Little Nine Conference
Former Wisconsin high school athletic conference
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The Little Nine Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin. Operational from 1928 to 1970, its membership was concentrated in east central Wisconsin and all member schools belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1928–1950
The Little Nine Conference was founded in 1928 by a group of nine small high schools in the Fox River Valley: Bear Creek, Brillion, Denmark, Hortonville, Kimberly, Little Chute (not related to the current high school), Pulaski, Seymour and Wrightstown.[1] Hilbert joined the following year to put membership at ten schools.[2] In 1930, Reedsville joined the Little Nine Conference, replacing the original Little Chute High School, which closed and redistricted to Appleton and Kaukauna.[3][4] The Little Nine also split into Eastern and Western Divisions that year:[5]
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
|---|---|
| Brillion | Bear Creek |
| Denmark | Hortonville |
| Hilbert | Kimberly |
| Reedsville | Pulaski |
| Wrightstown | Seymour |
In 1931, conference membership increased to twelve schools as Freedom and Shiocton joined the Little Nine.[6] Stockbridge was also invited to join the Little Nine that year[7] but declined the invite. Freedom was placed in the Eastern Division while Shiocton was placed in the Western Division:[8]
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
|---|---|
| Brillion | Bear Creek |
| Denmark | Hortonville |
| Freedom | Kimberly |
| Hilbert | Pulaski |
| Reedsville | Seymour |
| Wrightstown | Shiocton |
Pulaski left the conference in 1933 to compete independent of conference affiliation,[9] and two schools swapped divisions with Freedom moving to the Western Division and Kimberly to the Eastern Division.[10] Two years later, Winneconne joined the Little Nine Conference from the Little 6-C Conference to bring membership back up to twelve schools. They took up residence in the Western Division to give the conference two six-team divisions:[11]
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
|---|---|
| Brillion | Bear Creek |
| Denmark | Freedom |
| Hilbert | Hortonville |
| Kimberly | Seymour |
| Reedsville | Shiocton |
| Wrightstown | Winneconne |
Seymour and Wrightstown swapped division affiliation in 1937,[12] and the conference would maintain this alignment for twelve years. Football was added as a sponsored sport in 1947 with five schools (Brillion, Denmark, Shiocton Winneconne and Wrightstown) participating.[13] In 1950, Kimberly and Seymour left to join the Northeastern Wisconsin Conference, leaving membership at ten schools.[14] Divisions were also abolished that year, and the Little Nine competed as a single entity for the rest of its history.[15]
1950–1970
The Little Nine Conference remained a fairly stable loop in terms of membership with few changes occurring during the last two decades of the conference's run. Brillion left in 1951 to join the Eastern Wisconsin Conference,[16] they were not replaced until 1956 when Omro joined the Little Nine from the Big 7-C Conference.[17] Brillion would return in 1965 to replace Bear Creek after they left the conference to compete in the Wolf River Valley Conference for the remainder of their history.[18] The Little Nine Conference continued as a ten-member circuit before disbanding in 1970. Six schools moved on to the new Olympian Conference (Brillion, Denmark, Freedom, Hilbert, Reedsville and Wrightstown),[19] three joined the new East Central Conference (Hortonville, Omro and Winneconne),[20] and Shiocton was accepted into the Central Wisconsin Conference.[21]
Conference membership history
Final members
| School | Location | Affiliation | Mascot | Colors | Joined | Left | Conference Joined | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brillion | Brillion, WI | Public | Lions | 1928,[1] 1965[18] | 1951,[16] 1970[19] | Eastern Wisconsin, Olympian | Eastern Wisconsin | |
| Denmark | Denmark, WI | Public | Vikings | 1928[1] | 1970[19] | Olympian | North Eastern | |
| Freedom | Freedom, WI | Public | Irish | 1931[6] | 1970[19] | Olympian | North Eastern | |
| Hilbert | Hilbert, WI | Public | Wolves | 1929[2] | 1970[19] | Olympian | Big East | |
| Hortonville | Hortonville, WI | Public | Polar Bears | 1928[1] | 1970[20] | East Central | Fox Valley Association | |
| Omro | Omro, WI | Public | Foxes | 1956[17] | 1970[20] | East Central | Wisconsin Flyway | |
| Reedsville | Reedsville, WI | Public | Panthers | 1930[3] | 1970[19] | Olympian | Big East | |
| Shiocton | Shiocton, WI | Public | Chiefs | 1931[6] | 1970[21] | Central Wisconsin | ||
| Winneconne | Winneconne, WI | Public | Wolves | 1935[11] | 1970[20] | East Central | Bay (2025) | |
| Wrightstown | Wrightstown, WI | Public | Tigers | 1928[1] | 1970[19] | Olympian | North Eastern | |
Previous members
| School | Location | Affiliation | Mascot | Colors | Joined | Left | Conference Joined | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Creek | Bear Creek, WI | Public | Bruins | 1928[1] | 1965[18] | Wolf River Valley | Closed in 1969 (consolidated into Clintonville) | |
| Kimberly | Kimberly, WI | Public | Papermakers | 1928[1] | 1950[14] | Northeastern Wisconsin | Fox Valley Association | |
| Little Chute | Little Chute, WI | Public | Purple and Gold | 1928[1] | 1930[4] | Closed (district split between Appleton and Kaukauna) | ||
| Pulaski | Pulaski, WI | Public | Red Raiders | 1928[1] | 1933[9] | Independent | Fox River Classic | |
| Seymour | Seymour, WI | Public | Indians | 1928[1] | 1950[14] | Northeastern Wisconsin | Bay | |
Membership timeline
Full members
Eastern Division Western Division
Football members
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball
| School | Quantity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Hortonville | 13 | 1931, 1933, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959 |
| Winneconne | 11 | 1940, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1951, 1956, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 |
| Kimberly | 10 | 1932, 1934, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 |
| Reedsville | 8 | 1931, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1945, 1946, 1963, 1964 |
| Seymour | 7 | 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1949 |
| Hilbert | 6 | 1943, 1950, 1955, 1963, 1964, 1965 |
| Denmark | 5 | 1930, 1937, 1938, 1955, 1962 |
| Bear Creek | 3 | 1938, 1941, 1954 |
| Omro | 3 | 1968, 1969, 1970 |
| Brillion | 2 | 1929, 1935 |
| Freedom | 2 | 1945, 1946 |
| Shiocton | 2 | 1960, 1961 |
| Little Chute | 0 | |
| Pulaski | 0 | |
| Wrightstown | 0 |
Football
| School | Quantity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Winneconne | 8 | 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957 |
| Denmark | 8 | 1952, 1954, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969 |
| Freedom | 4 | 1957, 1961, 1964, 1965 |
| Wrightstown | 4 | 1948, 1954, 1962, 1968 |
| Brillion | 3 | 1948, 1967, 1968 |
| Hortonville | 3 | 1956, 1957, 1969 |
| Reedsville | 3 | 1957, 1958, 1959 |
| Omro | 1 | 1963 |
| Hilbert | 0 | |
| Shiocton | 0 |