Oakland Activities Association Explained

Oakland Activities Association is a Southeast Michigan high school athletics conference. It is made up of 23 schools located largely throughout Oakland County, with a single member located in Wayne County

History

The Oakland Activities Association was first formed with schools from an amalgamation of different leagues. The G.O.A.L. (Greater Oakland Activities League), Metro Suburban Activities Association and the Southeastern Michigan Association (plus one independently associated school) were all merged in 1994 into the Oakland Activities Association, with the goal being to form a more geographically-centered league.

Charter members

Founding Members
Previous leagueSchool
Greater Oakland Activities LeagueClarkston, Lake Orion, Pontiac Northern, Waterford Kettering, Waterford Mott
Metro Suburban Activities AssociationBirmingham Groves, Bloomfield Hills Lahser, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Royal Oak Dondero, Southfield-Lathrup, Troy Athens, West Bloomfield
Southeastern Michigan AssociationBerkley, Birmingham Seaholm, Bloomfield Hills Andover, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Royal Oak Kimball, Southfield, Troy
IndependentOrtonville Brandon

After its first year, the OAA experienced rapid growth, with Pontiac Central from the Saginaw Valley Association and Oak Park from the Suburban Athletic League joining in 1995, and Auburn Hills Avondale, Clawson, Madsion Heights Lamphere, and Madison Heights Madison all coming to the OAA in 1996 after the disbandment of the Macomb-Oakland Athletic Conference.

The next major growth period did not occur until 2002, when Farmington, North Farmington, and Farmington Hills Harrison from the Western Lakes Activities Association as well as the newly built Stoney Creek High School in Rochester Hills all joined the OAA.

2002 also marked a period of decline for the OAA, beginning with Brandon High leaving to join the Flint Metro League that year, where it currently resides. Two years after that, in 2004, Madison and Lamphere left to join the Macomb Area Conference, while Clawson left to join the Metro Conference, and in 2008, Waterford Mott and Waterford Kettering left to join the Kensington Lakes Activities Association. However, in 2010, the OAA gained a new member in Oxford, who had come from the Flint Metro League. After that, the next school to leave the OAA for another conference did not come for another 11 years, when Hazel Park left to join the Macomb Area Conference in 2019.[1]

However, the OAA has been beginning to fill these holes in their membership, extending an invitation to Ferndale University in 2020, who had been co-oping with Ferndale for football for years, and extending another invitation to their first non-Oakland County school in Harper Woods, who was previously an independent, in 2021.

There have also been a significant amount of closings and consolidations of various Oakland County schools in recent years, which also has not helped the OAA's membership. These aforementioned consolidations are Dondero High School closing and merging with Kimball High School to create Royal Oak High School in 2006, Pontiac Central High School closing and merging with Pontiac Northern High School to create Pontiac High School in 2009, Lahser High School closing and merging with Andover High School to create Bloomfield Hills High School in 2013, Southfield-Lathrup High School closing and merging with Southfield High School to create Southfield Senior High School for the Arts and Technology (commonly abbreviated to Southfield A&T) in 2016, and Harrison High School closing in 2019.

Member schools

Current members

School[2] MascotLocationColorsEnrollment (as of 2019)ClassJoined
ClarkstonWolvesClarkstonBlue and Gold2,499A1994
TroyColtsTroySilver and Black2,237A1994
Troy AthensRed HawksTroyRed and Gold2,276A1994
Rochester Hills Stoney CreekCougarsRochester HillsVegas Gold and Millennium Blue1,638A2001
Lake OrionDragonsOrion TownshipGreen and White2,416A1994
PontiacPhoenixPontiacPurple, Black, and Silver963A2009
RochesterFalconsRochester HillsRoyal Blue and White1,805A1994
West BloomfieldLakersWest Bloomfield TownshipGreen and White2,042A1994
Bloomfield HillsBlack HawksBloomfield TownshipBlack, Purple, and Silver1,896A2014
Oak ParkKnightsOak ParkRed, White, and Black1,276A1995
Southfield A&TWarriorsSouthfieldRed, White, and Blue2,067A2016
Birmingham GrovesFalconsBeverly HillsYellow, White, and Green1,310A1994
OxfordWildcatsOxfordNavy and Gold2,234A2004
Rochester AdamsHighlandersRochester HillsBrown and Gold1,710A1994
North FarmingtonRaidersFarmington HillsBrown and Gold1,371A2001
Birmingham SeaholmMaplesBirminghamMaroon and White1,370A1994
Royal OakRavensRoyal OakBlack, Royal, and Silver1,405A2006
FarmingtonFalconsFarmingtonBlue and White1,444A2002
BerkleyBearsBerkleyMaroon and Blue1,424A1994
Auburn Hills AvondaleYellow JacketsAuburn HillsPurple and Gold1,133A1996
Harper WoodsPioneersHarper WoodsMaroon, White, and Gray835A2021
FerndaleEaglesFerndaleBrown, White, and Gold717B1994
Ferndale UniversityDriving EaglesFerndaleGold and Black478B2020

*- Ferndale University is involved in a co-op agreement with Ferndale for football

