Northeastern Wisconsin Conference

The Northeastern Wisconsin Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, opening competition in 1927 and disbanding in 1970. Its members were concentrated in the northeastern part of the state, and all members were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

1927–1933

The Northeastern Wisconsin (NEW) Conference was formed in 1927 by thirteen small- to medium-sized high schools in northeastern Wisconsin. Algoma, Clintonville, De Pere, Kaukauna, Kewaunee, Menasha, Neenah, New London, Oconto, Oconto Falls, Shawano, Sturgeon Bay and West De Pere were charter members. Gillett and Two Rivers joined the conference before the 1927 football season to give the NEW Conference fifteen members. The conference had a large geographic footprint, including schools in nine counties (Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca and Winnebago). Four years after the NEW Conference's formation, Clintonville and Gillett left the conference, putting the membership tally at thirteen schools.

1933–1952

In 1933, the NEW Conference split its thirteen member schools into Eastern and Western Divisions:

Clintonville rejoined the conference in 1934, and they took up residence in the Western Division, putting each division at seven members apiece. Conference membership remained stable for over a decade until West De Pere left the NEW Conference in 1943 to compete as an independent. Two Rivers moved from the Eastern to the Western Division in 1949, and the conference added two schools in 1950: Kimberly and Seymour. Both schools had recently left the Little Nine Conference in search of stronger competition, and both joined the Eastern Division for their first season in the NEW Conference. Kimberly switched to the Western Division in 1951, and the Eastern Division welcomed Pulaski and West De Pere. Both schools were formerly in the Mid-Valley Conference, and West De Pere was making its return after it left the NEW Conference eight years prior:

1952–1966

In 1952, all eight schools in the Northeastern Wisconsin Conference's Western Division left to form the Mid-Eastern Conference. The remaining nine schools in the Eastern Division of the NEW Conference continued on as a nine-member circuit. Growth in the Green Bay metropolitan area and the opening of new high schools drove expansion of the NEW Conference in the 1950s and 1960s. Preble High School was opened in 1955 and joined the NEW Conference the next year, bringing membership to ten. In 1964, Preble left the NEW Conference after their school district was consolidated into Green Bay's school district. They joined their new brethren with the larger schools of the Fox River Valley Conference and were replaced by Bonduel, formerly of the Central Wisconsin Conference. Two recently opened high schools joined the NEW Conference in 1966 to bring membership to twelve schools: Ashwaubenon High School and Bay Port High School of the Howard-Suamico district.

1966–1970

The Northeastern Wisconsin Conference would continue with twelve member schools for the next four years before a major realignment occurred in the region. Several conferences were disbanded that year, and the NEW Conference was one of them. Eight of the twelve former NEW Conference schools, along with Clintonville of the Mid-Eastern Conference and former independent Marinette, formed the new Bay Conference: Ashwaubenon, Bay Port, De Pere, Oconto, Oconto Falls, Pulaski, Seymour and West De Pere. Three of the smaller schools (Algoma, Kewaunee and Sturgeon Bay) became charter members of the Packerland Conference and Bonduel returned to the Central Wisconsin Conference after leaving six years prior.

Conference membership history

Final members

Previous members

Membership timeline

Eastern Division Western Division

List of state champions

Fall sports

None

Winter sports

Spring sports

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

Football