The Southern Wisconsin Association of Private Schools Conference, more commonly known by its abbreviated form (SWAPS Conference), is a former high school athletic conference consisting mostly of private high schools in southern Wisconsin. It was formed in 1957 and disbanded in 1961.

History

Map
Location of Original SWAPS Conference Members

The SWAPS Conference was founded in 1957 by five small high schools in southern Wisconsin. Despite the name of the conference, only four of the five original members were private schools. Beloit Catholic and St. Mary's both belonged to the newly created Wisconsin Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association, and the two military academies (Northwestern Military & Naval Academy and St. John's Military Academy) did not belong to any sort of larger organization at that time. The fifth member, Wisconsin School for the Deaf, was funded by the state of Wisconsin, and was therefore the only school in the conference's original roster to be eligible for membership in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. A second public high school (Williams Bay) was added in 1958 after the dissolution of the Southern Regional Conference. They were members of the conference for one school year before joining the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference in 1959. The SWAPS Conference was disbanded after the 1960–1961 school year. Only one former member joined another conference for 1961 (St. Mary's to the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference), and the rest became independents before eventually joining other conferences.

Conference membership history

Final members

SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
Beloit CatholicBeloit, WIPrivate (Catholic)Crusaders19571961IndependentClosed in 2000
Northwestern Military & Naval AcademyLake Geneva, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian, Military)Falcons19571961IndependentClosed in 1995 (merged with St. John's Military Academy)
St. John's Military AcademyDelafield, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian, Military)Lancers19571961IndependentMidwest Classic
St. Mary'sBurlington, WIPrivate (Catholic)Hilltoppers19571961Southeastern WisconsinMidwest Classic
Wisconsin School for the DeafDelavan, WIPublic (Special Needs)Firebirds19571961IndependentIndian Trails

Previous members

SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
Williams BayWilliams Bay, WIPublicBulldogs19581959Southeastern WisconsinTrailways

Membership timeline

Non-football member

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

SchoolQuantityYears
Beloit Catholic21958, 1960
Williams Bay11959
Northwestern Military & Naval Academy0
St. John's Military Academy0
St. Mary's0
Wisconsin School for the Deaf0
Champions from 1961 unknown

Football

SchoolQuantityYears
Beloit Catholic11958
St. John's Military Academy11960
St. Mary's11959
Northwestern Military & Naval Academy0
Wisconsin School for the Deaf0