Wisconsin Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association

The Wisconsin Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association is a former organization for high school athletics in Wisconsin. Its membership consisted entirely of parochial high schools, and was in operation from 1957 to 1968.

History

The origins of the Wisconsin Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association date back to 1928, when Marquette University in Milwaukee sponsored a basketball tournament for the state's Catholic high schools. This was the first such competition in the state, and it eventually became an annual event. In 1957, the thirty-four Catholic high schools participating in that year's tournament assembled to form the Wisconsin Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association. At the time of the WCIAA's founding, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association limited its membership to public high schools, and the WCIAA gave parochial schools the chance to compete for statewide championships. Over the course of its eleven-year existence, the WCIAA sponsored championships for:

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cross Country
• Golf
• Tennis
• Track and Field
• Wrestling

By the late 1960s, many new independent high schools had opened up in the state of Wisconsin that were outside the Catholic church, sponsored either by other religions or private entities. The forty-one members of the WCIAA added twelve non-Catholic high schools in 1968 (along with Queen of Apostles, a Catholic high school in Madison who was already slated to join) and became the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association to reflect its expanded scope.

Executive Directors

• Phil Schrempf (1957–1959)
• Steve Pavela (1959–1968)

WCIAA membership history

Membership timeline

Former WCIAA-affiliated conferences

Alignments are listed for WCIAA membership dates only; see links for full conference histories.

Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference

Fox Valley Catholic Conference

Milwaukee Catholic Conference

WCIAA members in non-WCIAA conferences

List of state champions