The Capitol Conference is a high school

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

in south central

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 ...

. It was founded in 1969, and its member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA).

History

1969-1994

The Capitol Conference was formed in 1969 after the breakup of the larger

Madison Suburban Conference The Madison Suburban Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, founded in 1926 and ending competition in 1969. Its members were located in south central Wisconsin, predominantly around the Madison, Wisconsin, Madison ar ...

into three separate organizations. Six of its original members came from the conference's Western section ( Lodi,

McFarland McFarland may refer to: People *McFarland (surname) Places in the United States *McFarland, California, a city *McFarland, Kansas, a city *McFarland, Missouri, a ghost town *McFarland, Wisconsin, a village Other uses * USS ''McFarland'' (DD-237) ...

, Poynette,

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, Waunakee and Wisconsin Heights) and two came from the Central section ( DeForest and

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

). In 1977, Poynette left to rejoin the

Dual County Conference The Dual County Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, inaugurated in 1926 as the Columbia County Little Six Conference and ending competition in 2001. All conference members were affiliated with the Wisconsin Inters ...

(having previously been a member from 1926 to 1954) and Waterloo became a member of the

Eastern Suburban Conference The Eastern Suburban Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, originally formed in 1969 and disbanding in 2001. With the exception of the conference's two private schools, all members belonged to the Wisconsin Intersch ...

. Two schools moved over from the

Central Suburban Conference The Central Suburban Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference in the U.S. state of Indiana from 1971 to 1997. The conference can be considered a continuation of the Capital District Conference, as almost all of the schools involved in tha ...

(

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

and Lake Mills) to take their place and keep the conference at eight member schools.

Mount Horeb Mount Horeb (; Hebrew: ''Har Ḥōrēḇ''; Greek in the Septuagint: , ''Chōrēb''; Latin in the Vulgate: ') is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God, according to the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. I ...

joined the Capitol Conference after leaving the Southern Eight Conference in 1983, replacing Lake Mills, who briefly joined the Eastern Suburban Conference. In 1987, DeForest and Waunakee left to become the newest members of the

Badger Conference The Badger Conference is a high school athletic conference with its membership concentrated in south central Wisconsin. Established in 1952, the Badger Conference is a member of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. History 1 ...

with Lake Mills and Poynette rejoining the Capitol Conference as their replacements.

1994-2006

By 1994, the Verona Area School District was the fastest-growing district in the Madison area, and they were invited to enter the Badger Conference with an eye towards continued future growth. Lakeside Lutheran in Lake Mills took their place in 1995 after leaving the Eastern Suburban Conference, renewing their crosstown rivalry with Lake Mills. Cambridge, Marshall and Waterloo followed Lakeside Lutheran out of the Eastern Suburban in 2001, offsetting the loss of Lodi and Poynette to the South Central Conference and McFarland and Mount Horeb to the Badger Conference. For Waterloo, this was their second stint in the conference after having been a member from 1969 to 1977. The Capitol Conference would remain a seven-member league for the next five years before major changes would occur.

2006-present

In 2006, the Capitol Conference reached its high of twelve member schools when Lodi and Poynette rejoined from the South Central Conference, Belleville and New Glarus came over from the Six Rivers Conference and Luther Prep in Watertown was added after being displaced from 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 ...

when it ceased operations. With the addition of the new schools came realignment into the Capitol North and Capitol South divisions: This alignment stayed intact for sixteen years before Luther Prep exited the conference to rejoin the Midwest Classic Conference in 2023. In 2025, the Capitol Conference will undergo a significant revamping of its membership roster. All six schools in the Capitol South division, along with Poynette from the Capitol North and Brodhead from the

Rock Valley Conference The Rock Valley Conference is a high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, originally formed as the Central Suburban Conference in 1969. All member schools belong to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and are concentrated in t ...

, are set to form a new conference yet to be named for the 2025-26 school year. The Capitol Conference will become an eight-member loop with the addition of three schools from the Rock Valley (

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer) * Jefferson (singer) or Geoff Turton (born 1944), British s ...

and

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

) and one from the dissolved

East Central Conference The East Central Conference is a high school athletic conference in Wisconsin. Originally founded in 1970, it was disbanded in 2001 and remained defunct until its reconstitution in 2015. It will be dissolved again after 2024-25 school year, and al ...

(

Waupun Waupun is a city in Dodge and Fond du Lac counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 11,344 at the 2020 census. Of this, 7,795 were in Dodge County, and 3,549 were in Fond du Lac County. In Fond du Lac County, the Town of Waup ...

Football-only alignment

In February 2019, in conjunction with the

Wisconsin Football Coaches Association The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association is an association of American football coaches on all levels within the state of Wisconsin. An annual clinic of members is held in Madison, Wisconsin to promote the sport, primarily at the high school lev ...

, the WIAA released a sweeping football-only realignment for Wisconsin to commence with the 2020 football season and run on a two-year cycle. Eight schools were designated as football members for the Capitol Conference: Big Foot, Columbus, Horicon/ Hustisford, Lake Mills, Lakeside Lutheran, Lodi, Luther Prep and

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

. The Capitol Conference also operates a small-school division consisting of Cambridge,

, Dodgeland, Markesan, Marshall, Palmyra-Eagle, Pardeeville and Waterloo. This conference competes under the Eastern Suburban Conference banner, which was the name of an all-sport conference that last played in 2001. Several schools entering the Capitol Conference for football had primary affiliations with the Rock Valley and

Trailways The Trailways Transportation System is a public transport bus service in the United States. It operates a network of approximately 70 independent bus companies. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. History The predecessor to Tra ...

