The Patoka Valley Conference was an athletic conference based in Southwest Indiana. Originally formed as the Dubois County Conference in 1917, [1] the conference changed its name in 1959 as schools from outside the county joined. The conference contained schools from Daviess, Dubois, Pike, Spencer, and Warrick counties at some point in its existence. The conference had eleven members for the 1964-65 season, yet within less than a decade disbanded with four members remaining (and two of those schools closed within another two years). The consolidation of schools across Indiana was the primary reason for the drop in membership. [2]
School | Location | Mascot | Colors | County | Year Joined | Previous Conference | Year Left | Conference Joined |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Birdseye | Birdseye | Yellow Jackets | 19 Dubois | 1917 | Independents | 1971 | none (consolidated into Forest Park) | |
Cuzco | Cuzco | Bear Cubs | 19 Dubois | 1917 | Independents | 1948 | none (consolidated into Dubois) | |
Dubois | Dubois | Jeeps | 19 Dubois | 1917 | Independents | 1972 | Lost River | |
Ferdinand | Ferdianand | Crusaders | 19 Dubois | 1917 | Independents | 1971 | none (consolidated into Forest Park) | |
Holland | Holland | Dutchmen | 19 Dubois | 1917 | Independents | 1972 | none (consolidated into Southridge) | |
Huntingburg | Huntingburg | Happy Hunters | 19 Dubois | 1917 | Independents | 1942 | Southern Indiana | |
Ireland | Ireland | Spuds | 19 Dubois | 1917 | Independents | 1970 | none (consolidated into Jasper) | |
Jasper | Jasper | Wildcats | 19 Dubois | 1917 | Independents | 1953 | Southern Indiana | |
Chrisney | Chrisney 1 | Wildcats | 74 Spencer | 1959 | Pocket/ Spencer County | 1972 | none (consolidated into Heritage Hills) | |
Lynnville 2 | Lynnville | Lyndis | 87 Warrick | 1959 | Pocket/ Warrick County | 1965 | none (consolidated into Tecumseh) | |
Otwell 3 | Otwell | Millers | 63 Pike | 1959 | Pike County | 1972 | Independents (consolidated into Pike Central in 1974) | |
Spurgeon 3 | Spurgeon | Cardinals | 63 Pike | 1959 | Pike County | 1966 | none (consolidated into Winslow) | |
Stendal 3 | Stendal | Aces | 63 Pike | 1959 | Pike County | 1966 | none (consolidated into Winslow) | |
Winslow | Winslow | Eskimos | 63 Pike | 1964 | Pike County | 1972 | Independents (consolidated into Pike Central in 1974) | |
Barr-Reeve | Montgomery | Vikings | 14 Daviess | 1968 | Daviess County | 1969 | Blue Chip | |
Forest Park | Ferdinand | Rangers | 19 Dubois | 1971 | none (new school) | 1972 | Blue Chip |
Dubois County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 41,889. The county seat is Jasper.
Jasper is a city in, and the county seat of Dubois County, Indiana, United States, located along the Patoka River. The population was 15,038 at the 2010 census making it the 48th largest city in Indiana. On November 4, 2007, Dubois County returned to the Eastern Time Zone, after having moved to the Central Time Zone the previous year. Land use in the area is primarily agricultural.
The Porter County Conference (PCC) is an athletic conference made up of eight Indiana high schools. Five of the eight schools are within Porter County, Indiana. Of the remaining schools, the three remaining are in LaPorte County.
The Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) is a high school athletic conference in Southwestern Indiana with its headquarters at Forest Park. Most of the conference's 13 members are mainly Class 2A and 3A public high schools currently located in Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, and Warrick counties. Only one, Tecumseh, is a 1A and as such operates its football program independently of the PAC and remains independent in the sport, playing schools much closer to its size than its much larger borderline 3A or 3A and 4A fellow members.
The Blue Chip Conference is a high school athletic conference in southwestern Indiana, United States. The conference's members are small A or AA high schools located in Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Knox, and Martin counties. The BCC was founded in 1968, with Barr-Reeve, Bloomfield, Loogootee, North Daviess, North Knox, South Knox, and Springs Valley. Barr-Reeve had to wait until 1969 to be released from the Patoka Valley Conference to play in the league, and Loogootee also had to wait until 1970 to leave the Southwestern Indiana Conference. The conference grew to 11 schools in the mid-1970s, but for the most part has stabilized at nine schools since then with the only exception being the 6 year period between the addition of Wood Memorial in 2000 and loss of Forest Park in 2006 where the count was at 10.
The Mid-Eastern Conference is an IHSAA-sanctioned conference in East Central Indiana. The conference formed in 1963 as schools from Delaware, Henry, and Randolph counties banded together with impending consolidations making their conference situations unstable. The conference has never been stable for long, varying between six and eight members between 1963 and 1977, and having as many as ten members since. While schools from Hancock, Madison and Wayne counties have participated, the conference has generally stayed within its original footprint. The league once again grew to ten members as Eastern Hancock and Shenandoah joined.
The Midwest Athletic Conference is a high school athletic conference in northwestern Indiana, which has existed in two different incarnations, with a third planned to form in 2018. The original conference began in 1932, consisting of schools that were larger than most of their counterparts in their local county leagues. The schools were based in Benton, Fountain, Jasper, Newton, Tippecanoe, Warren, and White counties. The forming of the Kankakee Valley Conference the next year caused a slight fluctiation over the next couple of years, as schools realigned themselves within the two leagues, with some schools claiming dual membership. The league folded in 1947, as size disparities and willingness to sponsor some sports led to schools going their separate ways.
