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

The Southeastern Wisconsin Conference was formed for the 1928-29 school year by six high schools in southeastern Wisconsin: Clinton, Genoa City, Palmyra, Waterford, Williams Bay and Wilmot Union. These were smaller schools than those in the Southern Five Conference, which covered roughly the same geographical area. In 1930, Union Grove and Walworth joined the conference, and with Palmyra's departure the conference now had seven members. Palmyra rejoined the conference in 1932, and overall membership expanded to ten with the addition of Darien and Norris Foundation in Mukwonago. Mukwonago and Racine County Agricultural in Rochester joined the Southeastern in 1934, and the league subdivided into Eastern and Western Sections of six schools each:

Walworth left to join the Southern Five Conference in 1935, with Palmyra leaving a year later and Wilmot moving to the conference's Western Section. In 1937, Clinton, Darien, Genoa City and Williams Bay would leave the Southeastern to form the Southern Regional Conference along with Capron (now North Boone) High School in Illinois. East Troy joined the remaining six schools in the Southeastern to create a seven-member circuit for the 1937-38 school year. The Southeastern Wisconsin Conference began sponsorship of football that season, with six of the seven members coming over from the disbanded Lower Fox Conference, a football-only circuit that had been in existence since 1933. Membership would continue in this configuration for sixteen years (with Walworth joining as a football-only member in 1947) before East Troy, Mukwonago and Wilmot left to join the new Southern Lakes Conference in 1953. They were replaced by Hartland, Pewaukee and Slinger, who were left without a conference after the dissolution of the 4-C Conference.

1953-1963

The far-flung geographic footprint of conference membership ushered in a volatile period of changes during the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference's final decade. Hartland High School was closed in 1956 and replaced by Arrowhead High School, who took Hartland's place in the conference. Slinger left to join the new Scenic Moraine Conference in 1958, and they were replaced by three returning members and one newcomer. Big Foot, Clinton and Palmyra were left without a conference after consolidation and closings whittled away membership of the Southern Regional Conference, and they rejoined the Southeastern in 1958. That same year, Salem Central (now Westosha Central) High School joined the Southeastern after dealing with their own issues with long travel distances as members of the Braveland Conference. In 1959, the Southeastern lost three schools: Arrowhead to the Little Ten, Pewaukee to the Scenic Moraine, and Racine County Agricultural to the school's closing. Pewaukee remained in the Southeastern as a football-only member for the 1959 season before their full membership in the Scenic Moraine started with the winter sports season. Williams Bay rejoined the conference that year after leaving the Southern Wisconsin Private Schools (SWAPS) Conference to bring membership to eight schools. Two years later, Big Foot left to join the Southern Lakes Conference, and their place was taken by St. Mary's (now Catholic Central) High School in Burlington, the only private school ever to play in the conference.

Epilogue

The Southeastern Conference ended operations in 1963. Four of its members (Salem Central, St. Mary's, Union Grove and Waterford) formed the new Southeastern Badger Conference, while the other four (Clinton, Norris Foundation, Palmyra and Williams Bay) joined with Northwestern Military and Naval Academy in Lake Geneva and Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan to form the Indian Trails Conference.

Conference membership history

Full members

Football-only members

Membership timeline

Full members

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bar:1 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Clinton (1928-1937)
bar:1 color:skyblue from:1934 till:1937 text:
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1958 till:1963 text:(1958-1963)
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Genoa City (1928-1937)
bar:2 color:skyblue from:1934 till:1937 text:
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1930 text:Palmyra (1928-1930, 1932-1936)
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1932 till:1934 text:
bar:3 color:skyblue from:1934 till:1936 text:
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1958 till:1963 text:(1958-1963)
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Waterford (1928-1963)
bar:4 color:blue from:1934 till:1937 text:
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1937 till:1963 text:
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Williams Bay (1928-1937)
bar:5 color:skyblue from:1934 till:1937 text:
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1959 till:1963 text:(1959-1963)
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Wilmot Union (1928-1953)
bar:6 color:blue from:1934 till:1936 text:
bar:6 color:skyblue from:1936 till:1937 text:
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1937 till:1953 text:
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1930 till:1934 text:Union Grove (1930-1963)
bar:7 color:blue from:1934 till:1937 text:
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1937 till:1963 text:
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1930 till:1934 text:Walworth (1930-1935)
bar:8 color:skyblue from:1934 till:1935 text:
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1932 till:1934 text:Darien (1932-1937)
bar:9 color:skyblue from:1934 till:1937 text:
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1932 till:1934 text:Norris Foundation (1932-1963)
bar:10 color:blue from:1934 till:1937 text:
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1937 till:1963 text:
bar:11 color:blue from:1934 till:1937 text:Mukwonago (1934-1953)
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1937 till:1963 text:
bar:12 color:blue from:1934 till:1937 text:Rochester Aggies (1934-1959)
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1937 till:1959 text:
bar:13 color:tan1 from:1937 till:1953 text:East Troy (1937-1953)
bar:14 color:tan1 from:1953 till:1956 text:Hartland (1953-1956)
bar:15 color:tan1 from:1953 till:1959 text:Pewaukee (1953-1959)
bar:16 color:tan1 from:1953 till:1958 text:Slinger (1953-1958)
bar:17 color:tan1 from:1956 till:1959 text:Arrowhead (1956-1959)
bar:18 color:tan1 from:1958 till:1961 text:Big Foot (1958-1961)
bar:19 color:tan1 from:1958 till:1963 text:Salem Central (1958-1963)
bar:20 color:tan1 from:1961 till:1963 text:St. Mary's (1961-1963)

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Football members

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bar:1 color:lavender from:1937 till:1942 text:East Troy (1937-1941)
bar:1 color:lavender from:1943 till:1953 text:(1943-1952)
bar:2 color:lavender from:1937 till:1942 text:Mukwonago (1937-1941)
bar:2 color:lavender from:1943 till:1953 text:(1943-1952)
bar:3 color:lavender from:1937 till:1942 text:Norris Foundation (1937-1941)
bar:4 color:lavender from:1937 till:1942 text:Rochester Aggies (1937-1941)
bar:4 color:lavender from:1943 till:1959 text:(1943-1958)
bar:5 color:lavender from:1937 till:1942 text:Union Grove (1937-1941)
bar:5 color:lavender from:1944 till:1963 text:(1944-1962)
bar:6 color:lavender from:1937 till:1942 text:Waterford (1937-1941)
bar:6 color:lavender from:1943 till:1963 text:(1943-1962)
bar:7 color:lavender from:1937 till:1942 text:Wilmot Union (1937-1941)
bar:7 color:lavender from:1943 till:1953 text:(1943-1952)
bar:8 color:lavender from:1947 till:1958 text:Walworth (1947-1957)
bar:9 color:lavender from:1953 till:1956 text:Hartland (1953-1955)
bar:10 color:lavender from:1953 till:1960 text:Pewaukee (1953-1959)
bar:11 color:lavender from:1953 till:1958 text:Slinger (1953-1957)
bar:12 color:lavender from:1956 till:1959 text:Arrowhead (1956-1958)
bar:13 color:lavender from:1958 till:1961 text:Big Foot (1958-1960)
bar:14 color:lavender from:1959 till:1963 text:Clinton (1959-1962)
bar:15 color:lavender from:1959 till:1963 text:Salem Central (1959-1962)
bar:16 color:lavender from:1961 till:1963 text:St. Mary's (1961-1962)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1937

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

Football

References

{{Wisconsin high school athletic conferences

Wisconsin high school sports conferences
Sports organizations established in 1928
1928 establishments in Wisconsin
1963 disestablishments in Wisconsin