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Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association
File:Map of USA highlighting Maryland.png
AbbreviationMPSSAA
Formation1946
TypeVolunteer; NPO
Legal statusAssociation
Purpose/focusAthletic/Educational
HeadquartersNancy Grassmick Building, Maryland State Department of Education, 200 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Region servedMaryland
Membership195 public high schools
Official languagesEnglish
Executive DirectorEdward F. Sparks
AffiliationsNational Federation of State High School Associations
Staff5
Websitempssaa.org
RemarksFax: (410) 333-3111

Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA), is the association that oversees public high school sporting contests in the state of Maryland.[1] Organized after World War II in 1946, the MPSSAA is made up of public high schools from each of Maryland's 23 counties and independent city of Baltimore City, which joined the association in 1993 when its public high schools withdrew at the orders of a new Superintendent of Public Instruction (schools) in the Baltimore City Public Schools from the earlier longtime athletic league, the Maryland Scholastic Association (M.S.A.) which was founded in 1919. The MSA had been composed of public high schools in the City of Baltimore and private / religious / independent schools on the secondary level in the City of Baltimore and its metropolitan area and the surrounding central Maryland region. It was one of the few state-level interscholastic athletic leagues in the nation composed of both public and private/religious/independent secondary schools. After the Baltimore City public high schools withdrew from the MSA, the remaining private/religious/independent schools conferred and organized two parallel regional/state-wide athletic leagues with sports competition and exercise activities with one for young men and the other for young women. These were the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (M.I.S.A.A. - for boys) and the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland]] (I.S.A.A.M. - for girls) which endured today. All three state-wide athletic leagues, two for private/religious/independent secondary schools and one for co-ed public high schools exist today marrying on the proud traditions, memories and championships of the old Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) - one of the oldest state athletic leagues for secondary schools in the country.

The current MPSSAA includes nearly 200 public high schools, with more than 110,000 student-athletes participating in 24 sports. The Maryland State Board of Education establishes the rules and regulations governing the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association athletic programs and functions under the Division of Instruction of the Maryland State Department of Education. All qualified public high schools in Maryland in the 23 counties who qualify under rules and regulations may become members of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association.

The purpose of the Association is to promote, direct, and control all interscholastic activities of high school students; to establish, maintain, and enforce regulations to assure that all such activities are part of and contribute toward the comprehensive educational program of the state of Maryland; to work with the state department of education in the development of the program to safeguard the physical, mental, and moral welfare of high school students and protect them from exploitation.[2]

[]

Team Sports

Fall

Winter

Spring

Individual sports

Fall

  • Cross-Country – Girls and Boys
  • Golf

Winter

Spring

  • Track & Field – Girls and Boys
  • Tennis – Girls and Boys

Administration[]

2013-2014 MPSSAA Officers[]

Position Name
President Earl Hawkins
Past-President William Beattie
President-Elect Kimberly N. Dolch
Executive Director Edward F. Sparks

Past Presidents[]

1947-48....................William Brish
1949-50....................William Brish
1950-51............George Carrington
1951-52............George Carrington
1952-53 ..................Arthur Ramey
1953-54 ......................Ellery Ward
1954-55..............Crescent J. Bride
1955-56 ............Stephan A. Lerda
1956-57................Edward Semler
1957-58 ..............Charles Hudson
1958-59..............Warren R. Evans
1959-60 ..............Robert E. Pence
1960-61 ..............Charles R. Berry
1961-62....Vincent C. Holochwost
1962-63........William J. Callaghan
1963-64..G. Wayne Burgemeister
1964-65..........William E. Dykes Jr.
1965-66......................Jack Willard
1966-67..................Edward Finzel
1967-68..............Harold S. Martin
1968-69..............Crescent J. Bride
1969-70................Warren Squires
1970-71....................Marvin C. Joy
1971-72..........John E. Molesworth
1972-73 ................Robert Melville
1973-74......................Albert Cesky
1974-76 ........................Earl Hersh
1976-78..............Robert M. Foster
1978-80............Mildred H. Murray
1980-82 ..............Robert E. Pence
1982-84..........................Jim Heins
1984-86........................Roy Comer
1986-88............Clarence Johnson
1988-90..................W. Cecil Short
1990-92....................Chuck Brown
1992-94 ..................Patricia Barry
1994-96 ............Ronald J. Belinko
1996-98..............Donald E. Cooke
1998-00..............Mary Etta Reedy
2000-02 ..................Marlene Kelly
2002-04................Robert P. Wade
2004-06..........................Jay Berno
2006-08........................David Byrd
2008-10..................Andrew Roper
2010-12................William Beattie

Member High Schools[]

Due to the state's unique geography, Maryland high school athletics is divided into nine districts by the MPSSAA for purposes of organizing athletic activities and postseason tournaments. MPSSAA member schools compete within geographic regions (jurisdictions) and are divided into leagues across the state. In total, there are five conferences and six counties competing together to form a league, but remaining independent.