Conferences. In 2022, Horicon/Hustisford moved over to the Eastern Suburban Conference and Luther Prep left to join the Midwest Classic Conference. The six remaining schools in the Capitol Conference welcomed Edgewood from the Rock Valley Cofnerence and New Glarus/

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

from the

Southwest Wisconsin Conference The Southwest Wisconsin Conference is a high school athletic conference in Wisconsin's Driftless Area. Comprising the six largest high schools in the southwest corner of the state, the conference was founded in 2005 and is affiliated with the Wis ...

to bring the roster to eight schools. Three schools left the Capitol Conference football alignment in 2024: Edgewood and Lakeside Lutheran left the Capitol Conference as football members in 2024 to join the Badger Conference, and New Glarus returned to the Southwest Wisconsin Conference after a two-year absence. The two outgoing schools were replaced by Clinton and Horicon/Hustisford, with the latter making their return from the Eastern Suburban Conference. Horicon/Hustisford will be returning to the Eastern Suburban Conference for the 2026-2027 realignment cycle, and their position will be taken by

East Troy East Troy is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,673 at the 2020 census. The village is located southwest of the Town of East Troy. A small portion extends into the adjacent Town of Troy. As of 2020, th ...

, moving over from the Rock Valley Conference.

List of conference members

Current members

Current football-only members

Former members

Former football-only members

Future members

Future football-only members

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1969 till:2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:100 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:1969 till:1987 text:DeForest (1969-1987) bar:2 color:tan1 from:1969 till:2001 text:Lodi (1969-2001) bar:2 color:blue from:2006 till:2030 text:(2006-present) bar:2 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text: bar:3 color:tan1 from:1969 till:2001 text:McFarland (1969-2001) bar:4 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1977 text:Poynette (1969-1977) bar:4 color:tan1 from:1987 till:2001 text:(1987-2001) bar:4 color:blue from:2006 till:2025 text:(2006-2025) bar:5 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1994 text:Verona (1969-1994) bar:6 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1977 text:Waterloo (1969-1977) bar:6 color:tan1 from:2001 till:2006 text:(2001-2025) bar:6 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2025 text: bar:7 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1987 text:Waunakee (1969-1987) bar:8 color:tan1 from:1969 till:2006 text:Wisconsin Heights (1969-2025) bar:8 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2025 text: bar:9 color:tan1 from:1977 till:2006 text:Columbus (1977-present) bar:9 color:blue from:2006 till:2025 text: bar:9 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text: bar:10 color:tan1 from:1977 till:1983 text:Lake Mills (1977-1983, 1987-present) bar:10 color:tan1 from:1987 till:2006 text: bar:10 color:blue from:2006 till:2025 text: bar:10 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text: bar:11 color:tan1 from:1983 till:2001 text:Mount Horeb (1983-2001) bar:12 color:tan1 from:1995 till:2006 text:Lakeside Lutheran (1995-present) bar:12 color:blue from:2006 till:2025 text: bar:12 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text: bar:13 color:tan1 from:2001 till:2006 text:Cambridge (2001-2025) bar:13 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2025 text: bar:14 color:tan1 from:2001 till:2006 text:Marshall (2001-2025) bar:14 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2025 text: bar:15 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2025 text:Belleville (2006-2025) bar:16 color:blue from:2006 till:2023 text:Luther Prep (2006-2023) bar:17 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2025 text:New Glarus (2006-2025) bar:18 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text:Clinton (2025-future) bar:19 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text:Jefferson (2025-future) bar:20 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text:Waupun (2025-future) bar:21 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text:Whitewater (2025-future) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1969

Football membership (since 2020)

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:2020 till:2030 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:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Big Foot (2020-present) bar:2 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Columbus (2020-present) bar:3 color:lavender from:2020 till:2022 text:Horicon/Hustisford (2020-2021) bar:3 color:lavender from:2024 till:2026 text:(2024-2025) bar:4 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Lake Mills (2020-present) bar:5 color:lavender from:2020 till:2024 text:Lakeside Lutheran (2020-2023) bar:6 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Lodi (2020-present) bar:7 color:lavender from:2020 till:2022 text:Luther Prep (2020-2021) bar:8 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Turner (2020-present) bar:9 color:lavender from:2022 till:2024 text:Edgewood (2022-2023) bar:10 color:lavender from:2022 till:2024 text:New Glarus/Monticello (2022-2023) bar:11 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:Clinton (2024-present) bar:12 color:lavender from:2026 till:2030 text:East Troy (2026-future) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2020

Membership map

List of state champions

Fall sports

Winter sports

Spring sports

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

Girls Basketball

Football

References

External links

Capitol North Conference (official website)

Capitol South Conference (official website)
{{Wisconsin high school athletic conferences Wisconsin high school sports conferences Sports organizations established in 1969 1969 establishments in Wisconsin