allen, Bethlehem Catholic, Central Catholic and Emmaus.

Those five schools struggled to fill out schedules and had to travel great distances to play many of their games.

The schools who left the EPC for the Mountain Valley Conference -- Parkland, Whitehall, Easton, Liberty, Freedom and Northampton, which actually bolted years before the others -- also were concerned about travel issues. They also found that they missed some of the rivalries against schools located much closer to home.

Within little more than a month after that initial discussion at lunch, a new league was formed that brought the schools back together.

Nazareth, which had never been an EPC member, was also included. Bethlehem Catholic, a school at the center of the EPC controversy, was the last one admitted in February of 2002.

What has ensued since the fall of 2002 when the Lehigh Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference began competing has been nothing short of remarkable.

In fact, the formation of the LVC and its subsequent dominance has been selected as The Morning Call's No. 8 local sports story of the decade.

It is arguably the most successful league in the state when it comes to across-the-board excellence, winning 30 state team championships in just seven-plus years.

While the LVC was notably present on the PIAA's biggest sports stage -- the Class 4A state finals in football -- five times overall and for four consecutive years, the quality of the coaches and the athletes in the LVC has manifested itself in many less obvious ways.

Take, for example, the decade of dominance by the Central Catholic girls volleyball team.

The Vikettes won three state titles (2001, '07 and '08) and had four silver-medal finishes (2002, '03, '06, and '09) to go with nine District 11 championships. Perhaps more importantly, the program has sent at least 20 girls on to play collegiate volleyball, on a scholarship in many cases.

Success stories abound almost everywhere you look in the LVC -- in the pool at Emmaus and Parkland where one of the two have a state team title the past seven years. Â… on the cross country course and field hockey fields at Emmaus. Â… on the softball diamonds at Emmaus, Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic Â… on the wrestling mats at Nazareth, Northampton and Easton Â… on the basketball courts at Parkland, Central, Emmaus.

There have been a few special days that have stood out for the league, like the 2004 night when Central Catholic's girls and Parkland boys played for state basketball on the same night in Hershey or the weekend two years later when the Parkland and CCHS girls both competed for state basketball gold. Just last June, three LVC teams -- Parkland's baseball team and the Becahi and Parkland girls softball teams participated in state championship games on the same day.

It's everything and more than Berkhout, Corradetti and Sniscak envisioned when they set that lunch date in 2001.

''Many of the schools who left the East Penn Conference never really wanted to leave, Parkland included,'' said Sniscak, now an assistant superintendent. ''The key in getting back together was learning from past mistakes and operating from a point of mutual respect. In the last days of the EPC, so many people were frustrated with the continuing discord in regard to sportsmanship issues and recruiting.

''With this league, we established a set of principles and practices that schools must adhere to. And we tried to give commonality to each sport. What we do for one sport, we do for the others. We also emphasize academics and we're just as proud of the national recognition we've had with things like the Science Olympiad. The biggest winners are the kids because the competition they get in this league raises the bar and makes everybody better.''

There's always whispers of a superconference being formed that would unite all District 11 schools based on enrollment and ability. But in many ways, the area already has its super conference.

''With the strong leadership in place and the outstanding coaches and kids we have, I don't see this league slowing down any time soon,'' Sniscak said.