The Summit Athletic Conference, or SAC, is a high school athletic conference consisting of eight high schools located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Three of the schools are private; one being a Lutheran academy, and the other two being Catholic preparatories. The rest are public schools, being part of Fort Wayne Community Schools. Two limited members are part of Northwest Allen County Schools and Southwest Allen County Schools.
The Allen County Athletic Conference (ACAC) is a seven-member Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) conference. While all of its charter schools are and were located in Allen County, it also has member schools from Adams, Jay, and Wells counties. The ACAC, along with the Porter County Conference, are the only two county conferences left in existence.
The Mid-Hoosier Conference is a seven-member IHSAA-sanctioned athletic association located within Bartholomew, Decatur, Johnson, and Shelby Counties in Central Indiana.
The Wabash River Conference is an eight-member Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA)-sanctioned conference located within Fountain, Parke, Vermillion, and Warren Counties in West Central Indiana. All of the participating schools are either 1A, 2A, or 3A institutions in rural counties. The conference began in 1964 with nine schools who had outgrown their county conferences or had them fold, and has had that number stay relatively consistent since.
The Western Indiana Conference is the name of two IHSAA-sanctioned conferences based in West Central Indiana. The first formed as an eight-team league that formed as a basketball league in 1944 as the West Central Conference. The league started expanding in 1945 and changed its name to the Western Indiana Conference. With consolidation forcing many membership changes in the 1970s, the conference folded at four members in 1983.
The White River Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference located within rural areas of East Central Indiana, that existed twice, once from 1954 to 1977, and from 1989 to 2010. The first version of the conference was founded as a home for high schools in Madison County who weren't in the Central Indiana Athletic Conference. The conference would expand quickly from six to nine schools, as two new high schools in Anderson and Middletown, a school in Henry County, were added within two years. Membership was generally not stable until 1969, as Madison Heights left, Highland was forced out and eventually added back into the conference, St. Mary's closed, member schools consolidated, and schools from neighboring Delaware and Hancock counties were added. Eventually, large disparities in enrollment causing the conference to disband, as city and consolidated schools outgrew their rural counterparts.. Schools would move into the Big Blue River Conference, Classic Athletic Conference, and Mid-Eastern Conference.
The Mississinewa Valley Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference based in East Central Indiana that lasted between 1952 and 1977. The conference started out as a conference for larger rural schools as a way to provide a higher level of competition than their respective County Conferences typically provided. The conference was stable for its first decade, but consolidation and more regionally based conferences with schools of similar sizes had schools defecting the MVC. The conference ended in 1977, with three schools forming the Classic Athletic Conference, and one team each joining the Mid-Eastern and Mid-Indiana conferences.
The East Central Conference was an athletic conference from 1947 to 1969 based in Eastern Indiana, considered as one of the regional superconferences in the state. The conference began with 12 schools, though had turnover within its first year, mainly having to do with gym issues. Pendleton and Greenfield, larger schools, refused to play in Cambridge City's gym, deeming it too small to play in. The conference felt otherwise, and forced the two schools out of the conference. Williamsburg, on the other hand, had the opposite problem; its gym was found to be too small for conference play, and moved them out as well. To fill their spots, the conference recruited Milroy, Morristown, and Morton Memorial to join the fold. While the conference did grow to 13 schools, by 1956 it had started to splinter. Three schools left to found the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference in 1956, while in 1962 four schools left to help found the Tri-Eastern Conference. The formation of the TEC in 1962 almost caused the ECC to fold, as it was left with five members. However, the Hancock County Conference's six schools were merged into the fold, giving the conference new life. However, the conference did not have long, as the formation of the Big Blue River Conference left the conference with three schools by 1968, two of which were scheduled to be closed at the end of the 1968-69 school year. The sole remaining member, Morton Memorial, opted to join the BBRC that next year.
The Lost River Athletic Conference was a short-lived IHSAA-sanctioned conference in southern Indiana, formed in 1971. Member schools hailed from Clark, Dubois, Martin, Orange, and Washington counties. Membership was never stable in its six-year span, and multiple schools held dual membership in other conferences.
There were numerous conferences within the IHSAA that were made up of schools based entirely in one county. Many of these "County Conferences" also contained schools from neighboring counties that were either geographically closer or smaller than the other schools in their home county. These conferences would fold when schools would consolidate and seek out other, more expansive conferences that included similar-sized schools. The starting date of many of these conferences is hard to confirm, so the listing for many of these leagues uses the earliest date that can be confirmed.
The Southern Monon Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference in Southern Indiana. The conference was named after the two railroad lines the four founding schools were located along: the Southern (Milltown) and Monon. The conference doubled in size in its second year, yet had a large amount of turnover in its existence, The conference ended in 1965, when it merged with the Dixie Athletic Conference to form the Dixie-Monon Conference.
The Eastern Indiana Conference existed in Northeastern Indiana from 1953 to 1975. It consisted of schools from Adams, Blackford, Delaware, Jay, and Wells Counties. The conference is notable for having two county conferences fold into it, in 1957 and 1967, respectively. However, two years after the Jay County Conference folded into the EIC, the four Jay County schools were the only programs left in the conference.
The Eastern Wabash Valley Conference was a short-lived IHSAA-sanctioned conference located in Northeast Indiana. The league started in 1959, as five schools broke away from the Eastern Indiana Conference and joined with Wells County Conference member Ossian. This lineup lasted only three years, as Berne would return to the EIC in 1962. The remaining five schools stuck together until 1966, as Geneva high school closed. Lancaster Central, Monmouth, and Ossian were all slated to close that next year, so the remaining four schools went their separate ways. Adams Central would be joined by Ossian in the ACAC, while Lancaster and Monmouth would play out their last season by returning to the EIC.