- Source: Wisconsin Valley Conference
The Wisconsin Valley Conference is a high school athletic conference composed of the largest public schools in north central Wisconsin. Founded in 1921, it is one of Wisconsin's oldest athletic conferences, and all members belong to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
= Founding and Early Years (1921-1956)
=The Wisconsin Valley Conference was founded in 1921 by seven medium- to large-enrollment high schools in north central Wisconsin: Antigo, Marshfield, Merrill, Rhinelander, Stevens Point, Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln. The early years brought a lot of membership changes to the conference. In 1922, Edgar, Medford, Nekoosa and Tomahawk joined the conference. Edgar left the following year, and in 1924, Shawano and Wautoma joined the Wisconsin Valley. They would end up staying for two years, and after Medford left the conference in 1928, membership stayed stable at nine schools for just over two decades. Nekoosa left the Wisconsin Valley in 1951 and in 1955, Tomahawk joined the Lumberjack Conference. In addition to losing Tomahawk, the Wisconsin Valley faced an even greater change that year. Citing competitive imbalance in football, the four smallest schools in the conference (Antigo, Marshfield, Merrill and Rhinelander) left the Wisconsin Valley to start a new conference called the Northern Wisconsin Conference. These four schools continued to schedule WVC members Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids as non-conference opponents, but not Wausau, who had been the dominant force in football for decades. Ultimately, Wausau joined the new Big Rivers Conference and the four schools who left rejoined in 1956.
= Expansion and the Return of Old Rivals (1956-2008)
=The revamped Wisconsin Valley Conference began play in 1956 with six schools (Antigo, Marshfield, Merrill, Rhinelander, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln). A seventh school was added to the Wisconsin Valley in 1957 when D.C. Everest High School in Schofield joined the conference. In 1970, Shawano became the eighth school to join the conference after leaving the Mid-Eastern Conference. Wausau East was invited to rejoin the Wisconsin Valley Conference from the Big Rivers in 1973, along with newcomer Wausau West to bring conference membership to ten schools. Shawano would leave the Wisconsin Valley Conference to join the Bay Conference in 1979, and conference membership would remain at nine schools for nearly thirty years.
= Present Day (2008-present)
=In 2008, two of the smaller schools in the conference left to become member of the new Great Northern Conference: Antigo and Merrill. Two years later, Merrill and Rhinelander would swap conferences, with Merrill returning to the Wisconsin Valley and Rhinelander taking their place in the Great Northern Conference. Merrill is set to return to the Great Northern Conference after fifteen years of Wisconsin Valley membership in 2025, leaving the conference with six member schools.
List of Member Schools
= Current Members
=Notes
= Former Members
=List of State Champions
= Fall Sports
== Winter Sports
== Spring Sports
=See also
List of high school athletic conferences in Wisconsin
References
External Links
Wisconsin Valley Conference
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- Wisconsin Valley Conference
- Mississippi Valley Conference (Wisconsin)
- Bay Conference
- List of high school athletic conferences in Wisconsin
- Big Rivers Conference
- Fox River Classic Conference
- Valley Football Association
- Badger Conference
- Ridge & Valley Conference
- Southwest Wisconsin Conference