Classifications[]

The MPSSAA's 197 member schools are arranged by classification to ensure that schools compete on a regular basis with other schools in the geographic area of a similar size. The classifications are 4A (the largest), 3A, 2A, and 1A (the smallest).

  • 4A = Top 25 percent based on enrollment
  • 3A = Next 25 percent based on enrollment
  • 2A = Next 25 percent based on enrollment
  • 1A = Lowest 25 percent based on enrollment

District Alignment[]

  • District 1 – Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, and Washington counties
  • District 2 – Montgomery County
  • District 3 – Prince George's County
  • District 4 – Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary's counties
  • District 5 – Anne Arundel and Howard counties
  • District 6 – Baltimore County
  • District 7 – Cecil and Harford counties
  • District 8 – Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester counties
  • District 9 – Baltimore City

Conferences[]

Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference[]

Allegany Garrett
Allegany High School Northern Garrett High School
Mountain Ridge High School Southern Garrett High School
Fort Hill High School

Bayside Conference[]

Caroline Dorchester Kent Queen Anne's Somerset Talbot Wicomico Worcester
Colonel Richardson High School Cambridge-South Dorchester High School Kent County High School Kent Island High School Crisfield High School Easton High School James M. Bennett High School Pocomoke High School
North Caroline High School North Dorchester High School Queen Anne's County High School Washington High School St. Michaels High School Mardela High School Snow Hill High School
Parkside High School Stephen Decatur High School
Wicomico High School

Monocacy Valley Athletic League[]

Carroll Frederick Washington
Century High School Brunswick High School Boonsboro High School
Francis Scott Key High School Catoctin High School Clear Spring High School
Liberty High School Frederick High School Hancock High School
Manchester Valley High School Governor Thomas Johnson High School North Hagerstown High School
Linganore High School Smithsburg High School
South Carroll High School Middletown High School South Hagerstown High School
Westminster Senior High School Oakdale High School Williamsport High School
Winters Mill High School Tuscarora High School
Urbana High School
Walkersville High School

Southern Maryland Athletic Conference[]

Calvert Charles St. Mary's
Huntingtown High School Henry E. Lackey High School Chopticon High School
Northern High School La Plata High School Great Mills High School
Calvert High School Maurice J. McDonough High School Leonardtown High School
Patuxent High School North Point High School
Thomas Stone High School
Westlake High School
St. Charles High School

Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference[]

Cecil Harford
Bohemia Manor High School Aberdeen High School
Elkton High School Bel Air High School
North East High School C. Milton Wright High School
Perryville High School Edgewood High School
Rising Sun High School Fallston High School
Harford Technical High School
Havre De Grace High School
Joppatowne High School
North Harford High School
Patterson Mill High School

Independents[]

Anne Arundel County League[]

  • Annapolis High School
  • Arundel High School
  • Broadneck High School
  • Chesapeake High School, Pasadena
  • Glen Burnie High School
  • Meade Senior High School
  • North County High School
  • Northeast Senior High School
  • Old Mill High School
  • Severna Park High School
  • South River High School
  • Southern High School

Baltimore City League[]

File:City football 032.jpg

MPSSAA member schools and ancient rivals City and Poly clash at M&T Bank Stadium, in downtown Baltimore, November 2007.

  • The Baltimore City College ("City")
  • The Baltimore Polytechnic Institute ("Poly")
  • Carver Vocational Technical High School
  • Digital Harbor High School (formerly Southern High School (Baltimore)
  • Paul Laurence Dunbar Community High School
  • Edmondson-Westside High School
  • Frederick Douglass High School
  • Forest Park High School
  • Lake Clifton/Eastern High School
  • Mergenthaler Vocational - Technical High School ("Mervo")
  • Northwestern High School
  • Patterson High School
  • Reginald F. Lewis High School
  • Southwestern High School
  • Western High School

Baltimore County League[]

