Metro Athletic Conference (Ohio)
The Metro Athletic Conference is an association of eight high schools and their associated middle/junior high schools located in the northeast region of the U.S. state of Ohio. Four member schools are in Summit County, three are in Portage County, and one in Medina County. The league was formed in 2019 and began competition in 2020, comprising all eight members of the former Portage Trail Conference Metro Division. The initial opening of conference play for many sports was put in jeopardy from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with golf being the only sport to begin interscholastic at the outset in early August 2020. Later in August, it was announced by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine that all sports were allowed to compete under special guidelines outlined by the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA).
Current members
[edit]School | Nickname | Location | County | Colors[1] | Enrollment[a] | Middle school | Year joined |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cloverleaf High School | Colts | Westfield | Medina | Green, white
|
675[2] | Cloverleaf Middle School | 2020 |
Coventry High School | Comets | Coventry | Summit | Blue, gold
|
666[3] | Coventry Middle School | 2020 |
Field High School | Falcons | Brimfield | Portage | Red, white, black
|
497[4] | Field Middle School | 2020 |
Norton High School | Panthers | Norton | Summit | Red, black, white
|
872[3] | Norton Middle School | 2020 |
Ravenna High School | Ravens | Ravenna | Portage | Blue, white, red
|
592[4] | Brown Middle School | 2020 |
Springfield High School | Spartans | Lakemore | Summit | Red, gray
|
693[5] | Springfield Junior High School | 2020 |
Streetsboro High School | Rockets | Streetsboro | Portage | Blue, gold
|
616[4] | Streetsboro Middle School | 2020 |
Woodridge High School | Bulldogs | Cuyahoga Falls | Summit | Maroon, silver, white
|
687[3] | Woodridge Middle School | 2020 |
- ^ Enrollments are for grades 9–12 even if other grades are housed in the same building
History
[edit]A previous Metro Athletic Conference existed primarily in Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana Counties until 2014. It was founded in 1972 as the Mahoning Valley Conference and renamed Metro Athletic Conference in 1994. The conference merged with the Trumbull Athletic Conference in 2014 and formed the All-American Conference.[6]
The current Metro Athletic Conference was established in April 2019 after the superintendents of all eight school districts that made up the Portage Trail Conference (PTC) Metro Division voted to move forward with establishing a new league separate from the PTC to begin play in August 2020. Reasons given for leaving the PTC included concerns over officiating, scheduling, and league operations, along with the desire for a third-party commissioner and more educational opportunities.[7][8] The name had been chosen by the time the split from the PTC was made official in June 2019.[9]
Inaugural season
[edit]Interscholastic competition began in August 2020 with golf, but the COVID-19 pandemic put several other sports in jeopardy.[10] Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced on Tuesday, August 18, that all sports, including contact sports, may proceed with the plans laid out by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.[11] For football this would mean one inter-school scrimmage followed by a modified 6-game regular season with every team qualifying for the state playoffs.[12] For the Metro Athletic this would mean that each team would play every other school in football except one in 2020.
Conference champions
[edit]Year | Football | Boys golf | Girls golf | Boys cross country | Girls cross country | Boys soccer | Girls soccer | Girls tennis | Volleyball | Boys basketball | Girls basketball | Wrestling | Baseball | Softball | Boys track | Girls track | Boys tennis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020-21 | Streetsboro | Cloverleaf | Cloverleaf[13] | Woodridge[14] | Woodridge[14] | Norton | Streetsboro, Norton | Woodridge[15] | Coventry | Norton | Norton | Norton | Field | Field | Woodridge | Cloverleaf | Norton |
2021-22 | Norton | Cloverleaf
Coventry (Shared) |
Cloverleaf | Woodridge | Woodridge | Norton | Streetsboro
Field (Shared) |
Norton | Coventry | Streetsboro | Norton | Norton |
References
[edit]- ^ "Member School Directory and Athletic Schedules". MyOHSAA.org. Ohio High School Athletic Association. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ "School detail for Cloverleaf High School". National Center for Education Statistics. 2018–19. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Search for public schools: Summit County". National Center for Education Statistics. 2018–19. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Search for public schools: Portage County". National Center for Education Statistics. 2018–19. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ "School detail for Springfield Junior/Senior High School". National Center for Education Statistics. 2018–19. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ "About the Conference". AACOhio.net. All-American Conference. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ Rosenblum, Jonah; Leonard, Michael (April 11, 2020). "Portage Trail Conference shakeup?". Record-Courier. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ Rosenblum, Jonah (April 15, 2019). "Portage Trail Conference Metro superintendents to 'move forward' in new conference discussions". Record Courier. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- ^ Kreider, Derek (June 20, 2019). "Norton school board OKs membership to new athletic league". Akron.com. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ Beaven, Michael (August 10, 2020). "More schools consider delaying sports". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ "Governor Gives Green Light for Contact Sports, Urges Caution". ohsaa.org. August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
- ^ "OHSAA Adjusts Season if Football is Approved by Governor". ohsaa.org. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
- ^ Susan, Jenior (2020-09-20). "Waterloo kicks off postseason with runner-up finish". Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ a b Rosenblum, Jonah (2020-10-16). "Big day for Falcons at MAC Championships". Record-Courier.com. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
- ^ Mayer, Nick (2020-10-16). "Abigail Decker named MAC Tennis Player of the Year". woodridgeathletics.com. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
External links
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