The Braveland Conference is a former high school athletic conference in
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
, formed in 1953 and ending competition in 1993. Its membership was concentrated in the
Milwaukee metropolitan area
The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeastern Wisconsin, consisting of the city of Milwaukee and some of the surrounding area. There are several defini ...
and members were affiliated with the
Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) is the regulatory body for all high school sports in Wisconsin. Its history dates to 1895, making it the earliest continually existing high school athletic organization in the country. ...
.
History
1953–1955
The Braveland Conference was formed in 1953 by four high schools in the outer suburbs of
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
:
Cedarburg,
Menomonee Falls
Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 38,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most-populous village in Wisconsin. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. ...
,
Port Washington and
Watertown. Cedarburg and Menomonee Falls had previously been members of the
4-C Conference
The Four County Conference, more commonly known as the 4-C Conference, is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin. Formed in 1934 and disbanded in 1953, its membership was concentrated in southeastern Wisconsin, northwest of the Mil ...
, and Port Washington and Watertown competed independent of conference affiliation. It was formed after several failed attempts by the four original members to join the
Little Ten Conference
The Little Ten Conference is the oldest continuous high school athletic conference in the state of Illinois. Founded in 1919, it comprised the following small high schools in northern Illinois: Earlville, Hinckley, Leland, Paw Paw, Plano, ...
, dating back to the late 1940s. The Braveland Conference was named after the
National League's Milwaukee Braves
The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...
, who had just relocated from
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
a few months earlier.
1955–1963
Due to the rapid growth around the
Milwaukee area occurring after World War II, new school districts began to pop up in and around
Milwaukee County
Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...
. In 1955,
Salem Central joined the conference, followed by
Brookfield and
Nicolet in 1956. Salem Central left in 1958 to join the
Southeastern Wisconsin Conference
The Southeastern Wisconsin Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, operating from 1928 to 1963. All but one of its member schools belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1929-1953 ...
and cut down on the long travel distances from
Kenosha County
Kenosha County () is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,151, and was estimated to be 168,754 in 2024, making it the eighth-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its co ...
they had been experiencing as Braveland members. They were replaced by the new high schools in
Granville and
Muskego
Muskego () is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,032. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area.
The name Muskego is derived from the Potawatomi Indian name for the ar ...
that same year.
Oak Creek joined the conference in 1959, just as Watertown left to rejoin the Little Ten Conference. In 1961, the conference added six schools:
Brookfield East,
Greendale (formerly of the
Suburban Conference),
Greenfield
Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to:
Places Canada
* Greenfield, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighbourhood
* Greenfield, Colchester County, Nova Scotia
* Greenfield, Hants County, Nova Scotia
* Greenfield, Kings County, Nova Scotia
* Greenfield, Q ...
,
Homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...
,
New Berlin and
Whitnall. Brookfield East and New Berlin joined as junior varsity members before attaining full membership in 1962. To accommodate this growth, the conference split into two divisions.
In 1962, Brookfield East and New Berlin joined as full members, and they were placed in the Southern Braveland. The newly renamed Brookfield Central shifted to the Northern Braveland to accommodate the expansion.
Hamilton High School Hamilton High School may refer to:
United States Alabama
* Hamilton High School (Alabama) in Hamilton
Arizona
* Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona) in Chandler
Arkansas
* Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy
California
* Hamilton High Sc ...
in
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
joined that same year as a junior varsity member.
1963–1980
The influx of new high schools in the Milwaukee area led both the Braveland and Suburban Conferences to begin discussing realignment options in the early 1960s. With three more high schools set to join as full members in 1963 (
Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People and characters
* Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name
* Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name
* Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...
,
St. Francis and Sussex Hamilton), conference leadership decided that a seventeen-member conference was too unwieldy to continue. The eight members in the southern suburbs left to form what later became the
Parkland Conference
The Parkland Conference is a former high school athletic conference with its membership concentrated in southeastern Wisconsin. It was in existence from 1963 to 2006 and all member schools were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athleti ...
: Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Muskego, New Berlin, Oak Creek, St. Francis and Whitnall. Their departure solidified the Braveland as a conference for the Milwaukee area's northern second-ring suburban schools. In 1966, Granville High School changed its name to Brown Deer High School, due in part to annexation of the formerly unincorporated town of
Granville into the city of Milwaukee a few years earlier. Conference membership increased to ten in 1969 with the split of Menomonee Falls High School into Menomonee Falls East and Menomonee Falls North.
1980–1985
After years of discussion on high school conference realignment in southeastern Wisconsin, the WIAA presented a sweeping realignment plan for the 1980-81 school year. Two conferences were dissolved (the
Scenic Moraine and
South Shore) and four of the thirteen displaced schools joined the Braveland, bringing membership to fourteen.
Arrowhead
An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling.
...
,
Germantown and
Grafton joined from the Scenic Moraine and
Kenosha Bradford from the South Shore. The Braveland Conference competed as a single division for most sports with the exception of football, which subdivided into two groups that were originally referred to Division A and Division B:
For the 1982 football season, Kenosha Bradford and Germantown swapped divisions, and Divisions A and B were renamed the West and East Divisions, respectively. In 1983, Kenosha Bradford left the Braveland Conference to join the
Milwaukee Area Conference, and the next year, the two Menomonee Falls high schools merged to form a new
Menomonee Falls High School
Menomonee Falls High School is a four-year public high school located in the village of Menomonee Falls in Waukesha County, Wisconsin in the United States. It is a part of the Menomonee Falls School District.
The district (and therefore the h ...
on East's campus. The new school inherited their predecessors' membership in the Braveland Conference.
