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] The LVC got off the ground after Parkland athletic director and head football coach Richard T. Sniscak was appointed principal of Parkland High School in May 2001 before earning a principal certification or a master's degree. In October 2001, Sniscak was approached by Parkland School Board member and Emmaus High School principal Dr. Herman Corradetti with the idea of reuniting the area schools that had competed in the East Penn Conference with a new conference, and played an intricate role in its formation.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Dieruff High School and William Allen High School competed in all sports except football where, beginning in 2012, in the smaller Mountain Valley Conference.
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.[15]
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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18]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.[19][20]
The conference also has been particularly successful in generating extremely successful collegiate and NFLfootball 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.[21]
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.[22]
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
Current and former professional and Olympic athletes who played high school athletics at the schools currently comprising the Lehigh Valley Conference include:
