It encompasses public high schools in Fresno County and Madera, California The current NYL was formed before the start of the 1996-97 school year when the Central Section broke up the Northeast Yosemite League and Northwest Yosemite League..
The old NYL was a conference formed in 1951, and was considered the premier athletic league in the Central Section up until 1994, when it devolved into the NEYL and NWYL.
Original members of the NYL include: Fresno, Roosevelt, Merced, Visalia, Madera, Hanford and Edison.
Buchanan, Clovis, Hoover, McLane, Roosevelt, and Sanger made up the NEYL.
While Bullard, Central, Clovis West, Edison, Fresno, and Madera made up the NWYL.