Bay Conference

The Bay Conference, is a high school athletic conference made up of eight teams in northeastern Wisconsin, centering primarily around the Green Bay and Fox Valley metropolitan areas. Conference schools are members of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

For the Sandusky, Ohio athletic conference, see Sandusky Bay Conference.
Bay Conference
Established1970
AssociationWIAA
Members8
HeadquartersSeymour, Wisconsin
CommissionerMark Zahn
Websitehttp://www.bayconference.org/

Conference history

1970–2007

The Bay Conference was established in 1970 by charter members Ashwaubenon, Bay Port, Clintonville, De Pere, Marinette, Oconto, Oconto Falls, Pulaski, Seymour, and West De Pere. 1979 brought the addition of former East Central Conference member New London and former Wisconsin Valley Conference member Shawano, in exchange for Oconto and Oconto Falls, who would go to the Central Wisconsin Conference. In 1999, Clintonville left the Bay Conference to join the newly formed Valley 8 Conference. Of the ten original members, only Seymour, and West De Pere have remained in the conference since its inception.

2007–2015

The 2007 WIAA realignment brought major changes to the Bay Conference. Ashwaubenon, Bay Port, De Pere, and Pulaski transferred to the Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC), where they joined the larger Green Bay, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan area high schools. Hortonville and Oconto Falls transferred from the now defunct Valley 8 Conference, and Denmark and Luxemburg-Casco transferred from the Packerland Conference. Each of these schools had increasing enrollments and had outgrown their previous conferences.

In late 2008, Hortonville petitioned the WIAA to move the growing school into the Fox Valley Association in exchange for Menasha High School, whose declining enrollment prompted them to look at other alternatives. Hortonville cited travel times and costs as well as the imbalance that existed in the Bay Conference as reasons to leave. Hortonville's enrollment was nearly twice as large as the Bay Conference's smallest school and 200 students more than the second largest school. The issue came to a vote at a Menasha School Board meeting, which resulted in Menasha's decision to remain in the FVA.[1] In September 2011, at an WIAA area meeting held in Appleton, Green Bay West requested to leave the FRCC to join the Bay Conference, and Green Bay East asked to go if needed.[2][3] West and East both cited their inability to compete in the FRCC. In a September 2012 WIAA area meeting, New London asked to leave the Bay Conference to move to the Eastern Valley Conference, and Denmark requested to leave. Green Bay East and West are still seeking to move.[4] At a WIAA Board of Control meeting in September, the board gave first approval to swap Hortonville with FVA member Menasha before the 2014-15 school year. A final vote was taken after the 40-day appeal window and passed.[5] In December 2013, the WIAA Board of Control gave first approval for the departure of Denmark, Luxemburg–Casco, Marinette and Oconto Falls to the Eastern Valley in Return for the FRCC's Green Bay East & West and the EVC's Xavier. Waupaca would be in the Bay for football only. A final vote was taken after the 40-day appeal window & successfully passed for implementation for the 2015–2016 school year along with several other conference realignments.[6]

2015–present

Starting in 2015, the conference stayed steady at eight schools. However, in September 2016, West De Pere requested to move to the FRCC, citing inadequate athletic competition in the Bay and a school size that was rapidly growing. Other reasons included rivalries against teams in the FRCC like De Pere, Ashwaubenon and Pulaski. In December 2019, as part of the realignment process, West De Pere formally filed a request to move to the FRCC. After a committee reviewed the process, West De Pere's request was denied due to their failure to provide documents showing discussions with the Northeastern Conference which was provided as a solution to fill the void leaving the Bay Conference. West De Pere chose not to appeal the rejection.[7][8] [9][10]

In 2018, the WIAA and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association released a realignment plan to go into effect starting in fall 2020 for football only. The proposal has Green Bay West, Green Bay East, West De Pere, and Menasha moving to the FRCC, with Fox Valley Lutheran and Marinette joining the five other remaining Bay football schools in a revamped Bay where Shawano would be the largest school in terms of enrollment. After some modifications the final Bay Conference will consist of current schools New London, Seymour, Shawano, Waupaca and Xavier, as well as football-only schools Fox Valley Lutheran and Winneconne.[11][12][13]

