The Metro Athletic Conference is an association of eight

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s and their associated middle/

junior high schools A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

located in the northeast region of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. 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 The Portage Trail Conference or PTC is an association of six high schools and their associated middle/ junior high schools located in the northeast region of the U.S. State of Ohio. Three member schools are in Portage County, two are in Stark ...

Metro Division. The initial opening of conference play for many sports was put in jeopardy from the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, 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

History

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. The current Metro Athletic Conference was established in April 2019 after the superintendents of all eight school districts that made up the

(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. The name had been chosen by the time the split from the PTC was made official in June 2019.

Inaugural season

Interscholastic competition began in August 2020 with golf, but the

put several other sports in jeopardy. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced on Tuesday, August 18, that all sports, including contact sports, may proceed with the plans laid out by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. 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. For the Metro Athletic this would mean that each team would play every other school in football except one in 2020.

Conference champions

References

External links

* {{Northeast Ohio High School Athletic Conferences Ohio high school sports conferences