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Southern Regional Conference

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The Southern Regional Conference is a former high school athletic conference in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, operational from 1937 to 1958. Member schools were associated with either the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association or Illinois High School Association.

History

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Formation and Growth (1937-1956)

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The Southern Regional Conference was formed from a split of four member schools from the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference: Clinton, Darien, Genoa City and Williams Bay. Along with Capron High School in Illinois, they formed the original five members of the conference.[1] In 1939, Palmyra joined after competing as an independent after their exit from the Southeastern three years prior.[2] Membership increased to seven when Sharon High School joined the conference in 1940[3] and eight when Walworth High School joined in 1944.[4] College High School (a lab school run by Whitewater Teachers College) joined the Southern Regional Conference from the Rock River Valley League in 1945,[5] and two years later a tenth member was added in the form of Richmond-Burton High School in Illinois.[6] Capron High School was consolidated into the new North Boone High School in Poplar Grove in 1949,[7] taking Capron's place in the conference.

Rapid Membership Decline (1956-1958)

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Membership continued at ten for the next seven years, but the Southern Regional Conference quickly started to shed members in the late 1950s due to both schools leaving the conference and consolidation of rural school districts. The first domino to fall was North Boone High School's exit from the conference in 1956, they joined the SHARK Conference that same year.[8] Richmond-Burton High School took the same path as North Boone a year later, leaving the Southern Regional in 1957 to join them in the SHARK.[9] That same year, Darien High School merged with nearby Delavan High School to form the new Delavan-Darien High School,[10] and the new school took Delavan's place in the Southern Lakes Conference.[11] Two more consolidations occurred in 1958: Sharon and Walworth High Schools merged to form the new Big Foot High School,[12] and Genoa City merged with Lake Geneva to form Badger High School.[13] Big Foot was to set to remain in the Southern Regional Conference due to their predecessors both being member schools, but Badger took Lake Geneva's place in the Southern Lakes Conference.[14] College High in Whitewater was also set for closing by Whitewater State College in 1959,[15] so they left the conference to compete as an independent for their last season.

Dissolution and Aftermath

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With all of the changes to membership in the Southern Regional Conference, only four schools (Big Foot, Clinton, Palmyra and Williams Bay) were set to compete in the conference for the 1958-59 school year. The conference decided to disband that year, with three schools (Big Foot, Clinton and Palmyra) joining the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference[16] and Williams Bay joining the Southern Wisconsin Private Schools (SWAPS) Conference,[17] which they played in for one season before joining the Southeastern in 1959.

Conference Membership History

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School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined Left Conference Joined Current Conference
Capron Capron, IL Public N/A Vikings     1937[1] 1949[7] Closed (consolidated into North Boone)
Clinton Clinton, WI Public 359 Cougars     1937[1] 1958[16] Southeastern Wisconsin Rock Valley
Darien Darien, WI Public N/A Golden Eagles     1937[1] 1957[10] Closed (consolidated into Delavan-Darien)[10]
Genoa City Genoa City, WI Public N/A Mustangs     1937[1] 1958[13] Closed (consolidated into Badger)[13]
Williams Bay Williams Bay, WI Public 212 Bulldogs     1937[1] 1958[17] SWAPS Trailways
Palmyra Palmyra, WI Public 195 Panthers     1939[2] 1958[16] Southeastern Wisconsin Trailways
Sharon Sharon, WI Public N/A Panthers     1940[3] 1958[12] Closed (consolidated into Big Foot)[12]
Walworth Walworth, WI Public N/A Warriors     1944[4] 1958[12] Closed (consolidated into Big Foot)[12]
College High Whitewater, WI Public N/A Preps     1945[5] 1958[15] Independent Closed in 1959
Richmond-Burton Richmond, IL Public 534[18] Rockets     1947[6] 1957[9] SHARK (IHSA) Big Northern (IHSA)
North Boone Poplar Grove, IL Public 493[19] Vikings     1949[7] 1956[8] SHARK (IHSA) Kishwaukee River (IHSA)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Clinton to Play 6-Man Football". The Stoughton Courier. 24 September 1937. p. 6. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Prep Cage Results". Wisconsin State Journal. 13 January 1940. p. 7. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Genoa Takes Early Lead in Southern Regional League". Lake Geneva Regional News. 12 December 1940. p. 17. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Prep Cage Scores". Wisconsin State Journal. 9 December 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  5. ^ a b "College High to Leave Rock Valley". The Capital Times. 22 March 1945. p. 23. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b "College High Tops Walworth". Janesville Weekly Gazette. 28 November 1947. p. 12. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "North Boone Board Holds 1st Meeting". Belvidere Daily Republican. 12 January 1949. p. 8. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Capron's Withdrawl From South Regional Comes as Surprise". Janesville Weekly Gazette. 25 February 1955. p. 10. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Southern Regional Cards 12-Game Cage Schedule". Janesville Weekly Gazette. 19 March 1957. p. 10. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  10. ^ a b c "Teachers Start Work at New Delavan-Darien HS". Janesville Weekly Gazette. 20 September 1957. p. 4. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  11. ^ "East Troy Squad Readies for Game with Rochester". Janesville Weekly Gazette. 11 September 1957. p. 15. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Sharon High is Defeated in Final Sports Contest". Janesville Weekly Gazette. 22 May 1958. p. 15. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "New Geneva School is Named Badger". Janesville Weekly Gazette. 15 January 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  14. ^ "First Badger High Squad (photo insert caption)". Lake Geneva Regional News. 25 September 1958. p. 9. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  15. ^ a b Mills, Mary (31 December 1958). "Continued Growth Seen by Whitewater College; Huge Building Program". Janesville Weekly Gazette. p. 11. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  16. ^ a b c Dunn, Pat (12 January 1958). "SEC Has Met Growing Pains by Expansion". Racine Journal Times. p. 35. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  17. ^ a b "2 Championship Cage Teams to Play in SWAPS This Year". Racine Journal Times. 17 November 1958. p. 15. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  18. ^ "Richmond-Burton High School". National Center for Education Statistics. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  19. ^ "North Boone High School". National Center for Education Statistics. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
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