{{Multiple issues, {{primary sources, date=December 2016{{one source, date=December 2016 The Central Athletic League, known colloquially as the Central League, is a high school sports league located in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Currently, the league consists of twelve high schools primarily from Delaware County with additional constituency from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and Montgomery counties.

Schools

Conestoga High School Conestoga High School, located in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania, is the only upper secondary school in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. It has a Berwyn post office address, though it is not in the Berwyn census-designated place. Co ...

( Tredyffrin/Easttown School District) * Garnet Valley High School (

Garnet Valley School District Garnet Valley School District (GVSD) is a public school district based in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, within the Greater Philadelphia area. GVSD serves the town of Chester Heights, Bethel Township and Concord Township. Founded in 1959, it is one ...

) * Harriton High School (

Lower Merion School District Lower Merion School District, or LMSD, is a public school district located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The school district includes residents of both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth. Established in 18 ...

) * Haverford High School ( School District of Haverford Township) * Lower Merion High School (

) *

Marple Newtown High School Marple Newtown School District (MNSD) is a public school district which serves Newtown Township and Marple Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Marple Newtown School District encompasses approximately . According to 2000 federal census d ...

( Marple Newtown School District) *

Penncrest High School Penncrest High School is a public four-year comprehensive high school in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is a part of the Rose Tree Media School District. The district, and therefore ...

( Rose Tree Media School District) * Radnor High School ( Radnor Township School District) *

Ridley High School Ridley High School serves the Ridley School District. It is located in Folsom, Pennsylvania, United States. The new high school opened in September 2001. In the 2017–2018 school year, Ridley High School had 1,787 students. History The origina ...

( Ridley School District) * Springfield High School ( Springfield School District) *

Strath Haven High School Strath Haven High School (also abbreviated as SHHS) is a four-year public high school in Wallingford, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, enrolling about 1,200 students. SHHS is the only high school in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District. The ...

( Wallingford-Swarthmore School District) * Upper Darby High School ( Upper Darby School District)

Sports

The schools all compete in varsity high school sports in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, or the PIAA. Central League teams compete in District 1.

Fall

* Boys Cross Country * Girls Cross Country * Field Hockey *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

* Golf * Boys

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

* Girls

* Girls Tennis * Girls Volleyball

Winter

* Boys Basketball * Girls Basketball * Cheerleading * Boys Swimming and Diving * Girls Swimming and Diving * Boys Indoor Track * Girls Indoor Track * Wrestling

Spring

* Baseball * Boys Lacrosse * Girls Lacrosse * Softball * Boys Tennis * Boys Track & Field * Girls Track & Field

History

The Central League started on May 28, 1966 as a spin-off from the Suburban League when nine schools, most of them along the

Main Line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

, announced they were leaving the Suburban League to start the Central League, to begin play in the 1967 academic year. The schools that founded the league were Conestoga, Harriton, Haverford, Lower Merion, Marple, Penncrest, Radnor, Springfield and Upper Darby. Ridley joined in 1969 when Harriton joined the Suburban 3 League. Harriton rejoined the league in 2008. Strath Haven joined in 1983. Garnet Valley joined in 2008. At the end of the 1988 scholastic year, the

Ches-Mont League The Ches-Mont League is a high school sports league primarily located in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Currently, the league consists of thirteen high schools, divided into two divisions. Twelve of the schools are ...

was down to only four schools - Coatesville, Downingtown, West Chester East, and West Chester Henderson. Fearing that it could not operate as a four-team league, the remaining Ches-Mont schools applied for membership in the Central League, but they were rebuffed. The PIAA tried to force the Central League to add the teams, but the Central League sued and won. Thanks to the ruling in this suit, the PIAA has no power to re-align sports leagues. Only the leagues themselves can do so. (High school federations in many other states can re-shape sports leagues at will.)

References

External links

Central League online
High school sports conferences and leagues in the United States High school sports in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania high school sports conferences Chester County, Pennsylvania Sports leagues established in 1967 1967 establishments in Pennsylvania