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

50km
31miles

   

Location of Original Northeastern Wisconsin Conference Members

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.^[1] Gillett and Two Rivers joined the conference before the 1927 football season to give the NEW Conference fifteen members.^[2] 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.^[3]

1933-1952

In 1933, the NEW Conference split its thirteen member schools into Eastern and Western Divisions:^[4]

Eastern Division	Western Division
Algoma	Kaukauna
De Pere	Menasha
Kewaunee	Neenah
Oconto	New London
Oconto Falls	Shawano
Sturgeon Bay	West De Pere
Two Rivers

Clintonville rejoined the conference in 1934, and they took up residence in the Western Division, putting each division at seven members apiece.^[5] Conference membership remained stable for over a decade until West De Pere left the NEW Conference in 1943 to compete as an independent.^[6] Two Rivers moved from the Eastern to the Western Division in 1949,^[7] 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.^[8] 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:^[9]

Eastern Division	Western Division
Algoma	Clintonville
De Pere	Kaukauna
Kewaunee	Kimberly
Oconto	Menasha
Oconto Falls	Neenah
Pulaski	New London
Seymour	Shawano
Sturgeon Bay	Two Rivers
West De Pere

1952-1966

30km
19miles

   

Location of Northeastern Wisconsin Conference Members (1956-1964)

In 1952, all eight schools in the Northeastern Wisconsin Conference's Western Division left to form the Mid-Eastern Conference.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13]

1966-1970

30km
19miles

   

Location of Final Northeastern Wisconsin Conference Members

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.^[14]

Conference membership history

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Left	Conference Joined	Current Conference
Algoma	Algoma, WI	Public	219	Wolves		1927[1]	1970[14]	Packerland
Clintonville	Clintonville, WI	Public	412	Truckers		1927,[1] 1934[5]	1931,[3] 1952[10]	Mid-Eastern	North Eastern
De Pere	De Pere, WI	Public	1,457	Redbirds		1927[1]	1970[14]	Bay	Fox River Classic
Gillett	Gillett, WI	Public	158	Tigers		1927[2]	1931[3]	Independent	Marinette & Oconto
Kaukauna	Kaukauna, WI	Public	1,253	Galloping Ghosts		1927[1]	1952[10]	Mid-Eastern	Fox Valley Association
Kewaunee	Kewaunee, WI	Public	298	Indians		1927[1]	1970[14]	Packerland
Menasha	Menasha, WI	Public	966	Blue Jays		1927[1]	1952[10]	Mid-Eastern	Bay
Neenah	Neenah, WI	Public	1,979	Rockets		1927[1]	1952[10]	Mid-Eastern	Fox Valley Association
New London	New London, WI	Public	712	Bulldogs		1927[1]	1952[10]	Mid-Eastern	Bay
Oconto	Oconto, WI	Public	282	Blue Devils		1927[1]	1970[14]	Bay	Packerland
Oconto Falls	Oconto Falls, WI	Public	521	Panthers		1927[1]	1970[14]	Bay	North Eastern
Shawano	Shawano, WI	Public	797	Indians		1927[1]	1952[10]	Mid-Eastern	Bay
Sturgeon Bay	Sturgeon Bay, WI	Public	394	Clippers		1927[1]	1970[14]	Packerland
Two Rivers	Two Rivers, WI	Public	480	Raiders		1927[2]	1952[10]	Mid-Eastern	Eastern Wisconsin
West De Pere	De Pere, WI	Public	1,087	Phantoms		1927,[1] 1951[9]	1943,[6] 1970	Bay	Fox River Classic (2025)
Kimberly	Kimberly, WI	Public	1,595	Papermakers		1950[8]	1952[10]	Mid-Eastern	Fox Valley Association
Seymour	Seymour, WI	Public	655	Indians		1950[8]	1970	Bay
Pulaski	Pulaski, WI	Public	1,141	Red Raiders		1951[9]	1970[14]	Bay	Fox River Classic
Preble	Preble, WI	Public	2,235	Hornets		1956[11]	1964[12]	Fox River Valley	Fox River Classic
Bonduel	Bonduel, WI	Public	262	Bears		1964[12]	1970[14]	Central Wisconsin
Ashwaubenon	Ashwaubenon, WI	Public	989	Jaguars		1966[13]	1970[14]	Bay	Fox River Classic
Bay Port	Suamico, WI	Public	1,915	Pirates		1966[13]	1970[14]	Bay	Fox River Classic

Membership timeline

 Eastern Division  Western Division

List of state champions

Fall sports

None

Winter sports

Boys Basketball

School	Year	Division
Neenah	1930	Single Division
De Pere	1934	Class B
Shawano	1938	Class B
Shawano	1940	Single Division
Two Rivers	1941	Single Division

Skiing

School	Year	Division
Sturgeon Bay	1968	Single Division

Spring sports

Baseball

School	Year	Division
Menasha	1950	Single Division

Boys Tennis

School	Year	Division
Shawano	1939	Single Division
Shawano	1940	Single Division
Shawano	1941	Single Division
Neenah	1946	Single Division
Neenah	1951	Single Division

Boys Track & Field

School	Year	Division
Shawano	1936	Class B
Sturgeon Bay	1959	Class B