Oakland Activities Association

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Oakland Activities Association is a Southeast Michigan high school athletics conference. It is made up of 23 schools located largely throughout Oakland County, with a single member located in Wayne County

Contents

History

The Oakland Activities Association was first formed with schools from an amalgamation of different leagues. The G.O.A.L. (Greater Oakland Activities League), Metro Suburban Activities Association and the Southeastern Michigan Association (plus one independently associated school) were all merged in 1994 into the Oakland Activities Association, with the goal being to form a more geographically-centered league.

Charter members

Founding Members
Previous leagueSchool
Greater Oakland Activities League Clarkston, Lake Orion, Pontiac Northern, Waterford Kettering, Waterford Mott
Metro Suburban Activities Association Birmingham Groves, Bloomfield Hills Lahser, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Royal Oak Dondero, Southfield-Lathrup, Troy Athens, West Bloomfield
Southeastern Michigan Association Berkley, Birmingham Seaholm, Bloomfield Hills Andover, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Royal Oak Kimball, Southfield, Troy
Independently associated Ortonville Brandon

After its first year, the OAA experienced rapid growth, with Pontiac Central from the Saginaw Valley Association and Oak Park from the Suburban Athletic League joining in 1995, and Auburn Hills Avondale, Clawson, Madsion Heights Lamphere, and Madison Heights Madison all coming to the OAA in 1996 after the disbandment of the Macomb-Oakland Athletic Conference.

The next major growth period did not occur until 2002, when Farmington, North Farmington, and Farmington Hills Harrison from the Western Lakes Activities Association as well as the newly built Stoney Creek High School in Rochester Hills all joined the OAA.

2002 also marked a period of decline for the OAA, beginning with Brandon High leaving to join the Flint Metro League that year, where it currently resides. Two years after that, in 2004, Madison and Lamphere left to join the Macomb Area Conference, while Clawson left to join the Metro Conference, and in 2008, Waterford Mott and Waterford Kettering left to join the Kensington Lakes Activities Association. However, in 2010, the OAA gained a new member in Oxford, who had come from the Flint Metro League. After that, the next school to leave the OAA for another conference did not come for another 11 years, when Hazel Park left to join the Macomb Area Conference in 2019. [1]

However, the OAA has been beginning to fill these holes in their membership, extending an invitation to Ferndale University in 2020, who had been co-oping with Ferndale for football for years, and extending another invitation to their first non-Oakland County school in Harper Woods, who was previously an independent, in 2021.

There have also been a significant amount of closings and consolidations of various Oakland County schools in recent years, which also has not helped the OAA's membership. These aforementioned consolidations are Dondero High School closing and merging with Kimball High School to create Royal Oak High School in 2006, Pontiac Central High School closing and merging with Pontiac Northern High School to create Pontiac High School in 2009, Lahser High School closing and merging with Andover High School to create Bloomfield Hills High School in 2013, Southfield-Lathrup High School closing and merging with Southfield High School to create Southfield Senior High School for the Arts and Technology (commonly abbreviated to Southfield A&T) in 2016, and Harrison High School closing in 2019.

Member schools

Current members

School [2] MascotLocationColorsEnrollment (as of 2019)ClassJoined
Clarkston Wolves Clarkston Blue and Gold2,499A1994
Troy Colts Troy Silver and Black2,237A1994
Troy Athens Red Hawks Troy Red and Gold2,276A1994
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek Cougars Rochester Hills Vegas Gold and Millennium Blue1,638A2001
Lake Orion Dragons Orion Township Green and White2,416A1994
Pontiac Phoenix Pontiac Purple, Black, and Silver963A2009
Rochester Falcons Rochester Hills Royal Blue and White1,805A1994
West Bloomfield Lakers West Bloomfield Township Green and White2,042A1994
Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks Bloomfield Township Black, Purple, and Silver1,896A2014
Oak Park Knights Oak Park Red, White, and Black1,276A1995
Southfield A&T Warriors Southfield Red, White, and Blue2,067A2016
Birmingham Groves Falcons Beverly Hills Yellow, White, and Green1,310A1994
Oxford Wildcats Oxford Navy and Gold2,234A2004
Rochester Adams Highlanders Rochester Hills Brown and Gold1,710A1994
North Farmington Raiders Farmington Hills Brown and Gold1,371A2001
Birmingham Seaholm Maples Birmingham Maroon and White1,370A1994
Royal Oak Ravens Royal Oak Black, Royal, and Silver1,405A2006
Farmington Falcons Farmington Blue and White1,444A2002
Berkley Bears Berkley Maroon and Blue1,424A1994
Auburn Hills Avondale Yellow Jackets Auburn Hills Purple and Gold1,133A1996
Harper Woods Pioneers Harper Woods Maroon, White, and Gray835A2021
Ferndale Eagles Ferndale Brown, White, and Gold717B1994
Ferndale University*Driving Eagles Ferndale Gold and Black478B2020

