Toledo City League

The Toledo City League, is an OHSAA high school athletic conference that was formed in 1926 and is comprised of fourteen high schools from Toledo and Oregon, Ohio. The current member schools of the conference are:

* Toledo Bowsher Rebels
* Toledo Central Catholic Fighting Irish (parochial)
* Oregon Clay Eagles
* Toledo Libbey Cowboys/Cowgirls
* Toledo Notre Dame Eagles (girls parochial)
* Toledo Rogers Rams
* Toledo St. Francis de Sales Knights (boys parochial)
* Toledo St. John's Jesuit Titans (boys parochial)
* Toledo St. Ursula Arrows (girls parochial)
* Toledo Scott Bulldogs/Lady Bulldogs
* Toledo Start Spartans
* Toledo Waite Indians
* Toledo Whitmer Panthers
* Toledo Woodward Polar Bears

Former Members

* Oregon Cardinal Stritch Cardinals (1970-1992)
* Toledo DeVilbiss Tigers (closed in 1991)
* Toledo Macomber-Whitney Macmen/Lady Macmen (joint-vocational schools, closed in 1991)
* Toledo McAuley Lions (girls parochial, closed c. 1987, currently Toledo Christian School)

League History

1920s

*The league begins in 1926 with the first boys track and field meet held May 1. The charter members were Libbey, Scott, Waite, and Woodward. The 1926-27 school year was the first for full City League play.
*Central Catholic joins the league in 1928.

1930s

*DeVilbiss opens in 1931 and begins league play for the 1933-34 school year.
*Macomber opens and joins the league for the 1938-39 school year.

1940s

*DeVilbiss dominates the boys track & field competition, taking league titles from 1942-1947 and another one in 1949. Including the title in 1951, the Tigers would earn 8 league titles over a span of ten years.

1950s

*St. Francis opens and joins the league for the 1955-56 school year.

1960s

*Bowsher and Start are built in 1962 and both begin league play for the 1962-63 school year.
*Rogers and St. John's begin league play in 1966 after Rogers had been absorbed by Toledo Public Schools in 1964 and St. John's' new building had been completed in 1965.
*The City League's football championship game, called the Shoe Bowl, begins in 1966.
*Macomber formed a joint operation with Whitney in 1967 after spending 28 years as separate neighbors. The two schools were frequently referred to as one Macomber-Whitney.

1970s

*The City League makes history by becoming the first major Ohio conference to sponsor a girls' sports championship, by hosting a league track meet in 1970. The 1972 City League track championship would also be the first co-ed track meet in Ohio.
*Cardinal Stritch joins the league for the 1970-71 school year, making them the first non-Toledo school to become a member.
*Later in the decade, Whitney (1973), McAuley (1976), Notre Dame (1977), and St. Ursula (1977) are all granted league membership as the first all-girls schools in the league.
*For football alone, the league is split into 2 divisions, pitting the Red and Blue champions against each other for the league title.

1980s

*St. Francis wins the first OHSAA State Football Tournament Championship for a City League team in 1984.
*Three City League teams would bring home state titles in basketball: (St. Francis in 1983-84, Macomber in 1988-89, and Scott in 1989-90.)
*McAuley is closed after the 1986-87 school year.

1990s

*Due to financial problems and a declining enrollment, DeVilbiss and Macomber-Whitney are regrettably closed following the 1990-91 school year. 1990 would also mark the final year for the football divisions and the Shoe Bowl game, with St. John's defeating Macomber.
*In 1991, more financial problems caused the private schools to play an independent football schedule while the public schools battled for the league title in the newly named Hall of Fame Game.
*The private schools returned to league play in 1992, but Cardinal Stritch had withdrawn its membership at the end of the 1991-92 school year since its enrollment numbers were significantly smaller than the other schools.

2000s

*For the 2003-2004 school year, longtime City League rival Whitmer and Oregon Clay leave the crumbling Great Lakes League to become the City League's newest members.

Boys League Championships

*Note: Teams in parentheses passed on the Shoe Bowl for the OHSAA playoffs.

Girls League Championships

ee also

Ohio High School Athletic Conferences

External links

* [http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/SPORTS12/106232349 List of City League Football Champions]
* [http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060707/SPORTS12/60707002&SearchID=73251655986784 Return of the Shoe Bowl]
* [http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060819/SPORTS12/608190484/0/SPORTS Results of the 2006 Shoe Bowl Classic]
* [http://personal.bgsu.edu/~jsquire/cityleague.html Toledo City League Track & Field History]
* [http://www.RogersHallofFame.org/ Rogers Hall of Fame]