Ohio Northeast Region defunct athletic conferences

This is a list of former high school athletic conferences in the Northeast Region of Ohio, as designated by the OHSAA. If a conference had members that span multiple regions, the conference is placed in the article of the region most of its former members hail from. Because the names of localities and their corresponding high schools do not always match and because there is often a possibility of ambiguity with respect to either the name of a locality or the name of a high school, the following table gives both in every case, with the locality name first, in plain type, and the high school name second in boldface type. The school's team nickname is given last.

All-American Athletic Conference

This short-lived conference began when Hubbard left the Mahoning Valley Conference to join with four defectors from the Steel Valley Conference (leaving the SVC in a weakened state, with only four schools remaining). When Western Reserve closed in 1990, Hubbard and Warren Harding rejoined their former conferences, while Howland and Niles McKinley followed Hubbard into the MVC.

All-American Conference (Football)

This football-only conference featured six schools in northeastern Ohio, with some of the strongest gridiron teams in the state. Some of the schools also competed in the Ohio Big 8 League for other sports. The league lasted 16 seasons, and broke up primarily because of the dominance of Massillon Washington.

All-Ohio Conference/League

The league began as the AOC in 1976, as the Chippewa Conference split into this league and the Pioneer League. After Coventry replaced Tuscarawas Valley in 1983, the name was changed to the AOL.

Ashland County League

see Ashland County HS Sports Teams, Ohio

Chippewa Conference

The larger schools with proximity to I-76, I-71 and I-271 (Brunswick, Cloverleaf and Wadsworth) merged with Brecksville, North Royalton and Strongsville as charter members of the Pioneer Conference. Those three Cuyahoga County Conference schools also experienced greater enrollment increases than the smaller schools in their conference. They, too, had proximity to I-71 and the newly constructed I-271. Although Highland is listed it was never in the Chippewa Conference. It was in the Inland Conference (1958-1976) before joining the Suburban League in 1977. Many Chippewa Conference schools included Highland in their non-conference schedules among several sports.

Crown Conference

(1967-1980)

This league dissolved around 1980/1981. There was competitive disparity among the schools who were non-diocese (St. Edward, St. Ignatius) and the Cleveland Diocese schools. The non-diocese schools did not restrict enrollment based on parish location/affiliation, "inviting" the entire Cleveland area for enrollment. This bolstered its athletic programs to the level where the other schools could no longer compete (particularly in wrestling and football). St. Edward and St. Ignatius have - since the mid/later 1980s - looked to other states' top football and wrestling programs (St. Edward) for regular season scheduled opponents. When the league disbanded St. Ignatius and St. Joseph were the dominant basketball programs.

Cuyahoga County Conference/League

The initial CCL split into the Eastern Cuyahoga County League and West Side Cuyahoga County League (later the East and West County Leagues) in 1929. Various defections from within the county led to a short reformation of the league in 1954. The East and West leagues were revived two years later. Further defections to other leagues led to neither league being stable, and they revived the county league (now under the CCC banner) in 1964.

First Version (192?-29)

"A" League

"B" League

Second Version (1954–56)

Third Version (1964–76)

The three larger schools in this conference (Brecksville, North Royalton and Strongsville) experienced greater enrollment increases, were closer to I-71 and I-271 and merged with Chippewa Conference schools sharing similar characteristics (Brunswick, Cloverleaf and Wadsworth) to comprise the charter members of the Pioneer Conference (launched in 1977). Warrensville Heights was also growing in enrollment and joined another Cleveland area league with schools closer in size. Smaller schools like Brooklyn, Cuyahoga Heights, Independence and Lutheran West later joined the Inland Conference. The three public schools were limited in potential enrollment increase because their city limits were no longer expandable. They were also near I-480, making travel among their new Inland Conference opponents easier, and their competition consisted of schools similar in enrollment. Richmond Heights had the same city limit growth issues and left for the East Suburban Conference early on.

