Tri-County League
The Tri-County League is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, operational from 1923 to 1963 with its membership concentrated in south central Wisconsin. All members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
The Tri-County League began in 1923 as an oratorical and forensics conference between five small high schools in south central Wisconsin: Arena, Black Earth, Mazomanie, Prairie du Sac and Sauk City. These five schools were concentrated in the lower Wisconsin River Valley across three counties: Dane, Iowa and Sauk. The loop began sponsorship of athletic competition in 1926, and in 1928 added two new members: Spring Green and Waunakee. The Tri-County League started sponsorship of eleven-man football in 1930 with four members: Arena, Mazomanie, Sauk City and Spring Green. Lodi joined the Tri-County League in 1932 from the Madison Suburban Conference, and the conference maintained a steady eight-school roster for the next two decades. Poynette and Verona joined from the Dual County and Madison Suburban Conferences in 1954, bringing conference membership to ten schools.Over the next decade, consolidation of rural school districts in south central Wisconsin hit Tri-County League membership hard, leading to its eventual demise. In 1962, River Valley High School was created from the consolidation of high schools in Spring Green, Arena and Lone Rock. They took the place of Arena and Spring Green in the conference. The next year, two new school districts affecting Tri-County League membership were created: Sauk Prairie and Wisconsin Heights. The new Sauk Prairie High School joined the South Central Conference in the same year it was created, leaving only six schools in the conference for the 1963-64 school year. Because of the decline in member schools, the Tri-County League merged with the Madison Suburban Conference, with all six schools comprising the Western Section of the conference.
Conference membership history
Final members
Previous members
Membership timeline
Full members
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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1923 till:1962 text:Arena
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1923 till:1963 text:Black Earth
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1923 till:1963 text:Mazomanie
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1923 till:1963 text:Prairie du Sac
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1923 till:1963 text:Sauk City
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1962 text:Spring Green
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1963 text:Waunakee
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1932 till:1963 text:Lodi
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1954 till:1963 text:Poynette
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1954 till:1963 text:Verona
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1962 till:1963 text:River Valley
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Football members
DateFormat = yyyy
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Period = from:1930 till:1963
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bar:1 color:lavender from:1930 till:1957 text:Arena
bar:2 color:lavender from:1930 till:1941 text:Mazomanie
bar:2 color:lavender from:1949 till:1963 text:
bar:3 color:lavender from:1930 till:1963 text:Sauk City
bar:4 color:lavender from:1930 till:1962 text:Spring Green
bar:5 color:lavender from:1932 till:1963 text:Lodi
bar:6 color:lavender from:1934 till:1963 text:Prairie du Sac
bar:7 color:lavender from:1949 till:1963 text:Waunakee
bar:8 color:lavender from:1954 till:1963 text:Poynette
bar:9 color:lavender from:1954 till:1963 text:Verona
bar:10 color:lavender from:1962 till:1963 text:Black Earth
bar:11 color:lavender from:1962 till:1963 text:River Valley
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