The Trailways 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
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 2001, its membership consists of smaller public and private high schools in east central and south central Wisconsin. All member schools belong to 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
Primary alignment
The Trailways Conference was formed in 2001 with most of the members coming from two recently disbanded conferences for small schools in south central Wisconsin: the
Dual County Conference (
Cambria-Friesland,
Fall River,
Green Lake,
Montello,
Pardeeville,
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 ...
,
Randolph Randolph may refer to:
Places In the United States
* Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community
* Randolph, Arizona, a populated place
* Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea
* Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated com ...
,
Rio
Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream".
Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to:
Places United States
* Rio, Fl ...
) and the
Eastern Suburban Conference (
Deerfield,
Dodgeland,
Hustisford,
Johnson Creek and
Williams Bay
Williams Bay is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of three municipalities on Geneva Lake. The population was 2,953 at the 2020 census. On June 22, 2024 the town was hit by an EF-1 tornado, there were no injurie ...
). Two private schools who had recently joined the WIAA as part of the WIAA/
WISAA merger (
Abundant Life Christian in
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
* Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer
Places in the United States
Populated places
* Madi ...
and
Valley Christian in
Oshkosh) rounded out the initial membership roster of the Trailways Conference.
The fifteen schools were initially subdivided into North and South Divisions:
Central Wisconsin Christian joined the conference after leaving the
East Central Flyway Conference
The East Central Flyway Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, competing from 2001 to 2007. All members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
The East Central Flyway Conference w ...
in 2004, and two years later the Trailways Conference took three more former East Central Flyway schools into the fold:
Lourdes Academy,
Markesan and
Oakfield. All three schools joined the North Division with Pardeeville moving over to the South Division to accommodate the expansion:
This alignment would only last for two years, as the Trailways split into Central, North and South Divisions in 2008:
In 2012, Green Lake and Princeton High Schools entered into a cooperative agreement for their schools' athletics, and the newly created program remained in the North Division.
That same year,
Horicon and
Madison Country Day School in
Waunakee joined the Trailways, and Rio moved to the North Division to keep membership at six schools. The Trailways Conference was realigned to a two-division format in 2013:
In 2014,
Wayland Academy in
Beaver Dam
A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers; it creates a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, alligators, cougars, foxes, eagles, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify th ...
joined the Trailways South Division,
and
St. Ambrose Academy in
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
* Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer
Places in the United States
Populated places
* Madi ...
joined with Abundant Life Christian School for most sponsored sports (they would move to their own stand-alone programs in 2023).
The North/South divisional alignment would last for two more years before the Trailways realigned to three divisions in 2016:
This alignment would only last a single season, as
Palmyra-Eagle and
Parkview joined the Trailways as all-sport members in 2017 after leaving the Rock Valley Conference,
bringing conference membership to the current twenty-four teams (twenty-five schools) and the current East/South/West divisional alignment.
Football-only alignment
2001-2020
When the Trailways Conference was formed in 2001,
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
was among the sports offered by the organization. Thirteen of the original fifteen members participated in the first season of competition (including the Fall River/Rio cooperative team), with Abundant Life Christian and Williams Bay being the only holdouts. ALCS did not offer football at that time, and Williams Bay was a football-only member of the
Indian Trails Conference. Two members who were affiliated primarily with the
Six Rivers Conference (
Belleville/
Albany 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 ...
) rounded out the original membership roster, and they participated in the first five seasons before their exit to join the
Capitol Conference for the 2006 football season.
The Trailways Conference was subdivided into large-school and small-school divisions for its first season of football:
There were a few cooperative programs that were football participants during the conference's history due to the small size of some of its members, and divisions realigned frequently based on the acquisition of new member schools and changes in enrollment.
2020-present
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. In this alignment, the eight original members of the realigned Trailways Conference were Cambria-Friesland, Deerfield, Fall River/Rio, Johnson Creek, Lourdes Academy, Randolph,
St John's Northwestern Military Academy and
Wayland Academy.
Six schools were holdovers from the previous two-division setup, while St. John's Northwestern and Wayland Academy held primary affiliation in the Midwest Classic Conference. For the 2022-2023 cycle, the Trailways Conference picked up Pardeeville from the
Eastern Suburban Conference as a replacement for Wayland Academy, which dropped football before returning with an
eight-man football
Eight-man football is a form of gridiron football, generally played by high schools with smaller enrollments. Eight-man football differs from the traditional 11-man game with the reduction of three players on each side of the ball and a field wid ...
team in 2023.
In 2024, the Trailways Conference lost three members to the Eastern Suburban Conference (Deerfield, Fall River/Rio and Pardeeville) and St. John's Northwestern to eight-man football and the
Southeast-8 Conference. Dodgeland and Palmyra-Eagle moved over from the Eastern Suburban Conference and one school each moved over from the
Southwest Wisconsin Activities League (Parkview/Albany) and
South Central Conference (
Westfield) as replacements for the four exiting members.
The Trailways Conference will be experiencing significant changes to football membership for the 2026-2027 cycle. Deerfield and Fall River/Rio make their return from the Eastern Suburban Conference, and Randolph will enter into a cooperative program with Cambria-Friesland. Palmyra-Eagle will be leaving the conference due to their impending transition to
eight-man football
Eight-man football is a form of gridiron football, generally played by high schools with smaller enrollments. Eight-man football differs from the traditional 11-man game with the reduction of three players on each side of the ball and a field wid ...
and membership in the
Southeast-8 Conference.
