Having successfully added over 100 names to their new Athletic Wall of Fame, the Crestwood Red Devils are inviting alumni to return to their alma matter to celebrate the achievement. Crestwood will host a banquet dinner and social honoring the new members of the Wall of Fame in its gymnasium in Mantua on March 24 at 5 p.m.
“It is exciting to have the opportunity to have so many decorated alumni of our athletic programs to be potentially all at one place at one time,” said Athletic Director Troy Spiker. “This a very unique group of alumni who have achieved OHSAA’s highest accolades of highest participation. It’s a very special group and it is very exciting to bring them all together.”
Before the beginning of the New Year, the Red Devils began an initiative to remodel their Athletic Wall of Fame and add over 100 names of alumni who received All-Ohio honors or placed at state tournaments. Spiker said approximately 23 alumni and their families have accepted an invitation to return to their old stomping grounds to join 72 guests. In a buffet style dinner provided by the Athletic Department.
The project includes adding names of former students who attended Crestwood in the 1950s.
“Unfortunately, some of those alumni are not with us today but their families are more than welcome to come and be a part of this event in recognition of their loved ones,” Spiker added.
In addition to many alumni returning to Crestwood, several current student-athletes will also be attending, giving them a chance to connect with the previous Red Devil athletes and gain perspective from their experiences at Crestwood.
“That is another whole big driving force to us by doing this Wall of Fame project,” Spiker noted. “We want to honor as much of the athletic history as we can at Crestwood while at the same time presenting to our current student-athletes the pride and success that has come through the halls of Crestwood, with hopes of motivating or promoting our current athletes but also our future athletes to see something so prestigious.”
Along with the names of alumni that have been added on the Wall of Fame, the Red Devils are also adding names of current student-athletes who achieved recognition during their most recent fall or winter season.
Spiker acknowledged that the project has not only celebrated the Red Devils’ rich tradition of academic excellence but has also provided the Crestwood youth a glimpse into what the Red Devils’ athletic programs have to offer.
Since taking over as Crestwood’s Athletic Director, Spiker said the school has made a renewed effort to focus on the youth level programs and get more kids interested in playing sports. Just this winter, the junior high teams experienced a 20-30% increase in participation since Spiker was appointed as the Athletic Director three years ago.
“That was one of the directions which I wanted to focus on when I came to Crestwood,” Spiker said. “How could we increase our high school participation and our athletic programs? By streamlining all the way down to our middle school and even our youth levels, that is the first step in that process here at Crestwood. It is all about commending my varsity coaches for committing and investing into the youth levels. We have more youth camps occurring across our community right now.”
Despite Crestwood only being in its fourth season as a member of the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division, that has not prevented the Red Devils from making their mark, having already won one football, one cross-country, one basketball, two soccer and two softball championships.
Even though the number of students in the school district has declined over the last several years, Spiker said that Crestwood athletics remain as competitive as ever and the upcoming banquet dinner and social is proof of that.
“Just acknowledging the size we have had with so many athletic successes and the size of our school being what it is, we are still seeing athletic success in the Ohio High School Athletic Association which is a very exciting thing,” he said.
