Federal League (OHSAA)

Federal League

Association	Ohio High School Athletic Association
Founded	1964
Sports fielded	Baseball • Basketball • Bowling • Cross-country • Football • Golf • Soccer • Softball • Swimming/diving • Tennis • Track and field • Volleyball • Wrestling
No. of teams	7
Region	Stark and Summit counties
Official website	federalleagueohio.com
Locations

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.

• Austintown-Fitch Falcons (2003–2011)
• Alliance Aviators (1983–2003)
• Boardman Spartans (2003–2013)
• Fairless Falcons (1964–1975)
• Glenwood Eagles (1964–1975)
• Louisville Leopards (1968–1990)
• Marlington Dukes (1964–1985)
• New Philadelphia Quakers (1988–1997)
• Oakwood Golden Raiders (1968–1975)
• Sandy Valley Cardinals (1964–1968)
• Canton South Wildcats (1964–1990)
• Canton Timken Trojans (1988–1995)
• Wooster Generals (1988–2003)

• 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.

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

• 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:

• In 1990, Canton South and Louisville leave for the Northeastern Buckeye Conference (NBC), which causes the divisional format to be dropped.
• In 1995, Timken leaves the league.
• In 1997, New Philadelphia leaves for the East Central Ohio League.

• 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.

• 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]

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.

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,

• Ohio High School Athletic Conferences

• The Federal League Football History

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