List of member schools
Current members
Current football-only members
Former members
Former football-only members
Membership timeline
Full members
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bar:1 color:skyblue from:2001 till:2030 text:Abundant Life Christian (2001-present)
bar:2 color:blue from:2001 till:2008 text:Cambria-Friesland (2001-present)
bar:2 color:powderblue from:2008 till:2013 text:
bar:2 color:blue from:2013 till:2016 text:
bar:2 color:powderblue from:2016 till:2017 text:
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bar:4 color:lightpurple from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:5 color:skyblue from:2001 till:2017 text:Fall River (2001-present)
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bar:6 color:blue from:2001 till:2012 text:Green Lake (2001-2012)
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bar:8 color:skyblue from:2001 till:2030 text:Johnson Creek (2001-present)
bar:9 color:blue from:2001 till:2017 text:Montello (2001-present)
bar:9 color:lavender from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:10 color:blue from:2001 till:2006 text:Pardeeville (2001-present)
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bar:10 color:powderblue from:2008 till:2013 text:
bar:10 color:blue from:2013 till:2016 text:
bar:10 color:powderblue from:2016 till:2017 text:
bar:10 color:lavender from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:11 color:blue from:2001 till:2012 text:Princeton (2001-2012)
bar:12 color:blue from:2001 till:2008 text:Randolph (2001-present)
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bar:12 color:blue from:2013 till:2016 text:
bar:12 color:powderblue from:2016 till:2017 text:
bar:12 color:lavender from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:13 color:skyblue from:2001 till:2012 text:Rio (2001-present)
bar:13 color:blue from:2012 till:2013 text:
bar:13 color:skyblue from:2013 till:2017 text:
bar:13 color:lavender from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:14 color:blue from:2001 till:2017 text:Valley Christian (2001-present)
bar:14 color:lightpurple from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:15 color:skyblue from:2001 till:2030 text:Williams Bay (2001-present)
bar:16 color:blue from:2004 till:2008 text:Central Wisconsin Christian (2004-present)
bar:16 color:powderblue from:2008 till:2013 text:
bar:16 color:blue from:2013 till:2016 text:
bar:16 color:powderblue from:2016 till:2017 text:
bar:16 color:lightpurple from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:17 color:blue from:2006 till:2017 text:Lourdes Academy (2006-present)
bar:17 color:lightpurple from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:18 color:blue from:2006 till:2008 text:Markesan (2006-present)
bar:18 color:powderblue from:2008 till:2013 text:
bar:18 color:blue from:2013 till:2017 text:
bar:18 color:lavender from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:19 color:blue from:2006 till:2017 text:Oakfield (2006-present)
bar:19 color:lightpurple from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:20 color:blue from:2012 till:2017 text:Green Lake/Princeton (2012-present)
bar:20 color:lavender from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:21 color:skyblue from:2012 till:2016 text:Horicon (2012-present)
bar:21 color:powderblue from:2016 till:2017 text:
bar:21 color:lightpurple from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:22 color:skyblue from:2012 till:2030 text:Madison Country Day (2012-present)
bar:23 color:skyblue from:2014 till:2030 text:St. Ambrose Academy (2014-present)
bar:24 color:skyblue from:2014 till:2016 text:Wayland Academy (2014-present)
bar:24 color:powderblue from:2016 till:2017 text:
bar:24 color:lightpurple from:2017 till:2030 text:
bar:25 color:skyblue from:2017 till:2030 text:Palmyra-Eagle (2017-present)
bar:26 color:skyblue from:2017 till:2030 text:Parkview (2017-present)
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Football members
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bar:3 color:lavender from:2026 till:2030 text:(2026-future)
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bar:13 color:lavender from:2020 till:2026 text:
bar:14 color:yellowgreen from:2001 till:2003 text:Valley Christian (2001-2002)
bar:15 color:green from:2002 till:2003 text:Fall River (2002-2019)
bar:15 color:yellowgreen from:2003 till:2019 text:
bar:16 color:green from:2002 till:2019 text:Rio (2002-2019)
bar:16 color:yellowgreen from:2003 till:2019 text:
bar:17 color:green from:2003 till:2012 text:Oakfield (2003-2012)
bar:17 color:yellowgreen from:2012 till:2013 text:
bar:18 color:yellowgreen from:2005 till:2011 text:Abundant Life Christian (2005-2010)
bar:19 color:green from:2006 till:2016 text:Lourdes Academy (2006-present)
bar:19 color:yellowgreen from:2016 till:2020 text:
bar:19 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:
bar:20 color:green from:2006 till:2020 text:Markesan (2006-2019)
bar:21 color:yellowgreen from:2006 till:2017 text:Williams Bay (2006-2016)
bar:22 color:green from:2007 till:2009 text:Montello/Princeton (2007-2008)
bar:23 color:green from:2009 till:2020 text:Montello/Green Lake/Princeton (2009-2019)
bar:24 color:green from:2012 till:2016 text:Horicon (2012-2015)
bar:25 color:green from:2016 till:2020 text:Horicon/Hustisford (2016-2019)
bar:26 color:green from:2016 till:2020 text:Palmyra-Eagle (2016-2019)
bar:26 color:lavender from:2024 till:2026 text:(2024-2025)
bar:27 color:green from:2016 till:2020 text:Parkview/Albany (2016-2019)
bar:27 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:(2024-present)
bar:28 color:yellowgreen from:2017 till:2019 text:Wayland Academy (2017-2018, 2020-2021)
bar:28 color:lavender from:2020 till:2022 text:
bar:29 color:lavender from:2020 till:2024 text:St. John's Northwestern (2020-2023)
bar:30 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:Westfield (2024-present)
bar:31 color:lavender from:2026 till:2030 text:Randolph/Cambria-Friesland (2026-future)
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Membership map
List of state champions
Fall sports
Winter sports
Spring sports
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Football
References
External links
Trailways Conference (official site)
{{Wisconsin high school athletic conferences
Wisconsin high school sports conferences
Sports organizations established in 2001
2001 establishments in Wisconsin