Bay Conference


The Bay Conference is a high school athletics conference made up of nine schools in northeastern Wisconsin, centering primarily around the Green Bay and Fox Valley metropolitan areas. The conference and its member schools are members of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
WWW Official Site

History

1970–2007

The Bay Conference was established in 1970 by charter members Ashwaubenon, Bay Port, Clintonville, De Pere, Marinette, Oconto, Oconto Falls, Pulaski, Seymour, and De Pere High School|West De Pere]. Eight of the original members of the Bay Conference competed previously in the Northeastern Wisconsin Conference, all with the exception of Clintonville and Marinette.1979 brought the addition of former East Central Conference member New London and former Wisconsin Valley Conference member Shawano, in exchange for Oconto and Oconto Falls, who would go to the Central Wisconsin Conference. In 1999, Clintonville left the Bay Conference to join the newly formed Valley 8 Conference. Of the ten original members, only Seymour has remained in the conference since its inception.

2007–2015

In 2007, realignment in the Fox Valley region by the WIAA brought major changes to the Bay Conference. Four schools transferred to the Fox River Classic Conference, where they joined the larger Green Bay, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan area high schools. Replacing the departing schools were two former members of the Packerland Conference and two schools from the shuttered Valley 8 Conference. Each of these schools had increasing enrollments and had outgrown their previous conferences.
In late 2008, Hortonville petitioned the WIAA to move the growing school into the Fox Valley Association in exchange for Menasha High School, whose declining enrollment prompted them to look at other alternatives. Hortonville cited travel times and costs as well as the imbalance that existed in the Bay Conference as reasons to leave. Hortonville's enrollment was nearly twice as large as the Bay Conference's smallest school and 200 students more than the second largest school. The issue came to a vote at a Menasha School Board meeting, which resulted in Menasha's decision to remain in the FVA. In September 2011, at an WIAA area meeting held in Appleton, Green Bay West requested to leave the FRCC to join the Bay Conference, and Green Bay East asked to go if needed. West and East both cited their inability to compete in the FRCC. In a September 2012 WIAA area meeting, New London asked to leave the Bay Conference to move to the Eastern Valley Conference, and Denmark requested to leave. Green Bay East and West are still seeking to move. At a WIAA Board of Control meeting in September, the board gave first approval to swap Hortonville with FVA member Menasha before the 2014-15 school year. A final vote was taken after the 40-day appeal window and passed. In December 2013, the WIAA Board of Control gave first approval for the departure of Denmark, Luxemburg–Casco, Marinette and Oconto Falls to the Eastern Valley in Return for the FRCC's Green Bay East & West and the EVC's Xavier. Waupaca would be in the Bay for football only. A final vote was taken after the 40-day appeal window & successfully passed for implementation for the 2015–2016 school year along with several other conference realignments.

2015–present

Starting in 2015, the conference stayed steady at eight schools. However, in September 2016, West De Pere requested to move to the FRCC, citing inadequate athletic competition in the Bay and a school size that was rapidly growing. Other reasons included rivalries against teams in the FRCC like De Pere, Ashwaubenon and Pulaski. In December 2019, as part of the realignment process, West De Pere formally filed a request to move to the FRCC. After a committee reviewed the process, West De Pere's request was denied due to their failure to provide documents showing discussions with the Northeastern Conference which was provided as a solution to fill the void leaving the Bay Conference. West De Pere chose not to appeal the rejection.
In 2018, the WIAA and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association released a realignment plan to go into effect starting in fall 2020 for football only. The proposal has Green Bay West, Green Bay East, West De Pere, and Menasha moving to the FRCC, with Fox Valley Lutheran and Marinette joining the five other remaining Bay football schools in a revamped Bay where Shawano would be the largest school in terms of enrollment. After some modifications the final Bay Conference will consist of current schools New London, Seymour, Shawano, Waupaca and Xavier, as well as football-only schools Fox Valley Lutheran and Winneconne. In 2022 A slight modification sent FVL to the Northeastern for 2 seasons setting up double crossover games between the Bay and Northeastern Conferences in Weeks 3 and 4 of the regular season, These 2 games counted in the conference standings and for playoff qualification purposes. FVL will return in 2024 and teams in the Bay and Northeastern will have 1 Crossover game to count in the conference and playoff standings. Football Only conferences run on a 2 year window to make changes.
In late 2023 West De Pere once again filed a Fast Track Request to move to the FRCC, Also Winneconne and Fox Valley Lutheran made the request to move the growing schools into the Bay Conference. The first process saw both moves with Unanimous support from the Realignment Task Force Committee to move to the next steps. This proposal became official in April 2024 with the changes taking effect in the 2025-2026 School year.
In November of 2025 Appleton West had formally filed a request to move the school into the Bay Conference, a decision that has faced opposition from the nine current Bay Conference schools. The plan will move through the WIAA Task force Committee.

