The Akron City Series is a high school athletic conference based entirely in the city of Akron, Ohio, United States, that includes the six high schools of the Akron Public Schools. It competes as part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA).

Current members

The all-time members of the Akron City Series.
School Nickname Colors Address Tenure[1]
Buchtel Griffins Black and White
   		 1040 Copley Rd.
Akron, OH 44320		 1931–present
East Dragons Scarlet and Gray
   		 80 Brittain Rd.
Akron, OH 44305		 1924–present
Ellet Orangemen Orange, Blue, White
     		 309 Woolf Ave.
Akron, OH 44312		 1930–1932, 1971–present[lower-alpha 1]
Firestone Falcons Green and Gold
   		 333 Rampart Ave.
Akron, OH 44313		 1963–present
Garfield Golden Rams Maroon and Gold
   		 1326 Brown St.
Akron, OH 44301		 2017–Present[lower-alpha 2]
North Vikings Black and Gold
   		 985 Gorge Blvd.
Akron, OH 44310		 1920–present
  1. ↑ While part of the Akron Public Schools since 1929, Ellet was initially a smaller school than others in the league at the time and left the City Series in 1932 before returning in 1971[2]
  2. ↑ Created in 2017 as a merger of Garfield and Kenmore High Schools. Known as Kenmore–Garfield from 2017 to 2022[3]

History

The City Series dates back to the 1911 establishment of Akron's second high school, South High School, which resulted in the existing Akron High School, established in 1886, being renamed Central High School. The football teams from Central and South met for the first time that year in the "city championship game", won by Central. The City Series was informally established in 1914 when a third high school in the city, West High School, opened. The Akron Beacon Journal began naming an "All-City Team" that year and the schools all had a playing field of their own. In 1916 North High School opened, though it did not compete with a full City Series schedule until 1920, the first season the school had seniors. East High School opened in 1922 and joined in 1924, followed by Garfield opening in 1926 and joining in 1927 along with Hower Vocational. Kenmore, which had opened in 1916, and Ellet, which dated to 1891, were annexed into Akron in 1929 and joined the City Series in 1930, and Buchtel opened in 1931 and joined in 1932 to briefly bring membership to 10 schools. The following year, though, it returned to nine after Ellet, then still a much smaller school than the other Akron high schools, left the league. Membership was steady at nine until 1953 when West High School became a junior high school. The league returned to nine members in 1963 with the opening of Firestone High School and remained at nine until 1970. The City Series briefly dropped to eight members again in 1970 when Central and Hower Vocational High Schools were closed and merged to create Central–Hower High School, but again returned to nine members when Ellet High School rejoined the league in 1971. Membership remained at nine schools until 1980 when South High School closed, then stayed at eight schools for 26 more years, until Central–Hower closed in 2006. Series membership dropped to the current six schools in 2017 when Kenmore and Garfield were closed and merged into a new school known as Kenmore–Garfield, which was renamed Garfield in 2022.[4]

Former members

School Nickname Colors Address Tenure[1]
Central Wildcats Red and White
   		 123 S. Forge St.
Akron, OH 44304		 1914–1970
Central-Hower Eagles Red, White, Blue
     		 123 S. Forge St.
Akron, OH 44304		 1970–2006
Hower Buccaneers Blue and Gold
   		 130 W. Exchange St.
Akron, OH 44302		 1927–1970
Garfield Rams Maroon and Gold
   		 1326 Brown Street
Akron, OH 44301		 1926–2017
Kenmore Cardinals Red and Black
   		 2140 13th St. S.W.
Akron, OH 44314		 1930–2017
South Cavaliers Blue and White
   		 1055 East Ave.
Akron, OH 44307		 1914–1980
West Cowboys Red and Black
   		 315 S. Maple St.
Akron, OH 44302		 1914–1953

See also

Ohio High School Athletic Conferences

References

  1. 1 2 What's in a name? (PDF). Akron Public Schools. November 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-23. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  2. ↑ Beaven, Michael (October 28, 2012). "Ellet earns second trip to state playoffs". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ Pignolet, Jennifer (May 11, 2021). "Akron school board names Kenmore-Garfield high school replacement Garfield CLC". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  4. ↑ Stodghill, Dick; Stodghill, Jackie (1999). Akron City Football (Second (2008) ed.). Retrieved March 20, 2023.
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