BY COOPER HAYES

With intense battles over dominance in the fields of Country Club membership, academics, and athletics a rivalry with Indian Hill seems to be part of everyday life at Mariemont.

This rivalry hasn’t alwaysexisted.

“The rivalry wasn’t really heated when I went there,” said Trevor Block, Assistant Principal at Mariemont and a 1998 graduate of Indian Hill. While at Indian Hill Block played lacrosse, playing on a club team with some Mariemont students.

“We might have been their homecoming game, it used to be that bad,” reiterated Block.

This isn’t how some Mariemont students remember things.

“Early 80’s to late 90’s we won what seemed like all of our games against Indian Hill,” said Jim Renner, 1980 Mariemont graduate and current principal.

“I feel like I block out all the football games from when I was at Indian Hill because I can’t think of one that was even close,” said Block.

Block points out that Indian Hill was not a serious contender in the CHL during his tenure as a student there.

According to Renner in the early 2000s Indian Hill revamped its youth football program. Mariemont lacked an organized youth football program until the Junior High level which left them at a deficit.

“From 2000-2010 we got clobbered,” said Renner. “In a league like the CHL it fluctuates a lot, ten great athletes can completely change a team’s dynamic.”

“There was always trash talking. They would cross lines and date our girls causing controversy,” said Renner.

This isn’t how Indian Hill sees it, at least through Block’s eyes.

“We always would have rather beat Madeira,” said Block. “We never burned an effigy or anything like that. I was really surprised when I learned about that.”

Block was referring to the Powwow tradition at Mariemont; every year prior to the Indian Hill football game Mariemont students gather at the log cabin to burn a stuffed doll dressed in Indian Hill football apparel, all while students cheer and watch.

The Mariemont and Indian Hill districts are comparable communities, ranked first and third respectively by Cincy Magazine. This would make a rivalry seem unlikely due to the level of similarity.

“When you are that homogenous you gotta pick something. It is like having a twin and saying ‘you’re ugly’,” said Renner in regard to the true origins of the rivalry.