Federal League (OHSAA)

The Federal League is an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) sports conference that was established in 1964 and includes schools from Stark and Summit counties.

Federal League
AssociationOhio High School Athletic Association
Founded1964
Sports fielded
  • Baseball • Basketball • Bowling • Cross-country • Football • Golf • Soccer • Softball • Swimming/diving • Tennis • Track and field • Volleyball • Wrestling
No. of teams7
RegionStark and Summit counties
Official websitefederalleagueohio.com
Locations

Current members

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School Nickname Location Colors Join Date
Canton McKinley Bulldogs Canton Red, Black
   
2003
GlenOak Golden Eagles Plain Township Forest Green, Vegas Gold
   
1975
Green Bulldogs Green Orange, Black
   
2015[1]
Hoover Vikings North Canton Black, Orange
   
1968
Jackson Polar Bears Jackson Township Purple, Gold
   
1964
Lake Blue Streaks Uniontown Blue, Red, White
     
1987
Perry Panthers Perry Township Black, Gold, White
     
1964

Former members

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League history

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1960s

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  • The Federal League begins league play in 1964 with Canton South, Fairless, Glenwood, Jackson, Marlington, Perry, and Sandy Valley as charter members.
  • In 1968, Sandy Valley leaves the league and is replaced by Louisville, North Canton Hoover, and Oakwood.

1970s

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  • In 1975, Fairless leaves the league while Glenwood and Oakwood consolidate to form GlenOak.

1980s

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  • In 1983, Alliance joins the league.
  • In 1985, Marlington leaves the league.
  • In 1987, Lake joins the league.
  • In 1988, New Philadelphia, Canton Timken, and Wooster join the league, prompting the league to split into an American Division and a National Division:
Federal League Divisions 1988/89-1989/90
American Division National Division
Alliance Canton South
GlenOak Lake
Hoover Louisville
Jackson New Philadelphia
Perry Canton Timken
Wooster

1990s

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2000s

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  • In 2003, Alliance and Wooster leave for the Metro Athletic Conference[2] and the newly formed Ohio Cardinal Conference, respectively. Alliance would move again to the NBC in 2005.[3]
  • At the same time, Austintown-Fitch, Boardman, and Canton McKinley join in all sports except for football, which they would fully join in the following school year.

2010s

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  • In 2011, Austintown-Fitch left the Federal League for the All-American Conference for all sports except football.[4] They had hoped to remain a football-only member of the Federal League, but that did not work out. They replaced Salem, who left for the NBC.
  • In 2013, Boardman announced that they are looking to leave for the All-American Conference.[5]
  • In 2013, Green announced that they would join the Federal League for 2015–16.[6]
  • In February 2017, former member Louisville's school board submitted a letter of interest to the Federal League, then withdrew it shortly after. However, in March 2017 they renewed their recommendation that they seek membership in the Federal League after it became evident that it would be difficult for Louisville to schedule sporting events as a league independent. Louisville's league at the time, the Northeastern Buckeye Conference, folded after the 2017–2018 school year, which left the Leopards without a league home.[7]

League champions

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Year Football Champions
1964 Glenwood
1965 Jackson
1966 Glenwood
1967 Perry
1968 Hoover, Oakwood
1969 Perry
1970 Louisville, Perry
1971 Louisville
1972 Hoover
1973 Hoover
1974 Louisville
1975 Hoover
1976 Hoover
1977 Louisville
1978 Louisville
1979 Hoover
1980 Hoover, Perry
1981 Louisville
1982 GlenOak
1983 Alliance
1984 Hoover, Perry
1985 GlenOak, Perry
1986 Hoover, Jackson
1987 Alliance, Hoover, Perry
1988 GlenOak, Hoover, Lake, Perry
1989 GlenOak, Hoover, Jackson, Wooster
1990 Jackson
1991 Lake
1992 Perry
1993 Lake, Perry
1994 GlenOak, Lake, Perry
1995 Hoover, Perry
1996 Alliance, Jackson
1997 Hoover, Perry
1998 Hoover, Jackson, Lake
1999 Hoover, Perry
2000 Hoover, Perry
2001 Jackson
2002 Hoover
2003 Hoover
2004 Austintown-Fitch
2005 Canton McKinley
2006 Canton McKinley
2007 Hoover
2008 Hoover
2009 GlenOak
2010 Austintown-Fitch
2011 Canton McKinley, Boardman, GlenOak
2012 Canton McKinley
2013 Canton McKinley
2014 GlenOak
2015 Perry, GlenOak
2016 Perry
2017 Perry, McKinley, Jackson
2018 Hoover, McKinley
2019 McKinley
2020 Perry
2021 Hoover
2022 McKinley, Lake

If the Federal League would have to select a team that "built it" then it would be the Canton McKinley football team. And even though it joined the league almost 20 years ago and isn't even a charter member, it has given the league stability. With 12 state football titles, the most recent coming in 1998 while also having 2 National Titles it seems that they've been that team. And with the school being the home to the Football Hall of Fame stadium and one of the first high school football teams it shows why they dominate. They also hold a rivalry, that dates back to 1894, with the Massillon Tigers ,who have 25 state titles and 9 national titles. The school was the first foot print of many to build High School Football as we know it today.

Famous NFL stars that come from McKinley: Mike Doss, Josh McDaniels (recently fired by the Las Vegas Raiders), Tyler Everett, Ray Ellis, Jamar Martin, Reggie Corner, and Antonio Hall.

League champions

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Year Most recent Cross Country Champions since 2013 Cross country in the Federal league started in 1979
2013 Boardman
2014 Boardman
2015 Mass. Jackson
2016 Mass. Perry
2017 Mass. Jackson
2018 Mass. Jackson
2019 Hoover
2020 GlenOak
2021 Mass. Jackson
2022 Mass. Jackson
2023 Mass. Jackson

Massillon Jackson High School's Cross Country team is the most successful of any Federal league Cross country team. Led by Eli Ilg and Elliot Zuckett in 2023 they captured the school's 5th state championship. Courtesy of winning 2 in basketball 2011 and 2017 and 2 in baseball 2010 and 2017 and their 1st in Cross Country country dethroning Mason High School who won the previous 2 state championships by 39 points. Giving the Coach Walsh who had coached for 30 years, in 1993 with Dover High School, and 1994–2023 with Jackson High School his first OHSAA State title in his career. The Polar Bears are the team of Federal League Cross Country and Stark County Cross Country.

Greatest runners of the Federal League: Tommy Rice, GlenOak, Eli Ilg, Mass. Jackson, Elliot Zuckett, Mass. Jackson, Alex Zuckett, Mass. Jackson, Connor Reed, Mass. Perry, Tesfaye Young, GlenOak, Evan Akers, Mass. Jackson, Xavier Medina, Hoover,

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Green to join Federal League - Canton, OH - CantonRep.com". Archived from the original on 2013-08-21. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  2. ^ "Alliance helps MAC move on". www.vindy.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-22.
  3. ^ "MAC continues to explore options". www.vindy.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-22.
  4. ^ Franco, Elise (May 11, 2010). "Austintown board approves move to the AAC". vindy.com. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  5. ^ Off the courts - High school basketball news & notes
  6. ^ http://www.ohio.com/sports/high-school/green-set-to-join-the-federal-league-in-2015-2016-suburban-league-seeks-to-move-forward-with-its-own-expansion-plan-1.422407 [bare URL]
  7. ^ Recommendation to join Federal League renewed. CantonRep.com Accessed July 24, 2017

40°56′N 81°27′W / 40.933°N 81.450°W / 40.933; -81.450