Kensington Lakes Activities Association

The Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA) is an athletic conference for high schools in Michigan. It was formed in the 2008-2009 school year as a result of the merger of the Kensington Valley Conference and the Western Lakes Activities Association, plus two other schools joining from the Oakland Activities Association and the newly built South Lyon East.[1] The league started in 2008 with 23 teams. Howell Parker was to join the KLAA when the conference was first created, but closed after only one year of operation and later re-opened as a middle school. Grand Blanc joined in 2009 to give the league 24 teams.[2] The conference currently sits at 16 teams, split into two divisions with eight schools each.

Member schools

Current members

Team Location Enrollment Joined Previous Conference
West Division
Brighton Bulldogs Brighton 2,079 2008 Kensington Valley Conference
Canton Cobras Canton Township 1,977 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association
Hartland Eagles Hartland Township 1,935 2008 Kensington Valley Conference
Howell Highlanders Howell 2,200 2008 Kensington Valley Conference
Northville Mustangs Northville Township 2,500 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association
Novi Wildcats Novi 2,070 2008 Kensington Valley Conference
Plymouth Wildcats Canton Township 2,050 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association
Salem Rocks Canton Township 2,019 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association
East Division
Belleville Tigers Belleville 1,701 2018 Western Wayne Athletic Conference
Dearborn Pioneers Dearborn 2,115 2018 Western Wayne Athletic Conference
Dearborn Fordson Tractors Dearborn 2,756 2018 Western Wayne Athletic Conference
Livonia Churchill Chargers Livonia 1,396 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association
Livonia Franklin Patriots Livonia 1,456 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association
Livonia Stevenson Spartans Livonia 1,790 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association
Wayne Memorial Zebras Wayne 1,621 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association
Westland Glenn Rockets Westland 1,665 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association

Former members

Team Location Joined Previous Conference Departed Successive Conference
Grand Blanc Bobcats Grand Blanc 2009 Big Nine Conference 2018 Saginaw Valley League
Lakeland Eagles White Lake Township 2008 Kensington Valley Conference 2017 Lakes Valley Conference
Milford Mavericks Highland Township 2008 Kensington Valley Conference 2017 Lakes Valley Conference
Pinckney Pirates Putnam Township 2008 Kensington Valley Conference 2017 Southeastern Conference
South Lyon Lions South Lyon 2008 Kensington Valley Conference 2017 Lakes Valley Conference
South Lyon East Cougars Lyon Township 2008 None (school opened) 2017 Lakes Valley Conference
Walled Lake Central Vikings Commerce Township 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association 2017 Lakes Valley Conference
Walled Lake Northern Knights Commerce Township 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association 2017 Lakes Valley Conference
Walled Lake Western Warriors Commerce Township 2008 Western Lakes Activities Association 2017 Lakes Valley Conference
Waterford Kettering Captains Waterford Township 2008 Oakland Activities Association 2017 Lakes Valley Conference
Waterford Mott Corsairs Waterford Township 2008 Oakland Activities Association 2017 Lakes Valley Conference

Membership timeline

On March 13, 2017, Milford, South Lyon, South Lyon East, Walled Lake Central, Walled Lake Northern, Walled Lake Western, Waterford Kettering, Waterford Mott, and White Lake Lakeland announced plans to leave the KLAA to form a new conference entitled the Lakes Valley Conference, effective starting the 2017-2018 school year.[3] Pinckney also left the KLAA in 2017 to join the Southeastern Conference. These departures prompted the KLAA to switch from a four division system of North, South, West, and Central divisions to a two division system of Black and Gold divisions, and later, East and West divisions.

The next day, on March 14, 2017, Grand Blanc was voted out of the KLAA effective for the 2018-2019 school year (due to how isolated it is from the other schools in the division) where it proceeded to join the Saginaw Valley League.[4] In its place, Belleville, Dearborn, and Dearborn Fordson joined the KLAA in 2018.

In March 2025, it was announced that the three Livonia schools, Churchill, Franklin and Stevenson, would leave the KLAA for the Lakes Valley Conference (along with the two high schools in Farmington from the Oakland Activities Association) starting in the 2026-27 academic year.[5] The conference later announced the addition of Dearborn Crestwood as a replacement member[6] following the rejection of a merger proposal with the aforementioned Southeastern Conference.

The following March, the Novi and Northville school districts announced simultaneously that they would be leaving the KLAA to join the Oakland Activities Association, starting in the 2027-28 academic year.[7] This differed from the remaining 11 KLAA schools, who will all be moving to the Southeastern Conference.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "New KLAA adds intrigue to football season". mlive.com. August 22, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  2. ^ Khan, Bill (October 17, 2008). "Grand Blanc to leave Big Nine Conference for Kensington Lakes league next fall". The Flint Journal. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  3. ^ Emons, Brad. "It's official: Lakes Valley Conference launched". Hometown Life. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Khan, Bill. "Grand Blanc voted out of KLAA". Livingston Daily. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  5. ^ Mowery, Matthew (March 15, 2025). "Lakes Valley Conference expands to 12, adding Livonia and Farmington schools". TheOaklandpress.com. The fall 2026 addition of the two Farmington high schools, along with all three in Livonia will give the LVC a dozen members, as well as a suddenly-sprawling two-county footprint. The additions were officially announced Friday. Livonia Stevenson, Livonia Franklin and Livonia Churchill are currently members of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, but were all members of the old WLAA, as well.
  6. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
  7. ^ Novi. “Northville - Novi OAA.pdf.” Google Docs, 2026, drive.google.com/file/d/1sG9HxtSuPGd6sqSYwED4Igi3WOzp4ux5/view. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026. ‌
  8. ^ Wickliffe, Greg (February 28, 2026). "SEC adding 12 KLAA schools for 2027-28 school year". MLive. Retrieved March 2, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Wickliffe, Greg (March 2, 2026). "Expansion over merger: How the SEC reshaped its future with 12-school addition". MLive. Retrieved March 2, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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