Ohio Valley Athletic Conference

Ohio Valley Athletic Conference

Classification	OHSAA Divisions I-VII WVSSAC Divisions A-AAA
Founded	1943
Sports fielded	Football, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, Basketball, Swimming, Wrestling, Baseball, Softball, Track and Field
Region	Ohio West Virginia
Official website	http://www.ovac.org

The Ohio Valley Athletic Conference is a high school sports league in parts of southeastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. The OVAC is the largest conference of its kind in the United States. ^[1] Schools in the upper Ohio Valley supply over 18,000 athletes in various competitive athletic areas. The conference was organized in 1943. ^[2]

Classification

Schools are categorized by enrollment of eligible athletes, where Class A is the smallest enrollment and Class AAAAA is the largest enrollment. ^[3] As of the 2020-2021 school year, there are 18,332 eligible athletes in grades 9 through 11. ^[4]

Class	Enrollment	Members
A (1A)	0-149	11
AA (2A)	150-220	10
AAA (3A)	221-336	9
AAAA (4A)	337-496	10
AAAAA (5A)	497+	10

Member schools

School	Nickname	Location	Colors	Joined	Class
Barnesville	Shamrocks	Barnesville, Ohio	Green, Red, White	1953	AAA
Beaver Local	Beavers	East Liverpool, Ohio	Red, White	1991	AAAA
Bellaire	Big Reds	Bellaire, Ohio	Red, Black	1943	AAA
Bridgeport	Bulldogs	Bridgeport, Ohio	Columbia Blue, White, Black	1946	AA
Brooke	Bruins	Wellsburg, West Virginia	Green, Gold	1969	AAAAA
Buckeye Local	Panthers	Rayland, Ohio	Navy, Silver	1990	AAA
Buckeye Trail	Warriors	Lore City, Ohio	Royal Blue, White	1977	AAA
Caldwell	Redskins	Caldwell, Ohio	Red, White	1977	AA
Cambridge	Bobcats	Cambridge, Ohio	Royal Blue, White	1974	AAAA
Cameron	Dragons	Cameron, West Virginia	Navy, Gold	1950	A
Clay-Battelle	Cee-Bees	Blacksville, West Virginia	Navy, Grey	2011	AA
Conotton Valley	Rockets	Bowerston, Ohio	Kelly Green, White	1991	A
Dover	Crimson Tornadoes	Dover, Ohio	Crimson, Gray	2019	AAAAA
East Liverpool	Potters	East Liverpool, Ohio	Blue, White	1973	AAAA
Edison	Wildcats	Richmond, Ohio	Silver, Black	1993	AAAA
Fort Frye	Cadets	Beverly, Ohio	Scarlet Red, Dover White, Royal Blue	1977	AAA
Frontier	Cougars	New Matamoras, Ohio	Columbia Blue, Vegas Gold	1975	AA
Harrison Central	Huskies	Cadiz, Ohio	Black, Silver, Royal Blue	1999	AAAA
Indian Creek	Redskins	Wintersville, Ohio	Red, Gold	1993	AAAA
John Marshall	Monarchs	Glen Dale, West Virginia	Vegas Gold, Brown	1968	AAAAA
Linsly	Cadets	Wheeling, West Virginia	Orange, Black	1943	AAA
Madonna	Blue Dons	Weirton, West Virginia	Navy, Silver, White	1958	A
Magnolia	Blue Eagles	New Martinsville, West Virginia	Blue, Gold	1949	AAA
Martins Ferry	Purple Riders	Martins Ferry, Ohio	Purple, White	1943	AAA
Monroe Central	Seminoles	Woodsfield, Ohio	Red, Vegas Gold, Black, White	1994	AAA
Morgantown	Mohigans	Morgantown, West Virginia	Red, Royal Blue	2010	AAAAA
New Philadelphia	Quakers	New Philadelphia, Ohio	Red, Black	2019	AAAAA
Oak Glen	Golden Bears	New Cumberland, West Virginia	Columbia Blue, Gold, White	1964	AAAA
Parkersburg South	Patriots	Parkersburg, West Virginia	Blue, Scarlet, White	1975	AAAAA
River	Pilots	Hannibal, Ohio	Scarlet, Gray	1958	AA
Shadyside	Tigers	Shadyside, Ohio	Orange, Black	1943	AA
Shenandoah	Zeps	Sarahsville, Ohio	Forest Green, White	1973	AA
Southern Local	Indians	Salineville, Ohio	Royal Blue, Athletic Gold	2015	AA
St. Clairsville	Red Devils	St. Clairsville, Ohio	Scarlet, Gray	1947	AAAA
Steubenville	Big Red	Steubenville, Ohio	Crimson Red, Black	1943	AAAAA
Steubenville Catholic	Crusaders	Steubenville, Ohio	Royal Blue, Gold	1943	A
Toronto	Red Knights	Toronto, Ohio	Red, White	1950	AA
Trinity Christian	Warriors	Morgantown, West Virginia	Cardinal Red, Vegas Gold	2009	A
Union Local	Jets	Belmont, Ohio	Red, White	1959	AAAA
University	Hawks	Morgantown, West Virginia	Crimson, Gold, Black	2010	AAAAA
Valley	Lumberjacks	Pine Grove, West Virginia	Black, Gold	1977	A
Warren	Warriors	Vincent, Ohio	Royal Blue, White	2015	AAAAA
Weir	Red Riders	Weirton, West Virginia	Red, Black	1943	AAAA
Wellsville	Tigers	Wellsville, Ohio	Orange, Black	1954	AA
Wheeling Central	Maroon Knights	Wheeling, West Virginia	Maroon, White	1943	AA
Wheeling Park	Patriots	Wheeling, West Virginia	Red, White, Royal	1976	AAAAA

Conference affiliations

• Buckeye 8 Athletic League - Beaver Local, Bellaire, Cambridge, East Liverpool, Edison, Harrison Central, Indian Creek, Martins Ferry, St. Clairsville, Union Local
• East Central Ohio League - Dover, New Philadelphia, Warren
• Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference - Southern Local, Wellsville
• Mason Dixon Conference - Cameron, Clay-Battelle, Weirton Madonna
• Two Rivers Athletic Conference - John Marshall, Morgantown, Parkersburg South, University, Wheeling Park

References

1. "OVAC History". Ohio Valley Athletic Conference. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
2. Ohio Valley Athletic Conference- History
3. Ohio Valley Athletic Conference - History
4. Ohio Valley Athletic Conference - Classification Enrollment

External links

• OVAC website