*- Ferndale University is involved in a co-op agreement with Ferndale for football

Former members

SchoolNicknameLocationJoinedPrevious ConferenceDepartedSuccessive Conference
Bloomfield Hills Andover Barons Bloomfield Township 1994Southeastern Michigan Association2013None (school consolidated)
Bloomfield Hills Lahser Knights Bloomfield Hills 1994Metro Suburban Activities Association2013None (school closed)
Clawson Trojans Clawson 1996Macomb-Oakland Athletic Conference2004Metro Conference
Farmington Hills Harrison Hawks Farmington Hills 2002 Western Lakes Activities Association 2019None (school closed)
Hazel Park Vikings Hazel Park 1994Southeastern Michigan Association2019 Macomb Area Conference
Madison Heights Lamphere Rams Madison Heights 1996Macomb-Oakland Athletic Conference2004 Macomb Area Conference
Madison Heights Madison Eagles Madison Heights 1996Macomb-Oakland Athletic Conference2004 Macomb Area Conference
Ortonville Brandon Blackhawks Ortonville 1994Independent2002 Flint Metro League
Pontiac Central Chiefs Pontiac 1995Saginaw Valley League2009None (school consolidated)
Pontiac Northern Huskies Pontiac 1994Greater Oakland Activities League2009None (school closed)
Royal Oak Dondero Oaks Royal Oak 1994Metro Suburban Activities Association2006None (school closed)
Royal Oak Kimball Knights Royal Oak 1994Southeastern Michigan Association2006None (school consolidated)
Southfield Warriors Southfield 1994Southeastern Michigan Association2016None (school consolidated)
Southfield-Lathrup Chargers Lathrup Village 1994Metro Suburban Activities Association2016None (school closed)
Waterford Kettering Captains Waterford Township 1994Greater Oakland Activities League2008 Kensington Lakes Activities Association
Waterford Mott Corsairs Waterford Township 1994Greater Oakland Activities League2008 Kensington Lakes Activities Association

Membership timeline

Harper Woods High SchoolFerndale Public SchoolsOxford High School (Michigan)Harrison High School (Michigan)Stoney Creek High SchoolNorth Farmington High SchoolFarmington High School (Michigan)Madison High School (Michigan)Lamphere Public SchoolsClawson Public SchoolsAvondale High School (Michigan)Pontiac High School (Michigan)Pontiac Central High SchoolOak Park High School (Michigan)Brandon High School (Michigan)Royal Oak High SchoolClarence M. Kimball High SchoolDondero High SchoolWaterford Mott High SchoolWaterford Kettering High SchoolPontiac Northern High SchoolLahser High SchoolBloomfield Hills High SchoolAndover High School (Michigan)Southfield-Lathrup High SchoolSouthfield High SchoolSouthfield High SchoolHazel Park High SchoolWest Bloomfield High SchoolAthens High School (Troy, Michigan)Troy High School (Michigan)Rochester Adams High SchoolRochester High School (Michigan)Lake Orion High SchoolFerndale High School (Michigan)Clarkston High School (Michigan)Seaholm High SchoolBirmingham Groves High SchoolBerkley High SchoolOakland Activities Association

Full membersFull members (non-football)

OAA Divisions

The members of the Oakland Activities Association is divided into divisions which vary by sport. Before 2007, these divisions were labeled after Roman Numerals, with there typically being three divisions, labeled I, II, III, and occasionally a fourth, labeled IV. Nowadays, though, these divisions are labeled after colors, with most sports typically having three divisions: red, white, and blue. However, some sports are only divided into the red or white divisions while some are divided into a fourth division, gold. [3]

  1. "MHSAA > 404" (PDF). www.mhsaa.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.