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Indiana County Athletic Conferences

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There were numerous conferences within the IHSAA that were made up of schools based entirely in one county. Many of these "County Conferences" also contained schools from neighboring counties that were either geographically closer or smaller than the other schools in their home county. These conferences would fold when schools would consolidate and seek out other, more expansive conferences that included similar-sized schools. The starting date of many of these conferences is hard to confirm, so the listing for many of these leagues uses the earliest date that can be confirmed.

Contents

Adams County Conference

This conference predates the end of World War II, and most of its members shared membership with the Eastern Indiana Conference (EIC). The last non-EIC member closed in 1956, and this county league folded the next year.

  1. Concurrent in ACC and EIC from 1953 to 1957.
  2. Concurrent in ACC and EIC from 1954 to 1957.

Cass County Conference

All schools were located in Cass County, Indiana. Conference folded in 1963.

  1. Known as Walton before 1953.

Decatur County Conference

All schools were located in Decatur County, Conference folded in 1968 as all schools consolidated into either North Decatur or South Decatur high schools.

Delaware County Conference

All schools were located in Delaware County. The conference is one of the oldest confirmed, having competed since at least 1931, if not earlier. The conference folded in 1968 as the remaining five schools in the league consolidated into two.

  1. Albany played concurrently in the DCC and the Eastern Indiana Conference 1953-68.

Elkhart County Conference

  1. Was Baugo Township before 1961.

Fayette County Conference

  1. Played concurrently in FCC and WVC 1940-58.

Fountain County Athletic Association

  1. Played concurrently in the FCAA and WRC 1964-65.

Franklin County Conference

  1. Played concurrently in FCC and Southeastern Indiana Conference 1930-40.
  2. Played concurrently in FCC and WVC 1940-41.

Grant County Conference

  1. Concurrently played in GCC and Mississinewa Valley Conference 1952-65.
  2. Concurrently played in GCC and North Central Conference 1933-65.
  3. Concurrently played in GCC and Tri-County Conference from 1955 until closing.

Hamilton County Conference

Originally a 10-team conference located in Hamilton County (though Sheridan's attendance zone included a township in Boone County), consolidation and attendance disparities forced the remaining four schools to part ways. Noblesville became independent for some years, while the other three schools (including the newly formed Hamilton Heights, and Fishers, renamed as Hamilton Southeastern) left for the Mid-Capital.

  1. Carmel played in both the CDC and HCC from 1952 to 1958.
  2. Fishers opened a new high school with a new mascot and colors, Hamilton Southeastern, in 1965. It is considered a renaming rather than a consolidation because no other high schools consolidated with Fishers.
  3. Sheridan played in both the HCC and the Hoosier Conference 1948-65.
  4. Jackson Central played in both the HCC and CDC 1961-65.

Hancock County Conference

The Hancock County Conference is one of the few conferences that had an abundance of competitive members when it folded, as it was merged with the East Central Conference in 1962.

Harrison County Conference

This conference is notable for having a private school from a different county (Mount St. Francis Seminary in Floyd County) as a member for its duration.

  1. Known as Corydon before 1950.
  2. Played concurrently in the HCC and Southeastern Indiana Conference 1930-58.
  3. Played concurrently in HCC and BRC 1959-62.
  4. Known as Palmyra before 1928
  5. Known as New Salisbury before 1955.

Henry County Conference

  1. Concurrent with Mid-Eastern Conference from 1963 until closing.
  2. Concurrent with MEC 1964-67.

Howard County Conference

Howard County was one of the first of the modern County Conferences to fold, as it was down to three schools by 1950 (Kokomo played in the North Central, and Taylor had not been created by that point). These schools joined with schools from Miami County to form the Howard-Miami Conference.

Huntington County Conference

The Huntington County league ended in 1966, as all the public high schools in the county consolidated with Huntington to become Huntington North.

Jay County Conference

Jay County's schools were largely self-contained in this league, except for Portland. The league shrank to four members by 1967, and the conference folded into the Eastern Indiana Conference.

  1. Schools played in both EIC and JCC from 1953 until 1967.
  2. Portland played concurrently in the JCC and MVC 1952-54.

Johnson County Conference

One of the county leagues to extend past its geographic borders, Morgantown (from Morgan County played in the Conference throughout its existence.

  1. Played concurrently in the JCC and MHC 1965-67.
  2. Maroons before 1955.
  3. Bluebirds before 1958.
  4. Wrens before 1939.

Kosciusko County Conference

Kosciusko County's league was notable for the fact it had schools from two other counties, Fulton (Akron), and Whitley (Larwill and South Whitley). These schools would eventually consolidate with schools in the county to form new school districts.

LaGrange County Conference

  1. Concurrent with the State Corner Conference from 1935 to 1941.
  2. Was Shipshewana until 1955.
  3. Concurrent with the State Corner Conference from 1941 until closing.

Marion County Athletic Association

The first attempt by the township schools in Marion County to organize competition, the league organized a basketball tournament in the winter of 1928, then organized a season schedule in the 1928-29 school year. The league broke up in 1945, as all but three schools had found other conferences to join. The schools would all later reunite (minus Southport) in the Central Suburban Conference in 1971, though this would only last a few years. Today the Township schools are either in Conference Indiana or the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference.

  1. Was New Augusta until 1942.

Marshall County Conference

  1. Played concurrently in MCC and NLC 1963-66.

Montgomery County Conference

Often credited as the cradle of Indiana basketball, Montgomery County was home to three of the first four State Champions in the sport. When combined with neighboring Boone and Tippecanoe Counties, the area claimed the first eight winners. The conference lasted until 1966, when all schools folded into the Big 4 Conference.

Noble County Conference

  1. Concurrent with the State Corner Conference from 1935 to 1941.
  2. Concurrent with the State Corner Conference from 1935 until closing.

Randolph County Conference

  1. Was Saratoga before 1955.
  2. Ward Township residents went to school in Winchester after consolidation, while Jackson Township residents went to Union City.
  3. Played concurrently in the RCC and Mid-Eastern Conference 1963-64.

Steuben County Conference

  1. Concurrent with State Corner Conference from 1935 to 1941.
  2. Concurrent with State Corner Conference from 1941 until 1964.

Union County Conference

  1. Played concurrently in UCC and PCC throughout duration in conference.

Wabash County Conference

  1. Was Linlawn before 1953.

Wells County Conference

  1. Lancaster Central played concurrently in the EIC and WCC from 1954 to 1959, then in the EWVC and WCC until both folded in 1966.

White County Conference

One of the oldest confirmed county conferences, the alliance dates back to at least 1912.

References

Indiana County Athletic Conferences Wikipedia