Membership timeline

Full members


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1970 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:180 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1970 till:2007 text:Ashwaubenon
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1970 till:2007 text:Bay Port
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1970 till:1999 text:Clintonville
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1970 till:2007 text:De Pere
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1970 till:2015 text:Marinette
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1970 till:1979 text:Oconto
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1970 till:1979 text:Oconto Falls
bar:7 color:tan1 from:2007 till:2015 text:
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1970 till:2007 text:Pulaski
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1970 till:2030 text:Seymour
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1970 till:2025 text:West De Pere
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1979 till:2030 text:New London
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1979 till:2030 text:Shawano
bar:13 color:tan1 from:2007 till:2015 text:Denmark
bar:14 color:tan1 from:2007 till:2014 text:Hortonville
bar:15 color:tan1 from:2007 till:2015 text:Luxemburg-Casco
bar:16 color:tan1 from:2014 till:2030 text:Menasha
bar:17 color:tan1 from:2015 till:2030 text:Green Bay East
bar:18 color:tan1 from:2015 till:2030 text:Green Bay West
bar:19 color:tan1 from:2015 till:2030 text:Xavier
bar:20 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text:Fox Valley Lutheran
bar:21 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text:Winneconne

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1970

Football members


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1970 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:180 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:lavender from:1970 till:2007 text:Ashwaubenon
bar:2 color:lavender from:1970 till:2007 text:Bay Port
bar:3 color:lavender from:1970 till:1999 text:Clintonville
bar:4 color:lavender from:1970 till:2007 text:De Pere
bar:5 color:lavender from:1970 till:2015 text:Marinette
bar:6 color:lavender from:1970 till:1979 text:Oconto
bar:7 color:lavender from:1970 till:1979 text:Oconto Falls
bar:7 color:lavender from:2007 till:2015 text:
bar:8 color:lavender from:1970 till:2007 text:Pulaski
bar:9 color:lavender from:1970 till:2030 text:Seymour
bar:10 color:lavender from:1970 till:2020 text:West De Pere
bar:11 color:lavender from:1979 till:2030 text:New London
bar:12 color:lavender from:1979 till:2030 text:Shawano
bar:13 color:lavender from:2007 till:2015 text:Denmark
bar:14 color:lavender from:2007 till:2014 text:Hortonville
bar:15 color:lavender from:2007 till:2015 text:Luxemburg-Casco
bar:16 color:lavender from:2014 till:2020 text:Menasha
bar:17 color:lavender from:2015 till:2020 text:Green Bay East
bar:18 color:lavender from:2015 till:2020 text:Green Bay West
bar:19 color:lavender from:2015 till:2030 text:Waupaca
bar:20 color:lavender from:2015 till:2030 text:Xavier
bar:21 color:lavender from:2020 till:2022 text:Fox Valley Lutheran
bar:21 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:
bar:22 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Winneconne

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1970

List of state champions

Fall sports

SchoolYearDivision
Clintonville1978Division 2
Seymour1985Division 3
Marinette1989Division 2
De Pere1992Division 3
Ashwaubenon1996Division 2
Ashwaubenon2000Division 2
Ashwaubenon2001Division 2
Ashwaubenon2005Division 2
West De Pere2010Division 3
West De Pere2011Division 3
Menasha2014Division 2

SchoolYearDivision
Xavier2020Division 2

Winter sports

SchoolYearDivision
De Pere1983Class A
De Pere2005Division 1
Ashwaubenon2006Division 1
New London2011Division 2
New London2012Division 2

SchoolYearDivision
Ashwaubenon2002Division 2

Spring sports

SchoolYearDivision
Ashwaubenon1992Division 1
Ashwaubenon1993Division 1
Ashwaubenon1994Division 1
Shawano2002Division 2
Ashwaubenon2006Division 1
Luxemburg-Casco2009Division 2
Luxemburg-Casco2010Division 2
New London2013Division 2
Seymour2019Division 2

SchoolYearDivision
Marinette1992Division 1
Marinette1993Division 1
Marinette1994Division 1
West De Pere2022Division 1

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

Source:
SchoolQuantityYears
Seymour151995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2020
Pulaski81972, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996
Xavier82016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Marinette61977, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2008
West De Pere61971, 1976, 1986, 2013, 2022, 2025
Ashwaubenon41993, 1999, 2002, 2006
Bay Port41981, 2001, 2002, 2003
Clintonville41974, 1979, 1980, 1989
De Pere31973, 1978, 2005
Oconto31973, 1974, 1975
New London11983
Shawano11982
Denmark0
Fox Valley Lutheran0
Green Bay East0
Green Bay West0
Hortonville0
Luxemburg-Casco0
Menasha0
Oconto Falls0
Winneconne0

Girls Basketball

Source:
SchoolQuantityYears
West De Pere111977, 1979, 1981, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025
Pulaski101980, 1981, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000
De Pere91978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007
Bay Port81982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2004
Ashwaubenon51976, 1994, 2001, 2004, 2005
New London52008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014
Seymour31978, 1991, 2018
Luxemburg-Casco22010, 2011
Shawano21988, 1989
Xavier22022, 2024
Clintonville11982
Denmark0
Fox Valley Lutheran0
Green Bay East0
Green Bay West0
Hortonville0
Marinette0
Menasha0
Oconto0
Oconto Falls0
Winneconne0

Football

Source:
SchoolQuantityYears
West De Pere191971, 1973, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019
Marinette91974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000
Ashwaubenon71979, 1990, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004
De Pere51972, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2005
Xavier52015, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Clintonville41976, 1978, 1981, 1987
Pulaski41970, 1980, 1991, 1998
Seymour41985, 1991, 1996, 2009
Menasha32014, 2016, 2017
New London31982, 1984, 2007
Bay Port22001, 2003
Denmark12007
Oconto11970
Shawano12009
Winneconne12024
Fox Valley Lutheran0
Green Bay East0
Green Bay West0
Hortonville0
Luxemburg-Casco0
Oconto Falls0
Waupaca0