East Suburban Conference

Erie Shore Conference

(1987–1997)

Hall of Fame Conference

(football only, 1972-1975)

Inland Conference

The Inland Conference formed in 1957 with 8 members. Brookside left in 1970 and was replaced by Lutheran West. Highland left in 1976 and was eventually replaced by Independence. Brooklyn and Cuyahoga Heights joined in 1979/1980 and the league was divided into an East Division (Brooklyn, Buckeye, Cuyahoga Heights, Independence, Lutheran West) and a West Division (Avon, Columbia, Firelands, Keystone, South Amherst). Season ending conference championship games in most sports were played between the winners of each division, to crown the overall conference champion. Avon, Firelands and Keystone left at the end of the 1985-86 school year and began play in the newly formed Lorain County Conference in the Fall of 1986. The remaining Inland Conference schools returned to the one division format, until the league dissolved at the end of the 1987-88 school year, which is when South Amherst was absorbed by Firelands. All remaining members, except Buckeye, joined the newly formed Metropolitan Athletic Conference in the Fall of 1988.

Source:[1]

Inter-County League

This is one of the far East Ohio leagues that merged to for the Inter-Tri-County League, along with the Tri-County League, in 2006. Both leagues had members move between the two leagues quite a bit, with Columbiana having spent multiple stints in both leagues.

Lakeland Conference

(1953–86)

Lorain County League/Conference

Originally began in 1924 as one of the small-school county leagues, the league survived the consolidation wave until 1961, when the schools who weren't already aligned with the Inland Conference joined the Lakeland Conference. The conference revived itself in 1986, as the Lakeland collapsed, and the schools banded together for roughly two decades until the schools split, this time to help form the Patriot Athletic and West Shore conferences.

Second Version (Lorain County Conference, 1986-2005)

First Version (Lorain County League, 1924-61)

  1. Concurrent with Inland Conference 1957-61.
  2. Concurrent with Inland Conference 1959-61.

Division Alignments

LCL Divisions 1924-38
Eastern Western
Avon Brighton
Avon Lake Brownhelm
Belden Camden
Brookside Clearfield (1928-38)
Columbia Henrietta
Eaton LaGrange (1933-38)
Grafton Oberlin (1924-37)
LaGrange (1928-33) Penfield
North Ridgeville (1924-27, 1933-) South Amherst
Wellington (1924-27)
LCL Divisions 1938-47
Northeast Southeast West
Avon Belden Brighton
Avon Lake Columbia Brownhelm
Brookside Grafton Camden
Eaton LaGrange Henrietta
North Ridgeville Penfield South Amherst
LCL Divisions 1947-55
Eastern Western
Avon Brighton (1947-52)
Avon Lake Brownhelm (1947-52)
Belden Brookside (1952-55)
Brookside (1947-52) Camden (1947-52)
Columbia Clearview (1948-53)
Eaton Firelands (1952-)
Grafton Henrietta (1947-52)
North Ridgeville LaGrange
Penfield
South Amherst

Mahoning Valley Conference/Metro Athletic Conference

The MVC began in 1972, and changed its name to the MAC in 1994. In 2008 the league (minus East Liverpool) merged with the Trumbull Athletic Conference to become the All-American Conference.

Metro League

(1937-1996)

Metropolitan Area Conference (MAC-8)

(1989-2005)

Mohican Area Conference

North Central Conference (Cleveland area)

Northeastern Conference

Northeast Ohio Conference

The conference was formed in 2007 by the merger of the Pioneer Conference and a previous incarnation of the Western Reserve conference. There are three six-member divisions — Valley, River and Lake — that vary by sport.

Football divisions

Northeast Ohio Conference Divisions (2007-2014 seasons, unless noted)
 Lake Division   River Division   Valley Division 
Brush Cuyahoga Falls (2007-2012) Brunswick
Cuyahoga Falls (2013-2014) Elyria (2009-2014) Elyria (2007-2008)
Garfield Heights (2009-2014) Garfield Heights (2007-2008) Hudson (2013-2014)
Lakewood (2011) Hudson (2007-2012) Lakewood (2007-2008)
Normandy Lakewood (2009-2010) Mayfield (2009-2010)
North Royalton (2007-2010) Mayfield (2007-2008, 2011-2014) Medina (2007-2012)
Parma Medina (2013-2014) Mentor (2011-2014)
Shaker Heights (2012) Nordonia (2007-2008) Nordonia (2009-2010)
Twinsburg (2007-2008) North Royalton (2011-2014) Solon
Valley Forge Shaker Heights (2013-2014) Strongsville
Stow Twinsburg (2011-2014)
Twinsburg (2009-2010)

