Woodland Conference

7km
4.3miles

   

Location of Original Woodland Conference Members

The Woodland Conference was formed in 1993 by nine medium-sized high schools in the Milwaukee metropolitan area: Brookfield Central, Brookfield East, Cudahy, Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa East and Wauwatosa West.^[1] Six of the original members came from two area conferences that disbanded the year prior: the Braveland Conference (Brookfield Central and Brookfield East) and the Suburban Park Conference (Cudahy, Greendale, Greenfield and South Milwaukee). Franklin was formerly in the Parkland Conference, and Wauwatosa East and Wauwatosa West were former members of the North Shore Conference. The original membership roster remained intact for the first four years of the conference's history before major realignment occurred in 1997.^[2] Five schools left the Woodland conference that year: three became charter members of the new Greater Metro Conference (Brookfield Central, Brookfield East and Wauwatosa East)^[2] and two went to the Southeast Conference (Franklin and South Milwaukee).^[3] These four schools were replaced by three schools formerly in the Parkland Conference (New Berlin Eisenhower, New Berlin West and Whitnall)^[4] and Thomas More from the Metro Conference.^[5] The entry of Thomas More into the Woodland Conference coincided with the merger between the public schools of the WIAA and the private schools in the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association.^[6]

In 2006, the Woodland Conference welcomed four schools displaced by the cessation of the Parkland Conference: Brown Deer, Pewaukee, Shorewood and St. Francis.^[7] To accommodate the expansion from eight to twelve members, the Woodland Conference subdivided along geographic lines:

In 2009, South Milwaukee returned to the Woodland Conference after being dissatisfied by the competitive imbalance they experienced as members of the Southeast Conference.^[8] The conference realigned again, with larger schools in the conference comprising the Black Division and smaller ones in the Blue Division:

After three years of this arrangement, the Woodland Conference realigned by geography into East and West Divisions in 2012. Pius XI also joined that year after leaving the Classic 8 Conference, replacing Thomas More after they joined the new Metro Classic Conference:^[9]

St. Francis left the Woodland Conference in 2014 to join with smaller schools in the Midwest Classic Conference.^[10] In 2017, the Woodland Conference lost Wauwatosa West to the Greater Metro Conference, exchanging affiliations with newcomers West Allis Central.^[11] Milwaukee Lutheran joined the Woodland Conference after two decades as members of the North Shore Conference,^[11] along with Wisconsin Lutheran following the dissolution of the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference.^[12] Milwaukee Lutheran became members of the East Division, and West Allis Central and Wisconsin Lutheran joined the West Division:

The Woodland Conference has expanded its membership roster to sixteen schools in 2025, accepting Waukesha North and Waukesha South from the Classic 8 Conference.^[13] Both schools will be joining the West Division, with West Allis Central moving to the East Division to keep membership at eight schools per division.

In October 2025, the WIAA fast-tracked a plan for Woodland Conference to split into two separate organizations along divisional lines. The eight schools in the Eastern Division (Brown Deer, Cudahy, Greenfield, Milwaukee Lutheran, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, West Allis Central and Whitnall) will remain in the Woodland Conference and be joined by two newcomers, Augustine Prep in Milwaukee and Nathan Hale in West Allis. The eight schools in the Woodland's Western Division will split off into a new conference and revive the Parkland Conference name for all sports.^[14]

In February 2019, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, the WIAA released a sweeping football-only realignment for Wisconsin to commence with the 2020 football season and run on a two-year cycle.^[15] The eight-member conference originally referred to as the Woodland East featured Cudahy, Grafton, Greendale, Greenfield, Shorewood/Messmer, South Milwaukee, Whitnall and Wisconsin Lutheran as its original members.^[16] All members with the exception of Grafton (whose primary affiliation is with the North Shore Conference) were full members of the Woodland Conference. Another conference that was first called the Woodland West changed its name to the Parkland Conference before competition began, reviving a name previously used for an all-sport conference from 1963 to 2006.^[16] Membership remained intact for the first four seasons of play before changes were made for the 2024-2025 cycle. Cudahy was moved to the large-schools division of the Midwest Classic Conference, with full Woodland members Milwaukee Lutheran moving over from the Parkland Conference as their replacement.^[17] For the 2026-2027 realignment cycle, the Woodland Conference will be losing three members: Grafton (Glacier Trails), Shorewood/Messmer (Midwest Classic) and Wisconsin Lutheran (North Shore). They will be replaced by the two high schools in West Allis, with Nathan Hale joining from the Greater Metro Conference and West Allis Central moving over from the Parkland Conference. Along with the Parkland Conference, the Woodland Conference will have seven schools each and play one mandatory crossover game per school.^[18]

 North Division  South Division  Black Division  Blue Division  East Division  West Division

 North Division  South Division  Black Division  Blue Division  East Division  West Division