Former members

School Nickname Location Joined Previous Conference Departed Successive Conference
Bloomfield Hills AndoverBaronsBloomfield Township1994Southeastern Michigan Association2013None (school consolidated)
Bloomfield Hills LahserKnightsBloomfield Hills1994Metro Suburban Activities Association2013None (school closed)
ClawsonTrojansClawson1996Macomb-Oakland Athletic Conference2004Metro Conference
Farmington Hills HarrisonHawksFarmington Hills2002Western Lakes Activities Association2019None (school closed)
Hazel ParkVikingsHazel Park1994Southeastern Michigan Association2019Macomb Area Conference
Madison Heights LamphereRamsMadison Heights1996Macomb-Oakland Athletic Conference2004Macomb Area Conference
Madison Heights MadisonEaglesMadison Heights1996Macomb-Oakland Athletic Conference2004Macomb Area Conference
Ortonville BrandonBlackhawksOrtonville1994Independent2002Flint Metro League
Pontiac CentralChiefsPontiac1995Saginaw Valley League2009None (school closed)
Pontiac NorthernHuskiesPontiac1994Greater Oakland Activities League2009None (school consolidated)
Royal Oak DonderoOaksRoyal Oak1994Metro Suburban Activities Association2006None (school closed)
Royal Oak KimballKnightsRoyal Oak1994Southeastern Michigan Association2006None (school consolidated)
SouthfieldWarriorsSouthfield1994Southeastern Michigan Association2016None (school consolidated)
Southfield-LathrupChargersLathrup Village1994Metro Suburban Activities Association2016None (school closed)
Waterford KetteringCaptainsWaterford Township1994Greater Oakland Activities League2008Kensington Lakes Activities Association
Waterford MottCorsairsWaterford Township1994Greater Oakland Activities League2008Kensington Lakes Activities Association

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20

Period = from:1994 till:2027

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#

Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)

id:line value:black

id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two id:Bar1 value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.7) id:Bar2 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.6)

PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Berkley Bears (1994-Present)

bar:2 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Birmingham Groves Falcons (1994-Present)

bar:3 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Birmingham Seaholm Maples (1994-Present)

bar:4 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Clarkston Wolves (1994-Present)

bar:5 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Ferndale Eagles (1994-Present)

bar:6 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Lake Orion Dragons (1994-Present)

bar:7 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Rochester Falcons (1994-Present)

bar:8 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Rochester Adams Highlanders (1994-Present)

bar:9 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Troy Colts (1994-Present)

bar:10 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Troy Athens Red Hawks (1994-Present)

bar:11 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:West Bloomfield Lakers (1994-Present)

bar:12 color:Full from:1994 till:2019 text:Hazel Park Vikings (1994-2019)

bar:13 color:Full from:1994 till:2016 text:Southfield Blue Jays (1994-2016) bar:13 color:Full from:2016 till:end text:Southfield A&T Warriors (2016-Present)

bar:14 color:Full from:1994 till:2016 text:Southfield-Lathrup Chargers (1994-2016)

bar:15 color:Full from:1994 till:2013 text:Bloomfield Hills Andover Barons (1994-2013) bar:15 color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks (2013-Present)

bar:16 color:Full from:1994 till:2013 text:Bloomfield Hills Lahser Knights (1994-2013)

bar:17 color:Full from:1994 till:2009 text:Pontiac Northern Huskies (1994-2009)

bar:18 color:Full from:1994 till:2008 text:Waterford Kettering Captains (1994-2008)

bar:19 color:Full from:1994 till:2008 text:Waterford Mott Corsairs (1994-2008)

bar:20 color:Full from:1994 till:2006 text:Royal Oak Dondero Oaks (1994-2006)

bar:21 color:Full from:1994 till:2006 text:Royal Oak Kimball Knights (1994-2006) bar:21 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:Royal Oak Ravens (2006-Present)

bar:22 color:Full from:1994 till:2002 text:Ortonville Brandon Blackhawks (1994-2002)

bar:23 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:Oak Park Knights (1995-Present)

bar:24 color:Full from:1995 till:2009 text:Pontiac Central Chiefs (1995-2009) bar:24 color:Full from:2009 till:end text:Pontiac Phoenix (2009-Present)

bar:25 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:Auburn Hills Avondale Yellow Jackets (1996-Present) bar:26 color:Full from:1996 till:2004 text:Clawson Trojans (1996-2004) bar:27 color:Full from:1996 till:2004 text:Madison Heights Lamphere Rams (1996-2004)

bar:28 color:Full from:1996 till:2004 text:Madison Heights Madison Eagles (1996-2004)

bar:29 color:Full from:2002 till:end text:Farmington Falcons (2002-Present) bar:30 color:Full from:2002 till:end text:North Farmington Raiders (2002-Present)

bar:31 color:Full from:2002 till:end text:Rochester Hills Stoney Creek Cougars (2002-Present)

bar:32 color:Full from:2002 till:2019 text:Farmington Hills Harrison Hawks (2002-2019)

bar:33 color:Full from:2010 till:end text:Oxford Wildcats (2010-Present) bar:34 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:Ferndale University Driving Eagles (2020-present)

bar:35 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:Harper Woods Pioneers (2021-present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1994

TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"OAA Membership History"

OAA Divisions

The members of the Oakland Activities Association is divided into divisions which vary by sport. Before 2007, these divisions were labeled after Roman Numerals, with there typically being three divisions, labeled I, II, III, and occasionally a fourth, labeled IV. Nowadays, though, these divisions are labeled after colors, with most sports typically having three divisions: red, white, and blue. However, some sports are only divided into the red or white divisions while some are divided into a fourth division, gold.[3]

OAA Football Divisional Champions

References

[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hazel Park joins the MAC; kicks off competition in the 2019-2020 school year. macombdaily.com. June 30, 2018.
  2. Web site: League Membership - Oakland Activities Association. mhsaa.com. 4 April 2015.
  3. Web site: Oakland Activities Association Fall 2015-16 Divisional Alignments. oaklandactivitiesassoc.org. 20 March 2017.
  4. Web site: MHSAA > 404. www.mhsaa.com. 2016-09-28.