Ohio East/Southeast Regions defunct athletic conferences explained

This is a list of former high school athletic conferences in the East and Southeast Regions 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, followed by the school colors listed as (p,s)

Adams County League

The ACL was one of the local small-school county leagues in Southwest Ohio. Consolidation reduced the number of teams to five by 1964, and in 1970 these five joined with the Brown and Highland county leagues to form the Southern Hills Athletic League.

  1. Manchester and Peebles played concurrently in the ACL and Tri-County League 1964-70.

Athens County League

  1. Concurrent with MOVC 1965-69 (or 1966-69 for Alexander).

Belmont County League

"A" Division

"B" Division

  1. Concurrent with OVAC 1943-59.
  2. Concurrent with OVAC 1946-59.
  3. Concurrent with OVAC 1947-59.
  4. Concurrent with OVAC 1953-59.

Buckeye Border Conference (East)

This was a conference located in far eastern Ohio, with many schools who maintained membership in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference. This conference should not be confused with the Northwest Ohio league of the same name.

  1. Concurrent with OVAC throughout tenure in conference.
  2. Concurrent with OVAC 1973-74.

Cardinal Conference

Note: The Ohio Cardinal Conference was created in 2003 to preserve the legacy of the former Cardinal Conference.

Carroll County League

One of the smallest county conferences, the CCL lasted until two of its members consolidated in 1962, while the other two schools had been playing in other leagues concurrently with the CCL.

  1. Concurrent with TVC 1960-62.
  2. Mailing address is Bowerston, in Harrison County, physical location is in Leesville.
  3. Concurrent with HCL 1950-71, concurrent in HCL and TVC (football conference only) 1960-66.

Coshocton County League

  1. Concurrent with Scenic Hills Athletic Conference 1964-65.

East Central Ohio League (old)

This early incarnation of the ECOL functioned mostly as a football league and secondary league for schools who also participated in local county leagues. The conference would never find its legs, as it spent its last eight years with only four members.

  1. Concurrent with HCL 1949-52.
  2. Concurrent with TCL 1949-60.

East Central Ohio League (new)

See main article: East Central Ohio League (OHSAA).

Division alignments (2011–17)

Fairfield County League

This league had many members concurrently with the Mid-State League, and ended when Pickerington, the last remaining non-MSL member, joined the MSL in 1966.

  1. concurrent in FCL and MSL 1949-66.
  2. concurrent in FCL and MSL 1953-66.
  3. concurrent in FCL and MSL 1957-66.
  4. concurrent in FCL and MSL 1958-66.

Fayette County League

This small league contained all of the county schools outside of Washington Court House.[2] New Holland, which sits on the border between Fayette and Pickaway Counties, played in the Pickaway County League until moving to the FCL in 1958 for its final two seasons.[3]

Guernsey County League

  1. Concurrent with OVAC 1972-77.

Harrison County League

  1. Concurrent with OVAC 1956-99.
  2. Concurrent with Carroll County League 1956-62, and Tuscarawas Valley Athletic Conference 1960-68.

Harrison County League (basketball) formed in 1929 to 1971.

Highland County League

The HCL was one of the local small-school county leagues in Southwest Ohio. The league had eight schools for most of its history, but consolidation chipped away at its membership total. League membership had been reduced to three by 1969,and these teams struggled on for a year until the creation of the Southern Hills Athletic League, which saw the three combine with the Adams and Brown county leagues, who had five teams apiece at that point.

Holmes County League

Hocking County League

This was one of the few county leagues that folded while still having enough members for competition, as the four schools left for different leagues.

Jackson County League

  1. Concurrent with SEOAL 1925-54.

Lawrence County League

  1. Concurrent with OVC 1954-57.

Meigs County League

  1. Concurrent with Mid-Ohio Valley Conference 1965-67.
  2. Concurrent with SVAC 1961-67.

Mid-Ohio Valley Conference

This short-lived bridge conference should not be confused with what would eventually become the Pioneer Valley League. While both leagues used the Mid-Ohio Valley name at the same time, this operated more in the Southeast Region, while the eventual PVL more closely aligned with the East Region. All schools in this conference were eventually members of the TVC by either joining after leaving the Mid-Ohio Valley Conference or by consolidating into a school that eventually joined. Glouster, McArthur, and Rutland all joined by consolidating into Trimble, Vinton County, and Meigs. All members are still currently in the TVC except Miller and Wahama, who both left following the 2019-2020 school year.

  1. Concurrent with Meigs County League 1965-67.
  2. Concurrent with SVAC for entire duration in conference.
  3. Concurrent with Athens County League from joining MOVC until 1969.
  4. Concurrent with Vinton County League 1965-66.

Monroe County League

  1. Concurrent with OVAC 1958-64.

Morgan County League

Muskingum County League

  1. Concurrent with MCL and MVL 1963-66.

Noble County League

Ohio-Kentucky Athletic Conference

Perry County League

Originally a 12-school conference encompassing all Perry County schools, the league settled into a stable, nine school league as the independent schools moved to the Muskingum Valley League.[5] This was abruptly changed in 1960, as consolidation dropped the number from nine to two new consolidated schools.

