The Federal League is an Ohio High School Athletic Association athletic conference that began conference play in 1964 and includes schools from Stark and Summit counties in Ohio.
The Federal League began competition in 1964 with Canton South High School, Fairless High School, Glenwood High School, Jackson High School, Marlington High School, Perry High School, and Sandy Valley High School as charter members.
In 1968, Sandy Valley departed for the Senate Athletic League. That same year, the conference expanded with the additions of Louisville High School, North Canton Hoover High School, and Oakwood High School. Further changes occurred in 1975 when Fairless left to join the All-Ohio Conference. That same year, GlenOak High School joined the league following the consolidation of Oakwood and Glenwood high schools.
Expansion continued during the 1980s. Alliance High School joined the conference in 1983, followed by Marlington in 1985 after a brief departure, and Lake High School in 1987. By 1988, membership had grown to ten schools, prompting the league to divide into two divisions: the American Division and the National Division. The realignment coincided with the addition of New Philadelphia High School, Timken High School, and Wooster High School.
The conference returned to a single-division format in 1990 after the departures of Canton South and Louisville, both of which joined the Northeastern Buckeye Conference. Additional membership changes followed during the 1990s. Timken left the conference in 1995 to compete as an independent; the school later consolidated with Canton McKinley High School in 2015. In 1997, New Philadelphia departed for the East Central Ohio League.
Significant realignment occurred in 2003 when Alliance and Wooster left the conference to join the Metro Athletic Conference and the Ohio Cardinal Conference, respectively. That same year, Austintown Fitch High School, Boardman High School, and Canton McKinley joined the league for all sports except football; their football programs joined the conference the following year in 2004.
In 2011, Austintown Fitch left the conference to join the All-American Conference. Although Fitch initially sought to remain a football-only member of the Federal League, it ultimately departed the conference in all sports. Further changes occurred in the 2010s. In 2013, Green High School announced it would join the Federal League beginning with the 2015âÂÂ16 school year. Meanwhile, Boardman left the conference in 2014 to join the All-American Conference.