The Toledo Area Athletic Conference (TAAC) is a high school athletic conference located in

northwest Ohio Northwest Ohio, or Northwestern Ohio, consists of multiple counties in the northwestern corner of the US state of Ohio. This area borders Lake Erie, Southeast Michigan, and northeastern Indiana. Some areas are also considered the Black Swamp are ...

, with member schools stretched across Lucas, Williams, and

Wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

counties. It was formed in 1988, and the league sponsors football, cross country,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

Current members

Edon, Hilltop, and Montpelier are primarily members of the

Buckeye Border Conference The Buckeye Border Conference is a high school athletic league located in extreme northwest Ohio. The conference sponsors basketball, cross country, golf, and track and field for both boys and girls. In addition, baseball is sponsored for the bo ...

for all sports, except for football, which is the only sport that they compete in the TAAC for. Emmanuel Christian and Maumee Valley currently do not have football teams. Maumee Valley dropped football after the 1978 season. Toledo Christian are members of the

Northern 8 Football Conference The Northern 8 Football Conference is an 8-man football conference that began competition in the fall of and is made up of 8-man teams from high schools located in Ohio. Members History The Northern 8 was created in October 2019 when Stryker ...

, a conference for 8 man football.

Former members

League history

The TAAC began in 1988 when long-time rivals Danbury, Emmanuel Christian (then known as Emmanuel Baptist), Maumee Valley, and Ottawa Hills joined together with the recently expanded Toledo Christian (formerly McAuley High School) to compete in basketball. When Cardinal Strich joined in 1995 after going without sports for a while, the league teamed with the

to create the 12-team Toledo Buckeye League, which involved cross-over games with both leagues' members. This setup only lasted until June 1998, but both leagues continue to have members compete against each other. The first season for TAAC football was in 1999 with Cardinal Stritch, Danbury, Ottawa Hills, Toledo Christian and the recently added football-only Lorain Catholic competing for the inaugural title. In 2000, Northwood left the Suburban Lakes League for the TAAC, wanting to compete with schools closer to their size. They initially joined in all sports but football (competing as an independent in 2000), but fully joined the league the next year. The TAAC lost its first member when Lorain Catholic closed at the end of the 2003-04 school year. Tired of competing in the

Southern Central Athletic Association Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

that was composed of several Michigan schools, Edon and Hilltop left to compete as football-only members in the TAAC in 2005. Former ties created in the old TBL made for the easy transition. Emmanuel Baptist changed its name to Emmanuel Christian in the spring of 2006. In September 2009, Gibsonburg applied for membership when it became evident that the Suburban Lakes League was going to fold in the spring of 2011. On October 7, they were admitted as the 8th full member school in the league, after being complimented for their facilities and comparable enrollment to current members. They became a full-voting member on January 1, 2010 and joined the league for the 2011-12 school year. Former commissioner Dick Nowak noted that although the league was set with members, their five-year plan involved adding two more members and possibly going to a two-division format. He would not indicate which schools are interested in TAAC membership at the time. Rick Kaifas became the new TAAC commissioner on April 6, 2011. In July 2012, Lakota High School and Fremont St. Joseph CC both sent letters of inquiry about joining the TAAC, concerned that the

Midland Athletic League The Midland Athletic League was an OHSAA athletic league located in northwest Ohio that was formed in 1985. Mark King was the last commissioner. The league folded following the 2013-14 school year as its members found new league homes. The last d ...

would dissolve after losing many members to other new leagues. On May 13, 2013, Tiffin Calvert announced that they would join the TAAC right after the Midland Athletic League disbanded in the spring of 2014. In May 2014, the TAAC approved adding

NWOAL The Northwest Ohio Athletic League (NWOAL) is a high school sports league in the U.S. state of Ohio. Beginning in 1926, it is officially the oldest athletic league in the state of Ohio. The league sponsors many sports, including: football, boys & ...

member Montpelier to its league for football only beginning with the 2016 season. Montpelier's school board approved the move in June 2014. On December 10, 2014, Tiffin Calvert announced plans to leave the TAAC early and join the

Sandusky Bay Conference The Sandusky Bay Conference is a high school athletic conference in the Sandusky Bay area of north central Ohio. It is affiliated with the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Members The SBC has 22 full members schools located within Erie, Hur ...

beginning with the 2016-17 school year as part of the SBC's expansion plans. On March 16, 2017, Danbury announced plans to join the

in the River Division of the Conference beginning in the 2018-2019 school year. They will be exiting the TAAC as one of the first original members of the conference when it first formed in 1988. On March 20, 2017, Gibsonburg also announced plans to leave the TAAC with Danbury to join the Sandusky Bay Conference in the River Division of the Conference beginning in the 2018-2019 school year. They will be exiting the TAAC as members since the 2011-2012 school year. In May 2017, it was announced that Stryker will join the league as a football-only member for the 2018 season. In October 2019, Stryker and Toledo Christian agreed at a meeting to form the new

for

OHSAA The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of compe ...

schools that are committing to play

8-man football Eight-man football is a form of gridiron football, generally played by high schools with smaller enrollments. Eight-man football differs from the traditional 11-man game with the reduction of three players on each side of the ball and a field wi ...

for the future. The OHSAA does not currently sponsor the 8-man game, but several member schools resorted to that option recently instead of playing the traditional 11-man game or choosing not to play out the season. Stryker and Toledo Christian will forfeit their football membership in the TAAC, but will remain members of the Buckeye Border Conference and the TAAC respectively, for all other sports. Beginning in the fall of 2020, Pettisville has joined the league in boys soccer only. In June, 2022 the TAAC met with the

Tri-County Conference (Michigan) The Tri-County Conference (TCC) is an MHSAA athletic league currently located in Hillsdale, Lenawee, and Monroe Counties. Member schools Current members The following schools are currently members: ;Notes: Associate members Former mem ...

to discuss a possible merger between the two leagues. Around this time Cardinal Stritch announced that they would not field an 11-man football team for the 2022 season. They hope to eventually return to play. This brought the league to only five football members, only two of which are full members. DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:1988 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m bar:1 color:powderblue from:1988 till:2018text:Danbury (1988-2018) bar:2 color:powderblue from:1988 till:endtext:Emmanuel Christian (1988-) bar:3 color:powderblue from:1988 till:endtext:Maumee Valley (1988-) bar:4 color:powderblue from:1988 till:endtext:Ottawa Hills (1988-) bar:5 color:powderblue from:1988 till:endtext:Toledo Christian (1988-) bar:6 color:powderblue from:1995 till:endtext:Cardinal Stritch Catholic (1995-) bar:7 color:powderblue from:1999 till:2004text:Lorain Catholic (1999-2004) bar:8 color:powderblue from:2000 till:endtext:Northwood (2000-) bar:9 color:powderblue from:2005 till:endtext:Edon (football-only, 2005-) bar:10 color:powderblue from:2005 till:endtext:Hilltop (football-only, 2005-) bar:11 color:powderblue from:2011 till:2018text:Gibsonburg (2011-2018) bar:12 color:powderblue from:2014 till:2016text:Tiffin Calvert (football-only, 2014-2016) bar:13 color:powderblue from:2016 till:endtext:Montpelier (football-only, 2016-) bar:14 color:powderblue from:2018 till:2019text:Stryker (football-only, 2018-2019) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1988 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(370,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"TAAC Membership History"

League championships

Football champions

Boys Basketball Champions

References

{{Northwest Ohio High School Athletic Conferences Ohio high school sports conferences