Southwest Wisconsin Activities League
The Southwest Wisconsin Activities League is a high school athletic conference with its membership concentrated in southwestern Wisconsin. Founded in 1926, all league members are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1926-1961
The Southwest Wisconsin Activities League, originally known as the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League, was formed in 1926 by a group of ten small- to medium-sized high schools in southwestern Wisconsin. Original members were Cuba City, Darlington, Dodgeville, Fennimore, Lancaster, Mineral Point, Monroe, Monticello, Mount Horeb and Platteville. Monticello would only be a member during the league's first season, after which they left to become a charter member of the newly formed State Line League. A year later, Monroe would make its exit from the SWAL to help form the new Southern Six Conference. Conference membership remained at eight until 1935, when Boscobel and Prairie du Chien joined the conference. The SWAL maintained this alignment for the next twenty-six years, until expansion caused the league to undergo its first membership split.1961-1987
The consolidation of rural school districts in southwestern Wisconsin and the resulting creation of larger high schools coincided with the expansion of the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League. Two newly created high schools joined the conference in 1961, bringing membership to twelve: Iowa-Grant High School in Livingston and West Grant High School in Patch Grove. Three years later, Muscoda High School and River Valley High School in Spring Green joined, bringing membership to fourteen. In 1967, Muscoda merged with Blue River of the Kickapoo Valley League to form the new Riverdale High School, inheriting their predecessor's affiliation with the SWAL. Membership was also subdivided into North and South Sections that year:| North Section | South Section |
| Boscobel | Cuba City |
| Fennimore | Darlington |
| Iowa-Grant | Dodgeville |
| Prairie du Chien | Lancaster |
| River Valley | Mineral Point |
| Riverdale | Mount Horeb |
| West Grant | Platteville |
West Grant left the conference in 1969 to join the Black Hawk League and were replaced by Viroqua. In 1970, Richland Center High School was accepted for the 1971-72 school year as the SWAL's fifteenth member school. They were placed in the league's North Section, with Iowa-Grant shifting to the South Section to accommodate the expansion:
| North Section | South Section |
| Boscobel | Cuba City |
| Fennimore | Darlington |
| Prairie du Chien | Dodgeville |
| Richland Center | Iowa-Grant |
| River Valley | Lancaster |
| Riverdale | Mineral Point |
| Viroqua | Mount Horeb |
| Platteville |
The SWAL never competed in this new alignment, though. Soon after Richland Center joined, the schools in the league's South Section left to form the new Southern Eight Conference. The remaining schools in the SWAL's North Section continued as a seven-member circuit for sixteen years.
1987-2005
In 1987, the Southern Eight Conference merged with the SWAL to create a fourteen-member conference. All original Southern Eight members rejoined the league, with Southwestern High School in Hazel Green making their SWAL debut. Viroqua also left the SWAL to join the Coulee Conference that year. With conference expansion came subdivision by enrollment into large and small school divisions:| SWAL Division 1 | SWAL Division 2 |
| Cuba City | Boscobel |
| Dodgeville | Darlington |
| Lancaster | Fennimore |
| Platteville | Iowa-Grant |
| Prairie du Chien | Mineral Point |
| Richland Center | Riverdale |
| River Valley | Southwestern |
With the exception of Cuba City and Boscobel swapping divisions in 2003, this divisional alignment remained intact for the next eighteen years before the SWAL split its membership for a second time.
