Chicago Public League

The Chicago Public High School Athletic Association, commonly known as the Chicago Public League (CPL), is the interscholastic competition arm of the Chicago Public Schools. The governance of the CPL is set through the Department of Sports Administration and Facilities of CPS.

Origins of the Chicago Public League can be traced back to its predecessor, the Cook County High School League, which started during 1889-90. Some of the schools that participated in the Cook County League still exist today: Crane (as English High and Manual Training), Englewood, Lincoln Park (as North Division), Hyde Park, Phillips (as South Division), Calumet, Marshall, Austin, Lake (now Tilden), and Lake View. Three other schools from this League have since gone to other leagues around the area: University High, which plays in the Independent League, Lyons Township High of LaGrange and Oak Park High, both of which now play in the West Suburban Conference.

The Chicago Public High School League was formed in the summer of 1913, when the Cook County High School League broke apart as a result of the Chicago Board of Education desire to be responsible for a league in which all the schools would be under its jurisdiction. The suburban schools joined by University High formed the Suburban League (Chicago area).

In the first 15 years of the Public league's history a full plethora of sports were offered. The dominant powers were such traditional powers as Hyde Park, Lane Tech, Crane Tech, Englewood, joined by new powers Senn, Lindblom, Schurz, and Tilden Tech. The mid-1920s saw the adoption of such exotic sports as gymnastics, rifle marksmanship, fencing, indoor golf, and speed skating, but none of these sports ever attracted more than a small percentage of the schools.

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