Ohio Southwest Region defunct athletic conferences


This is a list of former high school athletic conferences in the Southwest Region of Ohio, as designated by the OHSAA. If a conference had members that span multiple regions, the conference is placed in the article of the region most of its former members hail from. Because the names of localities and their corresponding high schools do not always match and because there is often a possibility of ambiguity with respect to either the name of a locality or the name of a high school, the following table gives both in every case, with the locality name first, in plain type, and the high school name second in boldface type. The school's team nickname is given last.

Brown County League

The BCL was one of the local small-school county leagues in Southwest Ohio. Consolidation reduced the number of teams to five by 1967, and in 1970 these five joined with the Adams and Highland county leagues to form the Southern Hills Athletic League.
  1. Concurrent with MML 1951-53.
  2. Concurrent with Little 6 League 1939-51.
  3. Concurrent with Little Southwestern League 1956-59.
  4. Concurrent with SWOL 1959-65.
  5. Concurrent with SWOL 1960-65.

    Cincinnati Public League/Interscholastic Athletic Association of Cincinnati

The Interscholastic Athletic Association was founded March 23, 1896, and continued for several years with both public and private high schools until 1931, when it rebranded itself as the Public High School League. Now encompassing solely the public high schools in Cincinnati, the league lasted until 1985, when reshuffling of city and suburban Cincinnati high schools took place, which led to the formation of the Cincinnati Hills League, Eastern Metro Conference, Metro County Conference, and Western Metro Conference.
This small-school county league is another that hosted members from outside their borders. In this case, Harveysburg from Warren County joined a few years before the conference ended, as the school would merge with three Clinton County schools to become Clinton-Massie. The school would actually be based in Harveysburg until a new school was built near Clarksville, in Clinton County. Blanchester was not included in the 1959–60 standings, due to growing to a AA-sized school by annexing Jefferson, but were allowed back into league play the following season. Blanchester and Clinton-Massie would concurrently play in the CCL and Fort Ancient Valley Conference for the 1964–65 school year, after which the other two CCL schools consolidated into East Clinton, who would join the FAVC nine years later.
One of the short-lived conferences resulting from realignment in the Cincinnati area, the league merged into the Queen City Conference superconference in 1989.
The DVL was formed in 1956, as the Madison County League was reduced through consolidation from nine schools to four over a two year period, forcing the schools to seek other schools to compete with. Growing from its five initial schools, the conference grew to 11 schools by 1963, but never achieved any sense of stability, as schools joined and left for other conferences throughout its existence. The conference folded in 1977, as five of its members left for other leagues at the same time.
  1. Concurrent with Pickaway County League 1956–61.
  2. Concurrent with Greene County League 1956–61.
  3. Concurrent with Madison County League 1956–57.
  4. Concurrent with Champaign County League 1956–61.
  5. Concurrent with South Central Ohio League 1974–75.
  6. Concurrent with Central Buckeye League 1976–77)

    Eastern Hills League

This conference began as Milford and New Richmond, kicked out of the Clermont County League after becoming exempt schools, joined with neighbors from far eastern Hamilton County. The league ended in 1985, as major realignment took place in the Cincinnati area.
One of the short-lived conferences resulting from realignment in the Cincinnati area, the league merged into the Queen City Conference superconference in 1989.
The FAVC started in 1964, as schools from the dwindling Clinton County League joined with the Warren County League, by 1999 the league became a superconference in the Southwest Region, as a large chunk of the Queen City Conference joined to help form two divisions. A later expansion took place in 2006, as the Mid-Miami League folded. However, this aggressive expansion also led to the conference's demise, as the schools decided to split into the Eastern Cincinnati Conference and Southwest Ohio Conference in 2012.

Girls Greater Catholic League

Conference Website: http://ggcl.gclsports.com/
The Girls' Greater Catholic League merged with the Greater Catholic League under one banner in 2013.
The Greater Miami Valley Conference began operation during the 1982–83 school year but folded at the conclusion of the 2000–01 school year when the league merged with the Western Ohio League, forming the Greater Western Ohio Conference. The initial GMVC was formed with six schools from the Miami Central Conference - Vandalia-Butler, Northmont, Piqua, Sidney, Trotwood-Madison, and Tecumseh. They were joined by Greenville from the Southwestern Buckeye League and Troy, which withdrew from the Western Ohio League. Tecumseh left the league at the conclusion of the 1989–90 school year and was replaced with West Carrollton from the Mid-Miami League. West Carrollton eventually left the GMVC after the 1998–99 school year to re-join the Mid-Miami League, but was not replaced, leaving the league with seven schools.
  1. Concurrent with Little 6 League 1939–54.
  2. Concurrent with Darby Valley League 1956–61.

