Metro Athletic Conference (Ohio)

High school athletics conference in northeastern Ohio, United States

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

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School  | Nickname  | Location  | County  | Colors[1] | Enrollment[a] | Middle school  | Year joined

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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

1. ^ Enrollments are for grades 9–12 even if other grades are housed in the same building

## History

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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

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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 August 18, 2020, 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

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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

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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

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1. ^ "Member School Directory and Athletic Schedules". MyOHSAA.org. Ohio High School Athletic Association. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
2. ^ "School detail for Cloverleaf High School". National Center for Education Statistics. 2018–19. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
3. ^ a b c "Search for public schools: Summit County". National Center for Education Statistics. 2018–19. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
4. ^ a b c "Search for public schools: Portage County". National Center for Education Statistics. 2018–19. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
5. ^ "School detail for Springfield Junior/Senior High School". National Center for Education Statistics. 2018–19. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
6. ^ "About the Conference". AACOhio.net. All-American Conference. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
7. ^ Rosenblum, Jonah; Leonard, Michael (April 11, 2020). "Portage Trail Conference shakeup?". Record-Courier. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
8. ^ Rosenblum, Jonah (April 15, 2019). "Portage Trail Conference Metro superintendents to 'move forward' in new conference discussions". Record Courier. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
9. ^ Kreider, Derek (June 20, 2019). "Norton school board OKs membership to new athletic league". Akron.com. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
10. ^ Beaven, Michael (August 10, 2020). "More schools consider delaying sports". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
11. ^ "Governor Gives Green Light for Contact Sports, Urges Caution". ohsaa.org. August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
12. ^ "OHSAA Adjusts Season if Football is Approved by Governor". ohsaa.org. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
13. ^ Susan, Jenior (September 20, 2020). "Waterloo kicks off postseason with runner-up finish". Retrieved September 25, 2020.
14. ^ a b Rosenblum, Jonah (October 16, 2020). "Big day for Falcons at MAC Championships". Record-Courier.com. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
15. ^ Mayer, Nick (October 16, 2020). "Abigail Decker named MAC Tennis Player of the Year". woodridgeathletics.com. Retrieved October 16, 2020.

## External links

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* Official website

* v
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* e

Metro Athletic Conference

* Cloverleaf Colts
* Coventry Comets
* Field Falcons
* Norton Panthers
* Ravenna Ravens
* Springfield Spartans
* Streetsboro Rockets
* Woodridge Bulldogs

* v
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* e

Northeast District (Ohio) High School Athletic Conferences (Northeast Ohio)

Current|

* Akron City Series
* All-American Conference
* Chagrin Valley Conference
* Cleveland West Conference
* Eastern Buckeye Conference
* Federal League
* Firelands Conference
* Greater Cleveland Conference
* Inter-Valley Conference
* Lake Erie League
* Lorain County League
* Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference
* Metro Athletic Conference
* Northeast 8 Athletic Conference
* Northeastern Athletic Conference
* Ohio Cardinal Conference
* Portage Trail Conference
* Principals Athletic Conference
* Senate Athletic League
* Southwestern Conference
* Suburban League
* Wayne County Athletic League
* Western Reserve Conference

Former|

* East Suburban Conference (1968–2009)
* Great Lakes Conference (2015–2024)
* Metro League (1937–1996)
* Metropolitan Area Conference (MAC-8) (1989–2005)
* Mohican Area Conference (1989–2004)
* North Coast League (1984–2020)
* Northeast Ohio Conference (2007–2015)
* Northeastern Buckeye Conference (1989–2018)
* Patriot Athletic Conference (2005–2019)
* Portage County League (1918–2005)
* Pioneer Conference (1977–2007)
* Premier Athletic Conference (1997–2015)
* Tri-County League (1932–2006)
* West Shore Conference (2005–2015)
* Youngstown City Series (1925–2003)

Outlying|

* Mid-Buckeye Conference
* Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference

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