Sagamore Conference (IHSAA)

Sagamore Conference is an eight-member IHSAA sanctioned athletic conference comprising 2A and 3A and sized schools in Clinton, Boone, Hendricks, and Montgomery Counties in Central Indiana.

The Sagamore Conference was founded in 1966 in Lebanon, Indiana, with a meeting between school officials from Brownsburg, Carmel, Crawfordsville, Frankfort, Lebanon, and Noblesville. The founders selected the name "Sagamore" after the Abnaki Indian tribe's name for "chief". The conference remained stable until Carmel withdrew in 1973 to establish themselves with other schools in then-class AAA and Noblesville followed suit in 1979. This did not stop the Sagamore, however, as North Montgomery was added in 1975, Western Boone in 1981, and Southmont in 1984. Brownsburg departed in 1985.

In 1995, the Sagamore executive council considered expansion. Several schools were mentioned but only two submitted written applications for membership. Starting in 1998, the Sagamore was engaged in discussions with Danville to become the seventh member of the conference and Tri-West was contacted joined the Sagamore to bring the league to eight members. Formally announced in the winter of 1998–1999, the Sagamore conference expanded to eight members. Since then, the conference membership remained stable despite conference realignment around the west central Indiana region the witnessed the formation and disbandment of many different conferences.

In 2023, serious discussions took place among the Sagamore schools outside of the Indianapolis metropolitan loop about forming a new athletic conference. Montgomery County schools had been in contact with Putnam County schools Cloverdale, Greencastle, North Putnam, and South Putnam about the formation of a new league. On May 10, 2023, citing enrollment and competitive balance, five Sagamore schools in Crawfordsville, Frankfort, North Montgomery, Southmont, and Western Boone notified the Sagamore Conference of their intent to separate from the Sagamore and form a new conference with a sixth member school to start as early as the 2024-2025 academic year but no later than the 2026-2027 academic year. Danville, Lebanon, and Tri-West will retain the Sagamore Conference name and history and will leave the conference with three member schools.

In early 2024, it was announced that both Harrison and McCutcheon would join the three remaining Sagamore schools, bringing conference membership to 5. This represents a dramatic shift in conference demographics, as both of the new schools are larger than the three remainders. It also represents a change in conference geography, as both Harrison and McCutcheon are located in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Membership

Future members

Former members

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:750 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1967 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5

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width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:red from:1967 till:1985 text: Brownsburg (1967–1985)
bar:2 color:red from:1967 till:1974 text:Carmel (1967–1974)
bar:3 color:red from:1967 till:2024 text: Crawfordsville (1967–2024)
bar:4 color:red from:1967 till:2024 text: Frankfort (1967–2024)
bar:5 color:red from:1967 till:end text:Lebanon (1967–present)
bar:6 color:red from:1967 till:1980 text: Noblesville (1967–1980)
bar:7 color:red from:1975 till:2024 text: North Montgomery (1975–2024)
bar:8 color:red from:1982 till:2024 text: Western Boone (1982–2024)
bar:9 color:red from:1985 till:2024 text: Southmont (1985–2024)
bar:10 color:red from:1999 till:end text: Danville (1999–present)
bar:11 color:red from:1999 till:2026 text: Tri-West Hendricks (1999–2026)
bar:12 color:red from:2025 till:end text:Harrison (2025-present)
bar:13 color:red from:2025 till:end text: McCutcheon (2025-present)
bar:14 color:red from:2026 till:end text: Terre Haute North (2026-present)
bar:15 color:red from:2026 till:end text: Terre Haute South (2026-Present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1970

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text:"Sagamore Conference Membership History"

Conference championships

Football

Boys basketball

Girls basketball

State championships

Crawfordsville (7)

*1911 Boys Basketball
*1919 Boys Track
*1954 Boys Golf
*1956 Boys Golf
*1975 Girls Tennis
*2008 Baseball (3A)
*2011 Baseball (3A)

Frankfort (4)

*1925 Boys Basketball
*1929 Boys Basketball
*1936 Boys Basketball
*1939 Boys Basketball

Lebanon (4)

*1912 Boys Basketball
*1917 Boys Basketball
*1918 Boys Basketball
*2016 Softball (3A)

North Montgomery (2)

*1995 Football (2A)
*1996 Football (2A)

Tri-West Hendricks (5)

*1996 Football (A)
*2003 Football (2A)
*2004 Football (2A)
*2013 Softball (3A)
*2014 Football (3A)

Western Boone (4)

*1988 Football (2A)
*2018 Football (2A)
*2019 Football (2A)
*2020 Football (2A)

References

External links

Sagamore Conference website



IHSAA Directory

Sagamore Conference Handbook

{{Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA)

Indiana high school athletic conferences
High school sports conferences and leagues in the United States