Established 1938 | ||
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Members 4 Class 3A, 4 Class 2A, and 1 Class A Region 7 Counties: Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, and Warrick, Indiana | ||
The Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) is a high school athletic conference in Southwestern Indiana with its headquarters at Forest Park. Its members are mainly Class 2A and 3A public high schools located in Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, and Warrick counties. Only one, Tecumseh, is a 1A. Tecumseh operates its football program independently of the PAC and is likely to join the Southwest Seven Football Conference in the sport.
Contents
History
The Pocket Athletic Conference was established in 1938 with nine founding schools: Cannelton, Chrisney, Lynnville, Mount Vernon, Owensville, Petersburg, Poseyville, Rockport, and Tell City. Seven of the nine original schools remain members in some form today. Cannelton left in 1971 and is now an independent. Mount Vernon left in 1959 to join the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference and is now a member of the Big Eight Conference.
The first current member appeared in 1958 when Poseyville consolidated with Cynthiana, Griffin, and Wadesville to form North Posey. Rockport merged with Richland in 1965 to form South Spencer. Elberfeld merged with former member Lynnville in 1965 to form Tecumseh High School. Also in 1965, Oakland City and Francisco, both of which joined the PAC in 1939, joined to become Wood Memorial. Dale, which had joined in 1939, joined with another former member, Chrisney, to form Heritage Hills in 1972. Huntingburg joined the PAC in 1970 from the SIAC and in 1972 consolidated with Holland to become Southridge. In 1974, Owensville consolidated with Fort Branch and Haubstadt into Gibson Southern. Both Fort Branch and Owensville were members of the PAC at the time. Haubstadt was also briefly a member of the PAC. That same year Petersburg joined with Winslow and Otwell to form Pike Central.
Gibson Southern left the PAC in 1979 when the Big Eight Conference was formed, only to return in 1994. In 2000, Wood Memorial left the PAC and is now a member of the Blue Chip Conference. Tell City, which had left in 1953, rejoined in 2001, also came back from the Big Eight Conference but also from the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference. In 2007, Forest Park, located in Ferdinand, officially joined the PAC from the Blue Chip Conference increasing the number of members back to the original nine.
The PAC has recently gained the reputation as a powerful football conference. Since 2000, the PAC has been represented in the state finals five times. The three schools that have represented the PAC recently are Heritage Hills (2000 3A State Champs, and 2004 3A Runner-up), Southridge (2002 and 2006 2A Runner-up) and North Posey (2005 2A Runner-up). Another emerging school is Gibson Southern, with very strong seasons in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016. It is not unusual to have two or even three members ranked in their respective classes or even the same class at football.
Another sport of recognition for the PAC is basketball. Forest Park, Southridge and Tecumseh have four state titles in both boys and girls basketball. Forest Park and Gibson Southern add three more state runner-up titles to the pool to make seven appearances at the state finals, not counting Tecumseh's appearance in the Tournament of Champions. Forest Park, Gibson Southern, North Posey, Southridge, and Tecumseh have all been ranked within the last eight years in either girls or boys basketball, sometimes both. In 1999, Tecumseh lost by only six points in the experimental "Tournament of Champions" to the 4A State Champion, Indianapolis' North Central. Tecumseh was the 1A State Champion.
As one of the southernmost conferences in the state, the PAC is also gaining a reputation as a powerhouse in baseball and softball. Both South Spencer and Gibson Southern won the softball state title in their respective classes in 2015. Forest Park also won the title in 2001. North Posey ('05, '06) and South Spencer ('07, '13, '15) have won state titles in baseball.
In the last ten years, 29 Pocket Athletic Conference teams have represented their school and the conference in state championship games.
Currently there are no new candidates or applications being considered by the conference.
Current members (9)
- Gibson Southern competed in the Big Eight Conference from 1980 to 1994 before rejoining the PAC.
- Tecumseh is a 1A independent school in football.
- Tell City played in the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference from 1953 to 1980, then played in the Big Eight Conference 1980–2001 before rejoining.
- Due to Gibson Southern making back-to-back appearances at the state finals, Gibson Southern and defending 2014 state champ and 2015 runner-up Leo High School from the Allen County Athletic Conference will move up to Class AAAA for 2 years because of the IHSAA's Tournament Success Factor. South Spencer and Lafayette Central Catholic both advance to AAA for 2 years for the same reason in Baseball.
Sponsored Sports
1As of the 2008-09 school year Tecumseh will play football as an independent. They will remain in the PAC for all other sports.
22 State Titles, however Tell City's football title was won under the Big Eight Conference.
State championships
Forest Park Rangers (3)
Gibson Southern Titans (3)
Heritage Hills Patriots (1)
North Posey Vikings (2)
Pike Central Chargers (0)
Southridge Raiders (1)
South Spencer Rebels (5)
Tecumseh Braves (4)
Tell City Marksmen (0)
Former Member State Titles
Cannelton Bulldogs (0)
Mount Vernon Wildcats (0)
Wood Memorial Trojans (1)
State Runner-Up Titles
Forest Park Rangers (2)
Gibson Southern Titans (5)
Heritage Hills Patriots (1)
North Posey Vikings (2)
Pike Central Chargers (1)
Southridge Raiders (4)
South Spencer Rebels (2)
Tecumseh Braves (5)
Tell City Marksmen (1)
1Occurred when Forest Park was a member of the Blue Chip Conference.
2Occurred when Tell City was a member of the Big Eight Conference.