Metro League (Seattle)

High school athletics in Seattle dates back to the end of the 19th century. The Seattle Times published a news article in 1897 documenting the formation of a football team for Seattle High School, later renamed Broadway High School^[1]

The Metro League was founded as the athletic conference for Seattle Public Schools in 1912 and called the City League. The five founding schools were Ballard, Broadway, Franklin, Lincoln, and West Seattle. As the city grew more public high schools opened and joined the City League. These early additions include Garfield in 1920, Roosevelt in 1922, and Cleveland in 1927. No new members would join the league for the next 30-years. In 1946 Broadway high school would leave the league after Seattle Public Schools closed the school. The next addition to the league came in 1957 when Chief Sealth opened. Two years later Ingraham would open in 1959.

Metro League schools were prohibited from competing in the early state meet competitions by Seattle Public Schools administrators. The first WIAA state meet in boys basketball was in 1923 but it wasn't until 1945 that the Metro League allowed its schools to compete. Lincoln defeated Bellingham High School 50-38 to win the state championship that year.^[2] The first state meet in boys track and field took place in 1924 but it wasn't until 1959 that Metro League schools were allowed to compete.

In 1960 the league changed names and became known as the Metro League.^[3] The same year Edmonds High School and Shoreline High School both joined the league. This was the first-time schools not in the Seattle Public School district joined the league. Other schools from outside Seattle to join during this time were Mountlake Terrace High School and Shorecrest High School which joined in 1961 and 1963 respectively. New Seattle Public Schools to join during this time were Rainier Beach in 1960 and Nathan Hale in 1963. Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace, both of the Edmonds School District, left the Metro League in 1965 to join the Wesco League.^[4]

The mid 1970s to the early 1980s saw a lot of change to the Metro League. The most impactful change was the addition of private schools to the league. Private schools in Seattle had fielded athletic teams for decades but were previously in different athletic leagues than the public schools. This changed in the 1970's as Bishop Blanchet, Holy Names, Lakeside, O'Dea, and Seattle Prep all joined the Metro League. During this time Shorewood High School of the Shoreline School District would open in 1975 and also join the league. Four years later in 1979 all three Shoreline high schools, (Shorecrest, Shoreline, and Shorewood), would leave the league and join the Wesco League. Two years later in 1981 both Lincoln and Queen Anne high schools would leave the league after Seattle Public Schools closed both schools due to declining enrollment.

Further additions to the Metro League include the private school Eastside Catholic in 1989 and Bainbridge Island in 2001. Bainbridge Island would later leave the league in 2020. Lincoln would rejoin the Metro League in 2019 after Seattle Public Schools reopened the school.^[5] In the 2024-2025 school year, Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences (SAAS) joined the Metro League becoming the first new school to join the league since 2001.^[6]

The mid 1990's saw classification changes affect the Metro League. At the end of the 1994-95 school year, Franklin, Garfield, and Roosevelt left Class AA to form a three-team Class AAA Metro League. The football teams for all three schools played in the Olympic League of Kitsap and Clallam counties.^[7] Starting in the 1997-98 school year, Franklin, Garfield, and Roosevelt all left the Metro League to join the KingCo 4A Conference.^[8] In the 2002-03 school year Ballard would also leave the Metro League and join the KingCo 4A Conference.^[9] In the 2008-09 school year Franklin would move back to the Metro League after dropping from 4A to 3A.^[10] Ballard, Franklin, and Garfield would all return to the Metro League in the 2014-15 school year when all three schools dropped down from the 4A to 3A classification.^[11]

The Metro League football champion was awarded the Leon Brigham Trophy, originally donated by Royal Brougham.^[12]

Membership as of the 2024–25 school year

* Lincoln High School closed in 1981 due to declining enrollment but reopened in the fall of 2019.^[16][17]

† All girls school ‡ All boys school

• 
  Blanchet High School
• 
  Cleveland High School
• 
  Franklin High School
• 
  Garfield High School
• 
  Holy Names Academy

• 
  Lincoln High School
• 
  Nathan Hale High School
• 
  O'Dea High School
• 
  Roosevelt High School
• 
  West Seattle High School

 Public School   Private School 

The following are WIAA sanctioned sports that the Metro League offers.

In addition to the WIAA sanctioned sports many Metro League schools have multiple club sports such as crew, lacrosse, and ultimate frisbee.

The Metro League has produced many state championship teams throughout its history. Boys basketball has been the most successful with the metro league winning over 50 state titles since the league was allowed to participate in the state tournament in 1945.

The following list of state championship teams includes all current members. Titles won by former members are included as well but only for the years when the school was a member of the Metro League. Schools that are italicized are current members but were not when the state title was won.