Siouxland Conference

The Siouxland Conference was founded in 1952 and began play in the 1953–54 school year.^[2][3] Originally the league was made up of: Inwood, George and Rock Rapids^[4][5] from Lyon County; Orange City, and Hawarden from Sioux County; and Akron and Le Mars Gehlen^[3] from Plymouth County. Rock Valley replaced Augustana Academy of Canton, South Dakota, in 1960.^[6] West Sioux of Hawarden left the conference in 1965, and rejoined for a short period in the 1970s.^[7][8] Boyden–Hull became a conference member by 1965.^[9][10] Sioux Center, formerly of the Sioux Empire Conference,^[10] and Central Lyon of Rock Rapids joined the Siouxland Conference in 1967.^[11] Akron withdrew from the league at the conclusion of the 1975 baseball season.^[2] Little Rock merged with George to become George–Little Rock in 1989.^[12] The league then went through a set of changes in the early 1990s when it added Sibley–Ocheyedan from the Lakes Conference, and Hartley–Melvin–Sanborn and Okoboji from the disbanded Sioux Valley Conference.^[13] Maurice–Orange City merged with Floyd Valley to become MOC–Floyd Valley in 1994.^[14] The conference remained the same until Hartley–Mevin–Sanborn left for the War Eagle Conference in 2009 and longtime Sibley–Ocheyedan rival Sheldon moved in from the Lakes Conference.^[15][16] Through 2022, War Eagle Conference member Unity Christian, located in Orange City, Iowa, applied for membership to the conference at least five times, and been denied four times. Former Lakes Conference member and Western Christian had applied twice, and denied each time as well.^[17][18]

On September 20, 2022, George–Little Rock applied for membership to the War Eagle Conference.^[18] The War Eagle Conference approved membership of the Mustangs on October 20, 2022.^[19] In October 2022, the Siouxland Conference finally accepted the membership application of Unity Christian, whom swapped conferences with George–Little Rock.^[17]

In October 2024, Siouxland Conference president Steve Grond stated that several current and former Lakes Conference schools had been denied entry into the Siouxland Conference.^[20] Negotiations continued,^[21] and, in December 2024, the Siouxland Conference extended invitations to Cherokee, Estherville–Lincoln Central, Spencer and Storm Lake to join from the defunct Lakes Conference starting with the 2026-27 academic year. The Siouxland Conference officially announced on January 8, 2025 that these schools will officially join the conference on August 1, 2026 along with former Lakes Conference members Spirit Lake and Western Christian to form a 16-school superconference.^[22]

On February 21, 2025, the Sibley–Ocheyedan school board applied for membership in the War Eagle Conference. On March 31, 2025, it was announced that the application was approved and that the school would leave the Siouxland Conference for the War Eagle Conference effective for the 2025-26 academic year. Sibley–Ocheyedan superintendent Stan De Zeeuw explained that that the school, which already has the second lowest enrollment in the Siouxland Conference, wanted to align with schools of a similar size, especially in light of the upcoming addition of the six former Lakes Conference schools.^[23]