Great Lakes Conference


The Great Lakes Conference was an Ohio High School Athletic Conference athletic league, that began conference play in 2015 and disbanded in 2024 and was made up of member schools from Cuyahoga, Medina and Lorain Counties in Ohio.

All members

SchoolNicknameLocationColorsTenureDivisionNotes
BayRocketsBay Village, OhioBlue, White, & Red
2015-2024Westleft for Cleveland West Conference
BuckeyeBucksYork Township, OhioBrown, Orange, & White
2019-2024Eastleft for Cleveland West Conference
Elyria CatholicPanthersElyria, OhioGreen & White
2015-2024Westleft for North Coast Conference
FairviewWarriorsFairview Park, OhioScarlet & Gray
2019-2023WestLeft for Chagrin Valley Conference
Holy NameGreen WaveParma Heights, OhioGreen & White
2015-2024Eastleft for North Coast Conference
LakewoodRangersLakewood, OhioPurple & Gold
2020-2024Eastleft for Cleveland West Conference
NormandyInvadersParma, OhioOrange & White
2015-2024Eastleft for Cleveland West Conference
North OlmstedEaglesNorth Olmsted, OhioOrange & Black
2021-2024Westleft for Cleveland West Conference
Parma SeniorRedmenParma, OhioRed & Gray
2015-2023Eastschool closed
Rocky RiverPiratesRocky River, OhioMaroon & White
2015-2024Westleft for Cleveland West Conference
Valley ForgePatriotsParma Heights, OhioNavy Blue & White
2015-2024Eastleft for Cleveland West Conference
WestlakeDemonsWestlake, OhioForest Green & White
2021-2024Westleft for Cleveland West Conference

History

The Great Lakes Conference was formed in 2015, with its founding members of Normandy, Parma, Valley Forge Bay, Elyria Catholic, Rocky River and Holy Name.
The league added Buckeye and Fairview in 2019. Buckeye and Fairview were two of four schools being left out after eight of the 12 Patriot Athletic Conference schools decided to form a new league with more compact traveling distances.
In 2019, Lakewood would announce their intention to join the Great Lakes Conference beginning the 2020-21 school year.
In 2020, the GLC split into two separate divisions following the additions of North Olmsted and Westlake in the 2021-22 school year. The East Division consisted of Buckeye, Holy Name, Lakewood, Normandy, Parma, and Valley Forge; the West Division consisted of Bay, Elyria Catholic, Fairview, North Olmsted, Rocky River, and Westlake.
In June 2022, Parma City Schools approved a consolidation plan that would close Parma Senior High School along with two elementary schools following the 2022-23 school year, ending Parmas tenure in the GLC.
In March 2023, Fairview announced that they would be joining the Chagrin Valley Conference starting with the winter sports season of the 2023-2024 school year. This came following a concern that Fairview would be "the smallest public school in an increasingly growing pool of larger ones."
In May 2023, eight GLC members announced that they would be leaving to form the Cleveland West Conference starting the 2024-2025 school year. With only two schools in the GLC remaining, Elyria Catholic and Holy Name would leave form the North Coast Conference along with five other schools, which would lead to the end of the Great Lakes Conference.