Chagrin Falls High School Men’s Tiger
Soccer 1970
The Start of a Tradition…
Last Update – 16 December 2009
Gerhardt came to Chagrin Falls in the Spring of 1970 to do his student teaching. He formed a club, the Chagrin Falls Soccer Club, a club with two teams, the Pioneers and the Highwaymen. The Pioneers were called the Pioneers because they were the first Chagrin youth soccer team. The Highwaymen were called the Highwaymen because without a home field the players had to do a lot of highway driving and that was before the Interstates I-271 and I-90. The two teams competed in the youth division of the Lake Erie Soccer League during the off-season. When Gerhardt was hired in September of 1970 as a teacher he combined the players from the Pioneers and the Highwaymen into the first ever Chagrin Falls High School soccer team.
The Tigers schedule in 1970 consisted of games against such teams as University School, Shaker Heights, Brecksville, Rocky River, Lakeland Community College, and the Cleveland State JV team. The team played a total of 25 games, but only one home game, and that was against Oberlin High School. The game was played on a Saturday morning in September on the Baseball field in front of Chagrin Falls High School with goals nailed together from 2 x 4’s purchased at a local lumber yard. Over 200 curious “fans” saw the Tigers first ever home soccer game. They were not soccer fans, however, they were football fans, who while leaving Harris Stadium following a junior varsity football game got curious about the strange game that was being played on the front field and they came and stayed and watched and cheered. Chagrin won that game 3:1.
The 1970 CFHS Tigers
(Picture is from the 1970-1971 Chagrin Falls High School Yearbook, The Zenith.)
Bottom Row – George Cressman, Chris Nelson, Steven White, Peter Berrick, Jeff Lawrence, David Lackey, Gary Bamberger, Chuck Campbell, Mark Butler, Tom Elder, Mark Smith
Middle Row – Mario Gerhardt (Coach), William McSherry (Captain), Lea Coryell, Chris Best, Robert Bricker, Harry Langstaff, Mike Moats, Dave Horth, Don Baenen, Alan Schwenk
Top Row – Pete Bennett, Gary Prideaux, Dave Day, Rick Gale, Marco Guis (Exchange Student from Italy), Tony Tognini
Not Pictured – John Corlett (Keeper), John Lavicka
Players from the 1970 team who played college soccer – Tony Tognini (Wright State University), Bill McSherry (Keeper, Miami University of Ohio), Rob Bricker (Allegheny and Baldwin Wallace College)
(If there were others, please let me know and I will add your name to the list.)