  • Catonsville High School
  • Chesapeake High School
  • Dulaney High School
  • Dundalk High School
  • Eastern Technical High School
  • Franklin High School
  • George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology
  • Hereford High School
  • Kenwood High School
  • Lansdowne High School
  • Loch Raven High School
  • Milford Mill Academy
  • New Town High School
  • Overlea High School
  • Owings Mills High School
  • Parkville High School
  • Patapsco High School
  • Perry Hall High School
  • Pikesville High School
  • Randallstown High School
  • Sparrows Point High School
  • Towson High School
  • Western School of Technology and Environmental Science
  • Woodlawn High School

Howard County League[]

File:1LadyKnights.jpg

River Hill's girls compete for a Class 2A girls' basketball state championship in 2009 at UMBC's Retriever Activities Center in Catonsville.

  • Atholton High School
  • Centennial High School
  • Glenelg High School
  • Hammond High School
  • Howard High School
  • Long Reach High School
  • Marriotts Ridge High School
  • Mount Hebron High School
  • Oakland Mills High School
  • Reservoir High School
  • River Hill High School
  • Wilde Lake High School

Montgomery County League[]

  • Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
  • Montgomery Blair High School
  • James Hubert Blake High School
  • Winston Churchill High School
  • Clarksburg High School
  • Damascus High School
  • Albert Einstein High School
  • Gaithersburg High School
  • Walter Johnson High School
  • John F. Kennedy High School
  • Colonel Zadok A. Magruder High School
  • Richard Montgomery High School
  • Northwest High School
  • Northwood High School
  • Paint Branch High School
  • Poolesville High School
  • Quince Orchard High School
  • Rockville High School
  • Seneca Valley High School
  • Sherwood High School
  • Springbrook High School
  • Watkins Mill High School
  • Wheaton High School
  • Walt Whitman High School
  • Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School

Prince George's (PG) County League[]

  • Bladensburg High School
  • Bowie High School
  • Central High School
  • Crossland High School
  • Frederick Douglass High School
  • DuVal High School
  • Fairmont Heights High School
  • Charles Herbert Flowers High School
  • Friendly High School
  • Gwynn Park High School
  • Henry Alexander Wise Jr., High School
  • High Point High School
  • Largo High School
  • Laurel High School
  • Northwestern High School
  • Oxon Hill High School
  • Parkdale High School
  • Potomac High School
  • Eleanor Roosevelt High School
  • Suitland High School
  • Surrattsville High School

Out-of-state teams[]

  • Musselman High School's Applemen, in Inwood, West Virginia, regularly plays teams in Washington County, even though Musselman is in Berkeley County.

Recent Champions (since 1993)[]

The following member schools have won state championships since the MPSSAA expanded in 1993:

Boys Basketball Champions[]

Since 1993, Baltimore City League members have won a combined 35 MPSSAA state boys basketball titles. During that time, Prince George's County ranks second among all MPSSAA leagues with 17 state championships. Baltimore County teams have won 10 titles, while Montgomery County League teams have won nine. Teams from the Eastern Shore have won eight state titles over the last 22 seasons, most in the 1A classification. MVAC members have earned three state title wins. Howard County and UCBAC teams boast two state championships each since 1993. The SMAC and Western Maryland-based Allegany have won the final two of the 88 state titles earners in the four classifications over the last 22 seasons. The Anne Arundel County League hasn't won a boys basketball state title since 1990 until 2015 when Meade High School defeated Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in the 4A State title game on March 14, 2015.[3]

Team State titles Years won (since 1993)
Dunbar 15 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Randallstown 5 1995, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007
Lake Clifton

Milford Mill

4 1995, 1999, 2009, 2012

1994, 2010, 2011, 2013

City College

Friendly

Springbrook

T. Johnson

New Town

3 2009, 2010, 2014

1998, 2003, 2004

2008, 2009, 2010

1997, 1999, 2004

2007, 2015, 2016

Northwestern

Potomac

2 1997, 1999

2005, 2014

Aberdeen

Allegany

Cambridge/SD

Central

DuVal

Forestville

Surrattsville

Edmondson-Westside

Patterson

Baltimore Poly

Perry Hall

1 2000

1996

1993

1996

1994

1995

1997

2017

2017

2017

2017

See also[]

  • Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association — a boys' sports conference for private high schools generally located in the Baltimore metropolitan area
  • Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland — an association of schools that organizes the female athletic programs in the Baltimore metropolitan area
  • Washington Catholic Athletic Conference - an association of Catholic Schools in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, which also includes schools in Maryland and Virginia

References[]

External links[]

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