Football Toronto / Major events
The games the
city shows up for
Three events anchor the Toronto football calendar: a championship month in November, a season opener in September built on one coach's legacy, and a livestreamed game every week in between.
Metro Bowl
The championship that closes the Toronto season, and the oldest event on this page by four decades.
Metro Bowl is the title Toronto high school football plays toward. The 40th edition was contested in November 2025, and the game now anchors Metro Bowl Month, a run of championship fixtures that closes the season across divisions and school boards.
- WhenNovember, through the closing stretch of the season.
- What it decidesChampionships across divisions, bringing together programs from every board that makes up Toronto football.
- Full detailsSchedule, history, results, and tickets are maintained at MetroBowl.ca.
Tom Gretes
Kick-off Classic
An annual season opener at York University between two high school programs led by York Lions alumni, honouring the coach who spent more than forty years building football in the Greater Toronto Area.
Tom Gretes served as Head Coach of the York Lions and spent more than four decades building the game across the Greater Toronto Area. The players he coached went on to coach, and many of them now run high school programs of their own. The Kick-off Classic is built on exactly that: each year, the game brings together two high school programs whose sidelines are led by coaches who came through the Lions.
The Ravens never stopped competing and took the second half 14 to 10.
The Timberwolves crossed the country from Abbotsford and left York University as the first winners of the Tom Gretes Kick-off Classic. Credit belongs to both sidelines: two programs, a province apart, connected by the same coaching lineage.
- The premiseEvery edition matches programs whose coaching staffs came through York Lions football. The connection is the point, not a coincidence.
- The venueYork University, where Coach Gretes led the Lions.
- The timingFriday night, opening the Toronto football calendar.
The first Friday in his honour is in the books. Many more to come.
Area 51
Game of the Week
One Toronto high school game, every week of the season, selected, livestreamed, and archived.
Every week of the season, Football Toronto picks one game that deserves an audience. Area 51 Game of the Week puts cameras on it, streams it live, and leaves behind photos and footage the programs keep.
For most high school athletes in this city, this is the only time their season gets broadcast. For grandparents, for relatives in another province, for families working a Friday shift, it is the only way to watch. That is the reason the program exists.
- The pick rotatesSelection moves across divisions and boards through the season, including TDSSAA girls flag football, so coverage is not concentrated in one league or one tier.
- Live, then on the recordEach game streams live, and the photo gallery is published to the Football Toronto archives within days.
- Built to lastFootage and galleries stay available, so a season is not gone the moment it ends.
Partners and programs
Get your program on the schedule
Coaches can put a matchup forward for Game of the Week consideration, and partners can talk to us about supporting any of these events. Both start the same way.