The Central Lakes Conference is a former 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 central Wisconsin. Founded in 1951 and dissolved in 1962, the conference and its member schools 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
The Central Lakes Conference was formed in 1951 by five schools who seceded from the larger
7-C Conference in central Wisconsin:
Almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...
,
Green Lake,
Oxford-Endeavor,
Princeton
Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...
and
Wild Rose.
Eight-man football was first sponsored for the 1953 season with all five members participating. Princeton exited the conference in 1954 to join the
Dual County Conference,
bringing membership down to four schools. Endeavor and Oxford also ended their academic and athletic partnership that year, with Endeavor's school district area being reassigned to
Portage
Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...
.
Green Lake dropped out of the Central Lakes Conference’s football roster for the 1955 and competed as an independent before rejoining in 1956. That same year,
Necedah's entry into the conference from the
Juneau County League brought the roster back up to five members, though they did not sponsor football.
A sixth school was added in 1958 when
Port Edwards left the 7-C Conference for Central Lakes Conference membership.
They were the only member of the conference that competed in eleven-man football, which made them ineligible for the conference championship (though the league relented on this at the end of the season). Port Edward’s left as football members for the 1959 season to compete against other 11-man programs and were replaced by
Montello of the 7-C Conference after they switched to eight-man football. Green Lake joined the
Fox Valley Tri-County League in 1959,
leaving the Central Lakes Conference with five members. After the 1960-61 school year, Montello left for full membership in the Dual County Conference, and Port Edwards rejoined for football in 1961 after transitioning to eight-man football.
The Central Lakes Conference was dissolved in 1962, and the five remaining members of the conference joined with three former members of the 7-C Conference (
Adams-Friendship,
Tri-County and
Westfield) and
Madonna High School in
Mauston to form the new
Central-C Conference.
Conference membership history
Full members
Football-only members
Membership timeline
Full members
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bar:1 color:tan1 from:1951 till:1962 text:Almond (1951-1962)
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1951 till:1959 text:Green Lake (1951-1959)
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1951 till:1954 text:Oxford-Endeavor (1951-1954)
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1951 till:1954 text:Princeton (1951-1954)
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1951 till:1962 text:Wild Rose (1951-1962)
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1954 till:1962 text:Oxford (1954-1962)
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1956 till:1962 text:Necedah (1956-1962)
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1958 till:1962 text:Port Edwards (1958-1962)
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Football members
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Period = from:1953 till:1962
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width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:lavender from:1953 till:1962 text:Almond (1953-1961)
bar:2 color:lavender from:1953 till:1955 text:Green Lake (1953-1954)
bar:2 color:lavender from:1956 till:1959 text:(1956-1958)
bar:3 color:lavender from:1953 till:1954 text:Oxford-Endeavor (1953)
bar:4 color:lavender from:1953 till:1954 text:Princeton (1953)
bar:5 color:lavender from:1953 till:1962 text:Wild Rose (1953-1961)
bar:6 color:lavender from:1954 till:1962 text:Oxford (1954-1961)
bar:7 color:lavender from:1958 till:1959 text:Port Edwards (1958)
bar:7 color:lavender from:1961 till:1962 text:(1961)
bar:8 color:lavender from:1959 till:1961 text:Montello (1959-1960)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:1953
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball
Football
References
{{Wisconsin high school athletic conferences
Wisconsin high school sports conferences
Sports organizations established in 1952
1952 establishments in Wisconsin
1962 disestablishments in Wisconsin