History
1927–1937
The Northern Lakes Conference was originally formed in 1927 as Land O'Lakes Conference by eleven schools in northern Wisconsin: Argonne, Crandon, Eagle River, Elcho, Goodman, Hiles, Laona, Suring, Three Lakes, Wabeno and White Lake. [1] Football was sponsored from the conference's inception, with five schools (Argonne, Crandon, Elcho, Goodman and Wabeno) forming the initial roster. [2] Phelps joined the conference after the first season, [3] and in 1929, Mountain entered the league as its thirteenth member. [4] Minocqua became a member of the Land O' Lakes Conference in 1932, [5] but membership stayed at thirteen schools due to Crandon's departure. [6] That number was decreased to eleven the next year, as Mountain and Suring left to join the Marinette & Oconto Conference. [7] Crandon reinstated full membership in the Land O'Lakes in 1934 to put the roster at twelve schools, and the conference subdivided into Northern and Southern Divisions: [8]
| Northern Division | Southern Division |
|---|---|
| Eagle River | Argonne |
| Elcho | Crandon |
| Hiles | Goodman |
| Minocqua | Laona |
| Phelps | Wabeno |
| Three Lakes | White Lake |
1937–1972
In 1937, the Land O'Lakes Conference changed its name to the Northern Lakes Conference in order to avoid confusion with another conference of the same name. [9] Membership stayed at twelve schools until the start of World War II, when both Argonne [10] and Hiles [11] closed, with students for both schools being redistricted to Crandon. After World War II, the Northern Lakes began sponsorship of six-player football, and three of the conference's smaller schools (Elcho, Phelps and Three Lakes) participated along with associate members Woodruff-Arbor Vitae. [12] Their entry into the conference as full members in 1950 brought the membership roster to eleven schools. [13] The conference's six-player football division was also ended that year, as all four participants transitioned to eleven-player football. [14] In 1951, Goodman accepted an invitation to join the Marinette & Oconto Conference, [15] and Elcho shifted to the Southern Division to create two five-member divisions: [16]
| Northern Division | Southern Division |
|---|---|
| Eagle River | Crandon |
| Minocqua | Elcho |
| Phelps | Laona |
| Three Lakes | Wabeno |
| Woodruff-Arbor Vitae | White Lake |
Divisional play was ended in 1954, [17] and in 1957, the number of schools in the Northern Lakes Conference decreased to eight as White Lake left for membership in the Wolf River Valley Conference [18] and Lakeland Union High School was created from the consolidation of Minocqua and Woodruff-Arbor Vitae. [19] [20] Lakeland Union's tenure in the Northern Lakes Conference turned out to be short-lived, as they only spent one season in the conference before joining with larger schools in the Lumberjack Conference in 1958. [21] Goodman rejoined the conference in 1960 after spending the previous few seasons as members of the disbanded Granite Valley Conference. [22] In 1964, the Northern Lakes Conference added Florence as a new member, who joined after exiting the Big Six Conference in Michigan's upper peninsula. [23]
1972–present
In 1972, Pembine entered the Northern Lakes from the Michigan-based Skyline Conference [24] and White Lake rejoined after displacement from the defunct Wolf River Valley Conference two years prior. [25] Eagle River High School changed its name to Northland Pines High School in 1974 [26] when they built a new facility to relieve overcrowding, and they would leave the conference two years later for membership in the newly expanded Lumberjack Conference. [27] The Northern Lakes Conference remained a stable ten-school circuit for the next three decades before welcoming the Conserve School in Land o' Lakes into the fold in 2005. [28] Their stay would be relatively short, as they left the conference in 2009. [29] [30] The Northern Lakes Conference would see four programs consolidate into two at the beginning of the 2010s, first with Goodman and Pembine in 2011 [31] and then with Laona and Wabeno the next year. [32] Sponsorship of football was ended after the 2016 season, and Northern Lakes joined with the Marinette & Oconto Conference and Packerland Conference to create the MONLPC Football Conference. [33] White Lake left the conference for a second time to join the Central Wisconsin Conference in 2021, [34] bringing the membership roster to its current total of nine schools, four of which are part of cooperative programs due to size.
