History
1984-1999
The Badgerland Hockey Conference was formed in 1984 by six high schools in south central Wisconsin: Edgewood in Madison, Fond du Lac, Middleton, Monona Grove, Stoughton and Waupun. [1] The five public schools in the conference were members of the Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association, since the conference wasn't initially sponsored by the WIAA. The only private school in the conference, Edgewood, was part of the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association. Beaver Dam became members of the conference in 1988, a few years after starting their interscholastic hockey program. [2] [3] In 1990, Edgewood left the Badgerland to compete in the Independent High School Hockey League against other private schools. [4] They were replaced a year later by the newly created varsity programs at McFarland [5] and Verona. [6] In 1993, McFarland gained a co-operative partner for hockey in Oregon, [7] and a year later, Middleton exited the Badgerland when they received an invitation to join the Big Eight Conference for all varsity sports including hockey. [8] They were replaced by Waunakee, who started their program the previous year. [8] [9] The Badgerland Hockey Conference made further inroads into the Fox Valley region in the late 1990s, adding Neenah in 1996 [10] and the Appleton United co-operative program [11] a year later. Coupled with the entry of Reedsburg into the conference, [12] this brought membership up to eleven schools.
1999-2010
In 1999, the all-sport Badger Conference began sponsorship of boys hockey, [13] and the Badgerland Hockey Conference lost six of its eleven programs to the new loop: McFarland/Oregon, Monona Grove, Reedsburg, Stoughton, Verona and Waunakee. [14] This changed the conference's membership footprint significantly, with most of its members now located in the Fox Valley. The addition of University School of Milwaukee to the conference's roster brought membership up to six schools, [15] and Sheboygan's entry the following year [16] put that figure at seven members until the Badgerland's next major realignment. In 2006, the conference added three programs in the Green Bay metropolitan area (De Pere Voyageurs, Green Bay United and Notre Dame Academy) [17] [18] and lost University School to independent status. The nine Badgerland members were also realigned into Northern and Southern divisions: [19]
| Northern Division | Southern Division |
|---|---|
| De Pere Voyageurs | Appleton United |
| Green Bay United | Beaver Dam |
| Notre Dame Academy | Fond du Lac |
| Sheboygan Red Raiders | Neenah |
| Waupun |
The entry of the Bay Port/Pulaski co-operative into the Northern Division in 2007 put membership at ten, [20] where it would stay until 2009, when the Badgerland added four programs (Ashwaubenon, Fox Cities Stars, Oshkosh Ice Hawks and St. Mary's Springs) to bring it to a high of fourteen member schools. [21]
2010-present
For the 2010-2011 season, the Badgerland Hockey Conference lost six of seven Northern Division members when the Fox River Classic Conference started hockey sponsorship: Ashwaubenon, Bay Port/Pulaski, De Pere Voyageurs, Green Bay United, Notre Dame Academy and Sheboygan Red Raiders. [22] The only remaining program from that division (St. Mary's Springs) joined the seven Southern Division schools in the revised lineup. This roster would remain intact until 2017, when Beaver Dam joined the Badger Conference as a full member. [23] They were replaced by Pacelli in Stevens Point, but this only lasted for one season before resuming independent status the following year. Aside from a short stint by Shawano/Bonduel for the 2021-22 season, [24] the Badgerland Hockey Conference has maintained its membership roster at seven members.