2005-present
In 2005, six members of SWAL Division 1 left the league to form the new Southwest Wisconsin Conference. The original league's name was changed to its current name as part of the breakup, and the eight remaining members have maintained a stable eight-school circuit to the present day.Football (since 2005)
Football membership in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League has mirrored its all-sport membership for most of its history, with the exception of a two-year period where Riverdale played as independents from 1985 to 1986. After the SWC/SWAL split in 2005, the same eight members played as a football conference until the 2016 season, when Riverdale was shifted to the Ridge & Valley Conference to play with schools more in line with its size. Boscobel and Southwestern were moved to the Six Rivers Conference for the 2019 season, and three associate members replaced them: Aquinas, Lancaster and Luther. That same year, the WIAA and WFCA collaborated to realign Wisconsin's high school football conferences, starting with the 2020 season. The plan for that season was to move Belleville and Parkview/Albany into the SWAL from the Capitol South and Trailways Large to replace Iowa-Grant's exit to the Six Rivers Conference, who would serve as the SWAL's scheduling partner. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SWAL and SWC decided to join forces and their football season to the spring 2021 alternate season approved by the WIAA as an option for schools who didn't want to compete in the regular fall 2020 season. The original realignment was finally implemented for the fall 2021 football season and remained in place for the 2022-2023 competition cycle with the exception of Lancaster's return to the SWC as football members. In 2024, Parkview/Albany was realigned to the Trailways Conference for football, with the Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg and Southwestern/East Dubuque cooperative programs joining to take their place. The Abundant Life Christian/St. Ambrose Academy joint program in Madison was also slated to join after a proposed transition to eleven-player football, but backed out before the season started to remain in the eight-player division. An eighth member is planned to join the SWAL for the 2026-2027 alignment cycle, as New Glarus is set to join the football roster from the Southwest Wisconsin Conference.Membership timeline
Full members
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bar:1 color:red from:1987 till:2003 text:
bar:1 color:coral from:2003 till:2005 text:
bar:1 color:tan1 from:2005 till:2030 text:
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1964 text:Darlington
bar:2 color:skyblue from:1964 till:1971 text:
bar:2 color:coral from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:2 color:tan1 from:2005 till:2030 text:
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1964 text:Dodgeville
bar:3 color:skyblue from:1964 till:1971 text:
bar:3 color:red from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1964 text:Fennimore
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bar:4 color:tan1 from:1971 till:1987 text:
bar:4 color:coral from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:4 color:tan1 from:2005 till:2030 text:
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1964 text:Lancaster
bar:5 color:skyblue from:1964 till:1971 text:
bar:5 color:red from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1964 text:Mineral Point
bar:6 color:skyblue from:1964 till:1971 text:
bar:6 color:coral from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:6 color:tan1 from:2005 till:2030 text:
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1928 text:Monroe
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1927 text:Monticello
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1964 text:Mount Horeb
bar:9 color:skyblue from:1964 till:1971 text:
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1926 till:1964 text:Platteville
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bar:10 color:red from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1935 till:1964 text:Boscobel
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bar:11 color:tan1 from:1971 till:1987 text:
bar:11 color:coral from:1987 till:2003 text:
bar:11 color:red from:2003 till:2005 text:
bar:11 color:tan1 from:2005 till:2030 text:
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1935 till:1964 text:Prairie du Chien
bar:12 color:blue from:1964 till:1971 text:
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1971 till:1987 text:
bar:12 color:red from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:13 color:tan1 from:1961 till:1964 text:Iowa-Grant