Pickaway County League

Another of the old County leagues for smaller schools, the league suffered from the rapid consolidation of schools in Pickaway County in the early 1960s. The league went from eleven schools in 1959 to four in 1963, with those four consolidating that next year.

Pioneer Valley Conference

The PVC originally formed in 1964 as the Frontier Valley Conference, then became the Mid-Ohio Valley Conference in 1966 to avoid confusion with the newly consolidated Frontier Local School District. The conference settled on its current moniker in 1976 before dissolving in 2019.

River Valley Conference

This was a short-lived conference in the 1990s to help some Ohio Valley Athletic Conference teams with scheduling.

Ross County League

Another County League that folded despite having ample competition, the league ended when the remaining members who weren't already affiliated with the Scioto Valley League members joined that conference in 1975.

  1. Concurrent with RCL and SVL 1962-74.
  2. Concurrent with RCL and SVL 1962-75.
  3. Concurrent with RCL and SVL 1968-75.
  4. Concurrent with RCL and SVL 1971-75.
  5. Concurrent with RCL and SVL 1972-75.

Scenic Hills Conference

A short-lived "bridge" conference for newly consolidated and larger schools until the Inter-Valley Conference was formed.

  1. Concurrent with Tuscarawas County League 1964-65, Tuscarawas Valley Athletic Conference 1965-68.
  2. Concurrent with Coshocton County League 1964-65.

Scioto County League

The conference ended in 1979 as the non-Southern Ohio Conference affiliated members, who maintained affiliation with the Tri-County League, moved to the SOC while keeping TCL ties intact.

  1. Concurrent with SCL and SOC 1946-79.
  2. Concurrent with SCL and SOC 1947-58, 1959-79.
  3. Concurrent with SCL and SOC 1958-79.
  4. Concurrent with SCL and SOC 1960-79.
  5. Concurrent with SCL and TCL 1964-79.

South Central Ohio League

Southeastern Ohio Athletic League

The SEOAL was Ohio's oldest non-city athletic league, founded in 1925. The 2016-2017 school year was the final year the SEOAL existed as a conference ending a long tenure of historic rivalries. Controversy surrounded Athens and Marietta's exits as no real reason was given but wide speculation was that it was due to them being unable to compete with the other schools on a regular basis. No all-sports trophy was awarded due to only having three members in the final year.

From 2006-10, the SEOAL played in North and South divisions:

Southeastern Ohio Buckeye League

  1. Concurrent with Vinton County 1946-65.
  2. Concurrent with JCL 1946-49.
  3. Concurrent with Meigs County League 1946-65.

Southern Valley Athletic Conference

Originally the Gallia County League, the conference changed its name to the SVAC in 1958 with an eye on expanding the league to protect against future consolidations. The conference fell apart in 1992 when it was reduced to three schools after four members (Hannan Trace, Kyger Creek, North Gallia, and Southwestern) consolidated into one (River Valley) and Oak Hill left for another league. Eastern, Southern, and River Valley limped along until those three found conference homes the following year.

  1. Concurrent with Meigs County League 1961-67, and Mid-Ohio Valley Conference 1965-69 (for Southern) or 1965-71 (for Eastern).

Tri-County League (Southeast)

This league started in 1964 with the dissolution of the Pike County League. The two schools not already in other conferences joined with schools from neighboring Adams and Scioto counties that wanted a secondary conference to fill their schedules. These schools largely ended up in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference or the Southern Ohio Conference by the time the league wound up in 1985.

  1. Played concurrently in TCL and Scioto County League 1964-79, and TCL and SOC 1979-85.
  2. Played concurrently in TCL and SOC 1981-85.
  3. Played concurrently in TCL and Adams County League 1964-70.
  4. Played concurrently in the TCL and SHAC 1971-84.

Tri-State Athletic Conference

Tuscarawas County League

  1. Concurrent with TVAC 1960-68.
  2. Concurrent with SHC 1964-65.

Tuscarawas Valley Athletic Conference

Formed in 1953 as some of the Tuscarawas County schools proved to be too large to face sufficient competition in the county league, these schools banded together with other larger schools in the area an inter-county league. The league ended in 1967, as the largest schools joined the dwindling Stark County AA League schools to form the Senate League, and most of the other schools helped found the Inter-Valley Conference.

  1. Concurrent with Carroll County League 1960-62.
  2. Concurrent with HCL 1960-68.
  3. Concurrent with Tuscarawas County League 1960-68.
  4. Concurrent with Coshocton County League 1960-64.
  5. Concurrent with Scenic Hills Conference throughout TVAC membership.

Vinton County League

  1. Concurrent with Southeastern Ohio Buckeye League 1946-65, and Mid-Ohio Valley Conference 1965-66.

Washington County League

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Warren to join ECOL in 2020-21.
  2. Web site: Wayne Outslugs Madison Mills to Win Wild Ballgame 17-12 . Washington Court House Record-Herald . 1941-04-25 . 2016-10-05.
  3. Web site: New Holland Drops Test to Jeffersonville . Circleville Herald . 1958-11-22 . 2016-10-05.
  4. OOHS
  5. Web site: Welcome to Little Cities Perry County LeagueRePlay . The Little Cities Archive . 2012-10-26 . 2016-10-06.

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