The Southern Wisconsin Association of Private Schools Conference, more commonly known by its abbreviated form (SWAPS Conference), is a former high school athletic conference consisting mostly of private high schools in southern Wisconsin. It was formed in 1957 and disbanded in 1961.
History
The SWAPS Conference was founded in 1957 by five small high schools in southern Wisconsin. Despite the name of the conference, only four of the five original members were private schools. Beloit Catholic and St. Mary's both belonged to the newly created Wisconsin Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association, and the two military academies (Northwestern Military & Naval Academy and St. John's Military Academy) did not belong to any sort of larger organization at that time. The fifth member, Wisconsin School for the Deaf, was funded by the state of Wisconsin, and was therefore the only school in the conference's original roster to be eligible for membership in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. A second public high school (Williams Bay) was added in 1958 after the dissolution of the Southern Regional Conference. They were members of the conference for one school year before joining the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference in 1959. The SWAPS Conference was disbanded after the 1960–1961 school year. Only one former member joined another conference for 1961 (St. Mary's to the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference), and the rest became independents before eventually joining other conferences.
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBeloit CatholicBeloit, WIPrivate (Catholic)Crusaders 19571961IndependentClosed in 2000Northwestern Military & Naval AcademyLake Geneva, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian, Military)Falcons 19571961IndependentClosed in 1995 (merged with St. John's Military Academy)St. John's Military AcademyDelafield, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian, Military)Lancers 19571961IndependentMidwest ClassicSt. Mary'sBurlington, WIPrivate (Catholic)Hilltoppers 19571961Southeastern WisconsinMidwest ClassicWisconsin School for the DeafDelavan, WIPublic (Special Needs)Firebirds 19571961IndependentIndian Trails
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceWilliams BayWilliams Bay, WIPublicBulldogs 19581959Southeastern WisconsinTrailways
Membership timeline
List of conference champions Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYears Beloit Catholic 21958, 1960 Williams Bay11959 Northwestern Military & Naval Academy0 St. John's Military Academy0 St. Mary's0 Wisconsin School for the Deaf0Champions from 1961 unknown
Football SchoolQuantityYears Beloit Catholic 11958 St. John's Military Academy11960 St. Mary's11959 Northwestern Military & Naval Academy0 Wisconsin School for the Deaf0
References