    Hamilton County League

The HCL operated in an East-West divisional format until 1969, when it went to American and National divisions.
The table below shows the alignment the final school year of 1984-85 before the breakup of the league.
AmericanNational
AndersonFinneytown
ColerainGreenhills
Forest ParkHarrison
Mount HealthyNorth College Hill
NorthwestNorwood
Oak HillsReading
TurpinTaylor
Wyoming

Kenton Trace Conference

A secondary conference for schools that were larger than most of their county peers, yet too small to be competitive amongst city schools. Football was the primary sport contested, though the league crowned champions in other sports as well. The league folded when all schools had left their county leagues for conferences with similar demographics.
  1. Concurrent with Montgomery County League 1939-41 and 1945-51, and SWBL 1941-45 and 1951-54.
  2. Concurrent with Greene County League 1939-54.
  3. Concurrent with Warren County League 1939-51, and MML 1951-54.
  4. Concurrent with Butler County League 1939-51, and MML 1951-54.
  5. Concurrent with MCL 1939-51, and MML 1951-54.

    Mad River Valley League

Originally the Clark County League, the MRVL gained its name in 1955, as the five remaining CCL members added Mechanicsburg, and later others from outside the original boundaries. The league's demise started in 1973, as four schools broke off to form the Three Rivers League in 1973, and folded the next year as three of the five remaining schools formed the Central Buckeye Conference.
A short-lived conference formed as a result of shifting Hamilton County schools in 1985, the league merged into the Queen City Conference in 1989.
The Miami Central Conference began operation during the 1975–76 school year but folded at the conclusion of the 1981–82 school year. Vandalia-Butler, Northmont, Piqua, Sidney, Trotwood-Madison, and Tecumseh withdrew from the MCC to form the Greater Miami Valley Conference with Greenville from the Southwestern Buckeye League and Troy from the Western Ohio League. Fairborn Baker and Fairborn Park Hills merged to become Fairborn and joined the Western Ohio League, while Miamisburg and West Carrollton joined the Mid-Miami League at the start of the 1982–83 school year.
The Miami Valley League began competition during the 1926–27 school year, when the MVL held its first league championship in track. Football and basketball began with the 1927–28 school year. The league operated through the 1974–75 school year, when the three long-time members of the league formed the Miami Central Conference with similar-sized schools. In 2019 the league resumed competition after 10 teams left the Greater Western Ohio Conference. The Miami Valley League was resurrected in 2019.
Started in 1956 as Little Southwestern League when Little Miami of the Warren County League joined with Bishop Fenwick and three Butler County League teams, who remained in the BCL initially. Little Miami returned to the WCL and was replaced by Lakota in 1959, prompting a rebrand to become the Southwestern Ohio Conference. While temporarily staving off defections to the Mid-Miami League by absorbing the rest of the BCL and having members concurrently in the MML and SOC, the conference was down to four members by 1970. After changing the name to the PVL in 1972, the league only lasted three years, as New Miami and Ross joined the Wayne Trace League, while Edgewood and Madison retained their membership in the MML.
  1. Also played in Butler County League 1956–65.
  2. Also played in Butler County League 1960–65.
  3. Also played in Mid-Miami League 1966–75.
  4. Also played in Mid-Miami League 1971–75.

    Preble County League

  1. Played concurrently in the PCL and Indiana's Union County Conference 1920's-1940, and Whitewater Valley Conference 1940–1967.
  2. Played concurrently in the PCL and Dayton Suburban League 1964–72.
  3. Played concurrently in the PCL and Dayton Suburban League 1968–72.
  4. Played concurrently in the PCL and Dayton Suburban League 1969–72.
  5. Played concurrently in the PCL and Southwest Ohio League 1972–74.

    Queen City Conference

After the Cincinnati Hills League left the Queen City Conference Alliance in 1989, the Cross County League, Eastern Metro Conference, Metro County Conference, and Western Metro Conference all combined to form this super-conference. It survived intact with a three division alignment until 1999, when seven members left for the Fort Ancient Valley Conference. Further defections led to the remaining schools to combine with the Dayton City League to form the Southwest Ohio Public League.

Football-Only League (2015-2018)

American Division
National Division
American Division
National Division
Former members
Both teams played in the American Division while in SWOPL play. Both left for the Fort Ancient Valley Conference
  1. Concurrent with DCL 1936-41 and 1942-50, and SWBL 1941-42.
  2. Concurrent with SWBL 1941-51.

    Warren County League

  1. Concurrent with Little 6 League 1939–51.

    Wayne Trace League

The league began in 1922 as the Montgomery County League, then became the Dayton Suburban League in 1964 as the five remaining MCL schools branched out beyond the county. When the Southwestern Ohio Conference rebranded itself as the Paper Valley League in 1972, the DSL once again changed its name to the Southwestern Ohio League. Three years later, after a major shakeup where five schools left, and two Paper Valley League schools joined, leading to the WTL name. This only lasted three years, as most of the conference joined the Cross-County Conference in 1978.
  1. Concurrent with Little 6 League 1939–41, and 1945–51.
  2. Concurrent with Little 6 League 1939–51.
  3. Concurrent with Preble County League 1964–74.
  4. Concurrent with Preble County League 1969–74.
  5. Concurrent with Preble County League 1970–74.

    West Central Ohio Conference (WCOC)

The WCOC began in the 1930s as the Logan County League, rebranding itself as the WCOC in 1970, as the conference had long since grown past the Logan County borders. It lasted until 2001, when most of the schools split into the Northwest Central and Ohio Heritage conferences.
Founded as a conference for larger schools in the Dayton suburban area, the league merged with the Greater Miami Valley Conference to form the Greater Western Ohio Conference in 2001.