1985–1993
In 1985, another round of conference realignment had occurred in southeastern Wisconsin, and seven schools left the Braveland Conference. Brown Deer joined the
Parkland Conference
The Parkland Conference is a former high school athletic conference with its membership concentrated in southeastern Wisconsin. It was in existence from 1963 to 2006 and all member schools were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athleti ...
, and six schools (Cedarburg, Germantown, Grafton, Homestead, Nicolet and Port Washington) left to form the
North Shore Conference
The North Shore Conference is a high school athletic conference in Wisconsin. It was founded in 1985, and membership is concentrated in the northern suburbs of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. All member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsi ...
(along with former Suburban Conference members
Shorewood,
Wauwatosa East,
Wauwatosa West and
Whitefish Bay
Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield ...
). Replacing the seven schools exiting the conference were
Mukwonago
Mukwonago is a village in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 8,262 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The village is located mostly within the Mukwonago (town), Wisconsin, Town of Mukwonago in Waukesha County, Wisconsin ...
from the Parkland Conference and
Waukesha North and
Waukesha South from the Suburban Conference. For the final eight years of the conference's existence, all of its member schools were located in
Waukesha County
Waukesha County () is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 406,978, making it the third-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its median income of $88,985 placed ...
.
Epilogue
The Braveland Conference was realigned out of existence by the WIAA after the 1992-93 school year. Its four largest members (Arrowhead, Mukwonago, Waukesha North and Waukesha South) joined the new fifteen-member
Southeast Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members include the flagship public universities of 12 states, 3 ...
. The four smaller schools were dispersed to three different conferences: Brookfield Central and Brookfield East went to the new
Woodland Conference
The Woodland Conference is a high school athletic conference with its geographic footprint in southeastern Wisconsin. Founded in 1993, the Woodland Conference and its members are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association ...
, and Menomonee Falls and Sussex Hamilton went to the
North Shore and
Parkland Conferences, respectively.
Waukesha West High School
Waukesha West High School is one of three public high schools located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The high school was established in 1993.
History
Email threat and subsequent evacuation
On December 3, 2021, almost two weeks after the Waukesha Ch ...
was slated to become a member of the Braveland when they opened in 1993,
but the conference had been disbanded by that time and they joined the Southeast Conference.
Conference membership history
Notes
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1953 till:1993
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1953 till:1961 text:Cedarburg (1953-1985)
bar:1 color:blue from:1961 till:1963 text:
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1985 text:
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1953 till:1961 text:Menomonee Falls (1953-1969)
bar:2 color:blue from:1961 till:1963 text:
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1969 text:
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1984 text:Menomonee Falls North (1969-1984)
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1953 till:1961 text:Port Washington (1953-1985)
bar:3 color:blue from:1961 till:1963 text:
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1985 text:
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1953 till:1959 text:Watertown (1953-1959)
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1955 till:1958 text:Salem Central (1955-1958)
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1956 till:1993 text:Brookfield (1956-1961), Brookfield Central (1961-1993)
bar:6 color:skyblue from:1961 till:1962 text:
bar:6 color:blue from:1962 till:1963 text:
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1993 text:
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1956 till:1961 text:Nicolet (1956-1985)
bar:7 color:blue from:1961 till:1963 text:
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1985 text:
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1958 till:1961 text:Granville (1958-1966)
bar:8 color:blue from:1961 till:1963 text:
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1966 text:
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1966 till:1985 text:Brown Deer (1966-1985)
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1958 till:1961 text:Muskego (1958-1963)
bar:9 color:skyblue from:1961 till:1963 text:
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1959 till:1961 text:Oak Creek (1959-1963)
bar:10 color:skyblue from:1961 till:1963 text:
bar:11 color:tan2 from:1961 till:1962 text:Brookfield East (1961-1993)
bar:11 color:skyblue from:1962 till:1963 text:
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1993 text:
bar:12 color:skyblue from:1961 till:1963 text:Greendale (1961-1963)
bar:13 color:skyblue from:1961 till:1963 text:Greenfield (1961-1963)
bar:14 color:blue from:1961 till:1963 text:Homestead (1961-1985)
bar:14 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1985 text:
bar:15 color:tan2 from:1961 till:1962 text:New Berlin (1961-1963)
bar:15 color:skyblue from:1962 till:1963 text:
bar:16 color:skyblue from:1961 till:1963 text:Whitnall (1961-1963)
bar:17 color:tan2 from:1962 till:1963 text:Sussex Hamilton (1962-1993)
bar:17 color:tan1 from:1963 till:1993 text:
bar:18 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1984 text:Menomonee Falls East (1969-1984)
bar:19 color:tan1 from:1980 till:1993 text:Arrowhead (1980-1993)
bar:20 color:tan1 from:1980 till:1985 text:Germantown (1980-1985)
bar:21 color:tan1 from:1980 till:1985 text:Grafton (1980-1985)
bar:22 color:tan1 from:1980 till:1983 text:Kenosha Bradford (1980-1983)
bar:23 color:tan1 from:1984 till:1993 text:Menomonee Falls (1984-1993)
bar:24 color:tan1 from:1985 till:1993 text:Mukwonago (1985-1993)
bar:25 color:tan1 from:1985 till:1993 text:Waukesha North (1985-1993)
bar:26 color:tan1 from:1985 till:1993 text:Waukesha South (1985-1993)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1953
List of state champions
Fall sports
Winter sports
Spring sports
Summer sports
Notes
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Football
References
{{Wisconsin high school athletic conferences
Wisconsin high school sports conferences
Sports organizations established in 1953
1953 establishments in Wisconsin
1993 disestablishments in Wisconsin