Membership

Current members
School Location Enrollment[14] Year
joined		 Colors
Green Bay East Red Devils Green Bay, WI 1,262 2015 Red and black
        
Green Bay West Wildcats Green Bay, WI 837 2015 Purple and white
        
Menasha Bluejays Menasha, WI 915 2014 Blue and white
        
New London Bulldogs New London, WI 693 1979 Red and white
        
Seymour Thunder Seymour, WI 691 1970 Red and white
        
Shawano Hawks Shawano, WI 783 1979 Maroon and black
        
West De Pere Phantoms De Pere, WI 979 1970 Orange and black
        
Xavier Hawks Appleton, WI 571[15] 2015 Blue and white
        

Affiliate members

[16]

School Location Enrollment Primary conference Sports Colors
Clintonville Truckers Clintonville, WI 537 Northeastern Girls Swimming Orange and black
        
Fox Valley Lutheran Foxes Appleton, WI 571 Northeastern Football, Girls Tennis and Boys Tennis Maroon and white
        
Marinette Marines Marinette, WI 641 Northeastern Girls Tennis, Girls Swimming Purple and white
        
Oconto Blue Devils Oconto, WI 321 Packerland Girls Golf Blue and yellow
        
Sturgeon Bay Clippers Sturgeon Bay, WI 387 Packerland Girls Swimming, Girls Golf Maroon and white
        
Waupaca Comets Waupaca, WI 667 Northeastern Football Blue and white
        
Winneconne Wolves Winneconne, WI East Central Football Maroon and White
        
Wittenberg-Birnamwood Chargers Wittenberg, WI 313 Central Wisconsin Girls Swimming Green and yellow
        

Former members
School Location Year joined Year left Left for
Ashwaubenon Jaguars Ashwaubenon, WI 1970 2007 FRCC
Bay Port Pirates Suamico, WI 1970 2007 FRCC
Clintonville Truckers Clintonville, WI 1970 1999 Northeastern
Denmark Vikings Denmark, WI 2007 2015 Northeastern
De Pere Redbirds De Pere, WI 1970 2007 FRCC
Hortonville Polar Bears Hortonville, WI 2007 2014 Fox Valley Association
Luxemburg-Casco Spartans Luxemburg, WI 2007 2015 Northeastern
Marinette Marines Marinette, WI 1970 2015 Northeastern
Oconto Blue Devils Oconto, WI 1970 1979 Packerland
Oconto Falls Panthers Oconto Falls, WI 1970
2007		 1979
2015		 Northeastern
Pulaski Red Raiders Pulaski, WI 1970 2007 FRCC
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References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-13. Retrieved 2009-06-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110922/GPG020510/109220554/West-asks-moved-Bay-Conference-East-will-go-needed?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CGPG-High%20School%20Sports%7Cp%5B%5D
  3. http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110921/GPG020510/109210559/Green-Bay-West-East-may-want-out-FRCC?odyssey=mod_sectionstories%5B%5D
  4. Doug Ritchay. "Green Bay East and West seek to move to Bay Conference," Fox11 Sports, September 26, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  5. WIAA.""Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2013-10-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)"
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2013-12-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "West De Pere requests move to FRCC". Press Gazette Media. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  8. Inc., Midwest Communications. "West De Pere wants out of Bay". WTAQ. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  9. https://www.wiaawi.org/News/News-Article/ArtMID/5378/ArticleID/21254/Task-Force-Conducts-First-Realignment-Review
  10. https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/2019/12/13/west-de-peres-hopeful-move-frcc-put-hold/2637282001/
  11. "Football Coaches Release Football-Only Conference Plan" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  12. https://www.wifca.org/news_article/show/1013510
  13. https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/News%20Releases/2018-19/fbconferences_final.pdf
  14. https://wisedash.dpi.wi.gov/Dashboard/portalHome.jsp
  15. "Xavier High School in Appleton, WI". high-schools.com. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  16. http://www.wiaawi.org/directory.php%5B%5D
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