Southern Five Conference

The Southern Five Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin. Its membership was concentrated in southeastern Wisconsin and was in existence from 1928 to 1946. All members were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

The Southern Five Conference, alternatively known as the Little Five Conference and the Southern State Conference during its history, was formed in 1928 by a group of five medium-sized high schools in Racine and Walworth Counties: Burlington, Delavan (now Delavan-Darien), Elkhorn, Lake Geneva and Whitewater Normal. The addition of Walworth to the conference, first as a football-only member in 1932 and for all sports in 1935 brought the membership roster to its high of six schools. They would only last two more seasons as conference members, and the ledger experienced a net decrease to five schools with Whitewater Normal and Whitewater of the Rock River Valley League swapping affiliations. Competition lasted for eighteen years before the members of the Southern Five joined with three IHSA-affiliated high schools in neighboring McHenry County, Illinois (Harvard, Marengo and McHenry) to form the Southern Wisconsin-Northern Illinois Conference, more commonly known as the SWANI Conference, in 1946.

Conference membership history

Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationNicknameColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBurlingtonBurlington, WIPublicDemons 19281946SWANISouthern LakesDelavanDelavan, WIPublicComets 19281946SWANIRock ValleyElkhornElkhorn, WIPublicElks 19281946SWANISouthern LakesLake GenevaLake Geneva, WIPublicResorters 19281946SWANIClosed in 1958 (consolidated into Badger)WhitewaterWhitewater, WIPublicQuakers 19371946SWANIRock Valley

Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationNicknameColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceWalworthWalworth, WIPublicWarriors 19351937IndependentClosed in 1958 (consolidated into Big Foot)Whitewater NormalWhitewater, WIPublic (Lab school)Quakers, Preps 19281937Rock River ValleyClosed in 1959

Football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceWalworthWalworth, WIPublicWarriors 1932-1934Southeastern Wisconsin

Membership timeline

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsDelavan81930, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1941, 1942Burlington71931, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1944Elkhorn31929, 1945, 1946Lake Geneva21935, 1943Whitewater11940Walworth0Whitewater Normal0

Football SchoolQuantityYearsLake Geneva61933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1941, 1945Burlington41932, 1935, 1943, 1944Delavan31929, 1939, 1942Elkhorn31928, 1930, 1931Walworth11934Whitewater11940Whitewater Normal0

References