Northern Ohio Athletic League

Ohio Scholastic League

(1950-1953)[5][6]

Pioneer Conference

(1977–2007)

Pioneer Conference Divisions, 2003–05
Frontier Heritage
Brunswick Berea
Elyria Brecksville-Broadview Heights
Medina Midpark
Parma Normandy
Strongsville North Ridgeville
Valley Forge North Royalton

This conference's growth was the result of major changes due such as population growth/shift, proximity to interstate corridors and the potential for greater natural border rivalries . The first was the mid/late 1970s where schools located south of the first ring suburbs near or through the I-71 corridor were realizing unprecedented growth. The conference's six charter members had outgrown their respective leagues. Berea and Midpark, both in the heart of the I-71 corridor, followed suit in 1979. During the 1980s Wadsworth, a member with strong athletic programs despite smaller enrollment, left for the Suburban League where opponents along the US-224 and I-76/I-94 corridors made better natural border rivalries. Cloverleaf followed suit in the late 1990s due to stagnation in its enrollment and its inability to maintain its programs at competitive levels in the PC. Conversely, Medina, also along the corridor, joined the PC in 1986 because of its unprecedented growth and the greater natural border rivalries among the league's charter members. The final shift was the early 2000s where first-ring south/west Cleveland suburbs found the charter PC members were now larger, more suitable opponents and closer in proximity; saving some travel among Lake Erie League opponents of years past. Lorain County schools, Elyria and North Ridgeville, were looking for closer, competitive opponents as an alternative to the continued shrinking of Lorain City and Sandusky schools. Their proximity to I-80 and I-480 made the jump to the PC more viable. This conference was a powerhouse in all sports and it was also the foundation of the Cleveland area's first suburban mega-conference, the NEO Conference, whose format was patterned after similar mega-conferences formed in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati suburbs.

Portage County League

One of the longest-surviving county leagues, lasting from 1918 until merging into the Portage Trail Conference in 2005.

Premier Athletic Conference

Section One League

Originally the Stark County B League, this league ended in 1960, as its last remaining member moved to the Stark County AA League.

Senate League

Originally the Starke County A League when formed in 1921, the league adjusted its name when Ohio went from "A"/"B" classification to "AA"/"A" in 1957. When the Federal League split off in 1964, the remaining members renamed their league the SL in response. The League folded in 1989, as its remaining members split to help form two new leagues.

Steel Valley Conference

Tomahawk Conference (Northeast)

Formed in 1958 by teams in Portage County which had been excluded from the Portage County League. In 1961, it merged with the Portage County League. It remains the smallest athletic conference in the history of Ohio sports.

Tri-County League (Northeast)

Formed in 1932, this league (along with the Inter-County League) merged to form the Inter-Tri County League in 2006.

Football Divisions 1974-76:

Tier I Tier II
Beaver Leetonia
Columbiana Lisbon
East Palestine Springfield
Sebring Southern
Toronto Stanton
Wellsville United

Trolley League

West Shore Conference

Main article: West Shore Conference
The current member schools of the West Shore Conference through 2012 are in red.

Youngstown City Series

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Buckeye Bucks Football: Team History". Eteamz.com. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
  2. ↑ "N.O.C. Welcomes New Member the Mentor Cardinals!". NortheastOhioConference.org. Northeast Ohio Conference. July 6, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Northeast Ohio Conference accepts Shaker Heights". Plain Dealer. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Clearview Five is Champion of Northern League". Elyria Chronicle Telegram, Elyria, OH. 1940-02-15. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
  5. ↑ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cc0_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ClgMAAAAIBAJ&dq=macomber%20high%20school%20toledo&pg=1138%2C2994864
  6. ↑ "Scholastic Grid Loop Fails to Add New League Members". Toledo Blade, Toledo, OH. 1949-05-28. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
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