The Grand Rapids City League (GRCL) was a high school athletic league in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1909, the league's final membership consisted of the four public high schools of the Grand Rapids Public Schools that offered interscholastic sports, plus two parochial private schools and one non-parochial private school.
The last league secretary was Melvin Atkins, the Grand Rapids Public Schools' Executive Director of Athletics and Activities. This made the GRCL among the few athletic conferences administered by a public school district that has a significant non-public school membership.
Due to a lack of parity and competitiveness within the league because of changing enrollment figures and demographic shifts, the Grand Rapids City League had attempted in 2004 to disband and join the larger Ottawa-Kent Conference, which the majority of schools in metropolitan Grand Rapids are members of. The Ottawa-Kent Conference rejected the Grand Rapids Public Schools while extending an invitation to the three private schools. The member schools decided to keep the league intact and reapplied for Ottawa-Kent Conference membership in 2006. On February 8, 2007 the Ottawa-Kent Conference voted to invite the City League schools for membership. The 2007-2008 school year was the last year of competition for the City League as all schools accepted the invitation to join the Ottawa-Kent Conference.
Read more about Grand Rapids City League: Members, Membership History, State Championships, Notable Alumni
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