Northwest Ohio Athletic League
The Northwest Ohio Athletic League (NWOAL) is a high school sports league in the U.S. state of Ohio. Beginning in 1926, it is officially the oldest athletic league in the state of Ohio. The league sponsors many sports, including: football, boys & girls cross country, volleyball, boys & girls soccer, wrestling, golf, boys & girls basketball, baseball, softball, and boys & girls track & field. The average school enrollment ranges from 250-450 students making it a small to mid-size school league. The NWOAL members have won a total of 26 team state championships. Northern Border League (1969-1978). History . For the 1969-70 school year, the Northern Border League was formed by the smaller-enrollment members of the NWOAL as a way to compete for league titles without Napoleon and Bryan. Delta and Swanton withdrew from the NWOAL completely while Archbold, Liberty Center, Montpelier, Wauseon and the recently joined Evergreen become dual members of both the NBL and the now 7-member NWOAL. Patrick Henry would also compete in the NBL after consolidating for the 1969-70 school year, although their football team wouldn't begin NBL play until 1970. Competition between the five dual-league members counted in  the standings for both the NWOAL and the NBL. Evergreen would withdraw from the NWOAL completely in 1971 and compete solely in the NBL. In 1973, Liberty Center also considered dropping their NWOAL membership solely for the NBL, which led to speculation that Archbold, Montpelier, and Wauseon would do the same in order to avoid competing with Napoleon. Evident that schools didn't want to play with Napoleon, the Wildcats started to look at other leagues for membership. When Napoleon joined the Great Lakes League in 1978, the NBL disbanded completely and all 8 schools joined the NWOAL with Bryan