Northern Lakes League

The Northern Lakes League (NLL), is an OHSAA high school athletic conference that was formed in 1956 and comprises eight high schools in Northwest Ohio.

The member schools of the NLL beginning in fall of 2011.

Current members

Former members

League history

1950s

• The league begins for the 1956-57 school year with Anthony Wayne, Genoa, Maumee, Perrysburg, Port Clinton, and Rossford as its charter members. This was the Blue Division of the old Great Northern Conference that had begun in 1945.^[1] It would not be known as the Northern Lakes League until 1957.^[2]
• Eastwood joins in 1959 after being accepted in 1958.^[3]

1960s

• Elmwood and Lake both join in 1960.^[4]
• Springfield (Holland HS until 1959) joins in 1962.^[5]
• Port Clinton switches into the Great Lakes League^[6] (the Orange Division of the GNC) in 1963 after winning three football titles in 1957, 1960, and 1962.

1970s

• For the 1972-73 school year, Eastwood, Elmwood, and Genoa leave to help form the Suburban Lakes League (SLL), leaving 6 members for a while.^[7] Swanton and Napoleon were suggested as replacements.
• Southview joins in 1976 after Sylvania High School splits.^[8]
• Bowling Green leaves the GLL in 1978 to bring the league total to 8.^[9]

1980s

• The League membership remains consistent

1990s

• For the 1996-97 school year, Lake leaves to join the SLL, and is replaced by Northview, who leaves the former Great Lakes League.^[10] The football team remained in the GLL for the 1996 season before fully joining at season's end.
• Around 1999, Rossford first considered leaving the NLL for a league with members closer in their size. The 9-member SLL offered an opening, but Rossford initially declined.^[11]

2000s

• In 2008, Rossford sent a letter of interest to be considered as the replacement for Lakota in the SLL, who left for the MAL in 2009.^[12] The SLL could not get a 6-out-of-7 vote to accept Rossford, ensuring they would remain a member of the NLL for at least a few more years. The NLL considered adding Clay and Napoleon to make a ten-school league, but a majority vote was not reached to expand.^[13]
• In May 2009, Rossford's board of education voted unanimously to leave the Northern Lakes League and form the new Northern Buckeye Conference with Eastwood, Genoa, Lake, Otsego, and Woodmore, all schools that were withdrawing from the Suburban Lakes League.^[14] Later additions to the NBC included Elmwood and Fostoria.^[15] The new league began competition in the fall of 2011.
• In June 2009, Napoleon High School accepted the invitation to join the Northern Lakes League in 2011 as the replacement for Rossford.^[16]
• In August 2009, Maumee's school board voted 3-2 to remain members of the Northern Lakes League and to not accept the NBC's invitation to join their new league.^[17]

Football champions

^[18]

The member schools of the NLL from 1996-2011.

All-time members of the NLL. Current members are in red, former members are in green.

See also

Ohio High School Athletic Conferences

References

1. ↑ "Central, Scott Upsets Jam City League Top Spot". Toledo Blade. October 13, 1956. Retrieved September 27, 2010. 
2. ↑ Sama, Dominic (October 12, 1957). "Knights Wallop Rogers; Maumee Bows to Bryan". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 27, 2010. 
3. ↑ Blade Correspondent (February 6, 1960). "Eastwood Roars To Tie For Title (explains that 1959-60 is Eastwood's first year of NLL competition)". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
4. ↑ "Elmwood Quells Westwood Rally; Generals Win (shows 1960-61 NLL basketball standings with Elmwood and Lake)". Toledo Blade. December 24, 1960. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
5. ↑ Little, Jim (January 26, 1963). "Rossford Trips AW, 28-8, As Jack Tisdale Runs Wild (shows Springfield in the 1962-63 NLL standings as a league member not eligible for the league title)". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
6. ↑ Little, Jim (January 27, 1963). "Suburban Leagues Must Be Flexible To Survive". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
7. ↑ "New Prep Conference Set". Toledo Blade. December 16, 1970. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
8. ↑ Goode, Mike (December 4, 1976). "Southview Zaps AW (Southview opened in 1976; article explains this was an NLL matchup)". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
9. ↑ "Lake Wins Northern Lakes League Outright". Toledo Blade. November 3, 1978. Retrieved September 27, 2010. 
10. ↑ "Northview to join Northern Lakes League". Toledo Blade. August 29, 1995. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
11. ↑ Schooley, Duane (December 16, 1999). "SLL and TAAC mull realignment". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
12. ↑ "Suburban Lakes League says no to Bulldogs' bid". Toledo Blade. June 3, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2014. 
13. ↑ Junga, Steve (June 11, 2008). "NLL sticks with 8 teams; league members to reconsider expansion in September". Toledo Blade. Retrieved January 12, 2014. 
14. ↑ Junga, Steve (May 22, 2009). "5 from SLL join Rossford for new league". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
15. ↑ Junga, Steve (May 22, 2009). "5 from SLL join Rossford for new league". Toledo Blade. Retrieved January 12, 2014. 
16. ↑ Silka, Zach (June 10, 2009). "Napoleon replaces Rossford in NLL". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
17. ↑ Junga, Steve (July 19, 2010). "New frontier ahead for area leagues". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 10, 2010. 
18. ↑ Junga, Steve (August 20, 2008). "Preview: Southview picked again in NLL". Toledo Blade. Retrieved September 12, 2010. 

External links

• List of NLL Football Champions
• 5 from SLL join Rossford for new league
• Napoleon replaces Rossford in NLL
• NLL Basketball Standings with 10 Members, Toledo Blade, January 26 1963