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bar:14 color:tan1 from:1961 till:1964 text:West Grant
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bar:15 color:blue from:1964 till:1967 text:Muscoda
bar:16 color:blue from:1964 till:1971 text:River Valley
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bar:16 color:tan1 from:1971 till:1987 text:
bar:16 color:red from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:17 color:blue from:1967 till:2030 text:Riverdale
bar:17 color:tan1 from:1971 till:1987 text:
bar:17 color:coral from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:17 color:tan1 from:2005 till:2030 text:
bar:18 color:blue from:1969 till:1971 text:Viroqua
bar:18 color:tan1 from:1971 till:1987 text:
bar:19 color:tan1 from:1971 till:1987 text:Richland Center
bar:19 color:red from:1987 till:2005 text:
bar:20 color:coral from:1987 till:2005 text:Southwestern
bar:20 color:tan1 from:2005 till:2030 text:
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Football members (since 2005)
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bar:4 color:lavender from:2005 till:2030 text:Fennimore
bar:5 color:lavender from:2005 till:2020 text:Iowa-Grant
bar:6 color:lavender from:2005 till:2030 text:Mineral Point
bar:7 color:lavender from:2005 till:2016 text:Riverdale
bar:8 color:lavender from:2005 till:2019 text:Southwestern
bar:9 color:lavender from:2019 till:2020 text:Aquinas
bar:10 color:lavender from:2019 till:2022 text:Lancaster
bar:11 color:lavender from:2019 till:2020 text:Luther
bar:12 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Belleville
bar:13 color:lavender from:2020 till:2024 text:Parkview/Albany
bar:14 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg
bar:15 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:Southwestern/East Dubuque
bar:16 color:lavender from:2026 till:2030 text:New Glarus
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:2005
List of state champions
Fall sports
| School | Year | Division |
| Prairie du Chien | 1975 | Single Division |
| Fennimore | 1980 | Class C |
| Fennimore | 1981 | Class C |
| Fennimore | 1981 | Class C |
| Cuba City/ Southwestern | 1997 | Division 2 |
| Fennimore | 2001 | Division 3 |
| Boscobel | 2002 | Division 3 |
| Boscobel | 2004 | Division 3 |
| Dodgeville/ Mineral Point | 2005 | Division 2 |
| Dodgeville/ Mineral Point | 2006 | Division 2 |
| Boscobel | 2007 | Division 3 |
| Dodgeville/ Mineral Point | 2010 | Division 2 |
| Dodgeville/ Mineral Point | 2011 | Division 2 |
| Dodgeville/ Mineral Point | 2012 | Division 2 |
| Darlington | 2016 | Division 2 |
| Boscobel | 2021 | Division 3 |
| Dodgeville/ Mineral Point | 2021 | Division 2 |
| School | Year | Division |
| Richland Center | 1987 | Class B |
| Iowa-Grant | 1989 | Class C |
| Platteville | 1994 | Division 2 |
| Dodgeville | 1995 | Division 3 |
| Dodgeville | 1996 | Division 3 |
| Iowa-Grant | 1997 | Division 3 |
| Dodgeville | 1999 | Division 3 |
Winter sports
| School | Year | Division |
| Cuba City | 1990 | Class B |
| Cuba City | 1991 | Division 3 |
| Prairie du Chien | 1991 | Division 2 |
| Cuba City | 1993 | Division 3 |
| Cuba City | 2005 | Division 3 |
| Cuba City | 2006 | Division 3 |
| Cuba City | 2007 | Division 3 |
| Cuba City | 2010 | Division 3 |
| Cuba City | 2014 | Division 4 |
| Cuba City | 2015 | Division 4 |
| Mineral Point | 2016 | Division 4 |
| Mineral Point | 2022 | Division 4 |
| Cuba City | 2025 | Division 4 |
| School | Year | Division |
| River Valley | 1982 | Class B |
| River Valley | 1984 | Class B |
| River Valley | 1989 | Class B |
| Lancaster | 1990 | Class B |
| Riverdale | 1990 | Class C |
| Riverdale | 1992 | Class C |
| Riverdale | 1997 | Division 3 |
| Mineral Point | 2002 | Division 3 |
| Mineral Point | 2003 | Division 3 |
| Iowa-Grant | 2004 | Division 3 |
| Mineral Point | 2007 | Division 3 |
| Mineral Point | 2008 | Division 3 |
| Mineral Point | 2009 | Division 3 |
| Fennimore | 2016 | Division 3 |
| Fennimore | 2019 | Division 3 |
| Mineral Point | 2021 | Division 3 |
| Fennimore | 2022 | Division 3 |
| Fennimore | 2023 | Division 3 |
| Fennimore | 2024 | Division 3 |
| Mineral Point | 2025 | Division 3 |
Spring sports
| School | Year | Division |
| River Valley | 1997 | Division 2 |
| Cuba City | 2012 | Division 3 |
| Mineral Point | 2024 | Division 3 |
| School | Year | Division |
| Platteville | 1929 | Class B |
| Platteville | 1957 | Class B |
| Mineral Point | 1961 | Class C |
| Mineral Point | 1962 | Class C |
| Platteville | 1988 | Class B |
| Boscobel | 1989 | Class C |
| Platteville | 1989 | Class B |
| Lancaster/ Potosi | 1998 | Division 2 |
| Fennimore | 2009 | Division 3 |