Induction Year: 2008

The Grand Rapids City League, a unique blending of public and private high school athletic teams, started in the spring of 1928 and continued through the 2007-2008 school year.
The birth of the league resulted from seven Grand Rapids high schools competing in the first City Track Meet on May 18-19, 1928, and the first year of competition for the league was the 1928-29 school year. That original track meet was also sanctioned as the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Class A Regional Championship Meet. Catholic Central, Central, Creston, Davis Tech, Ottawa Hills, South and Union competed under the direction of newly appointed City League athletic director Henry Lightner.
In 2008, the City League’s final membership consisted of the four public high schools of the Grand Rapids Public Schools (Central, Creston, Ottawa Hills and Union) plus Catholic Central, West Catholic and Christian. The last league secretary was Melvin Atkins, the Grand Rapids Public Schools' Executive Director of Athletics and Activities. He is a Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame inductee as a Warren Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
Citing a lack of parity and competitiveness within the league because of changing enrollment figures and demographic shifts, the City League disbanded and the member schools became part of the larger OK Conference in 2009. That conference featured a larger number of schools and divisions designed for competitive balance.
Davis Technical was a member of the Grand Rapids City League until 1943 when its building was turned over to what is now Grand Rapids Community College. Grand Rapids South High School, alma mater of former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, was a league member until the school closed in 1967. Grand Rapids West Catholic High School joined the City League in 1963 after being established in 1961. From 1964 to 1972 Grand Rapids Christian was divided as Central Christian and East Christian. In 1972 the two schools became Grand Rapids Christian.