The Braveland Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, formed in 1953 and ending competition in 1993. Its membership was concentrated in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and members were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1953–1955
The Braveland Conference was formed in 1953 by four high schools in the outer suburbs of Milwaukee: Cedarburg, Menomonee Falls, Port Washington and Watertown. Cedarburg and Menomonee Falls had previously been members of the 4-C Conference, and Port Washington and Watertown competed independent of conference affiliation. It was formed after several failed attempts by the four original members to join the Little Ten Conference, dating back to the late 1940s. The Braveland Conference was named after the National League's Milwaukee Braves, who had just relocated from Boston a few months earlier. 1955–1963 Due to the rapid growth around the Milwaukee area occurring after World War II, new high schools and districts began to pop up in and around Milwaukee County to meet the added demand. In 1955, Salem Central in western Kenosha County joined the conference, followed by Brookfield and Nicolet in 1956. Salem Central left in 1958 to join the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference and cut down on the long travel distances to Milwaukee’s northern suburbs that they had been experiencing as Braveland members. They were replaced by the new high schools in Granville and Muskego that same year. Oak Creek joined the conference in 1959, just as Watertown left to rejoin the Little Ten Conference. In 1961, the conference added six schools: Brookfield East, Greendale (formerly of the Suburban Conference), Greenfield, Homestead, New Berlin and Whitnall. Brookfield East and New Berlin joined as junior varsity members before attaining full membership in 1962. To accommodate this growth, the conference split into two divisions. Northern BravelandSouthern BravelandCedarburgBrookfield CentralGranvilleGreendaleHomesteadGreenfieldMenomonee FallsMuskegoNicoletOak CreekPort WashingtonWhitnall In 1962, Brookfield East and New Berlin joined as full members, and they were placed in the Southern Braveland. The newly renamed Brookfield Central shifted to the Northern Braveland to accommodate the expansion. Hamilton High School in Sussex joined that same year as a junior varsity member. Northern BravelandSouthern BravelandBrookfield CentralBrookfield EastCedarburgGreendaleGranvilleGreenfieldHomesteadMuskegoMenomonee FallsNew BerlinNicoletOak CreekPort WashingtonWhitnall
1963–1980
The influx of new high schools in the Milwaukee area led both the Braveland and Suburban Conferences to begin discussing realignment options in the early 1960s. With three more high schools set to join as full members in 1963 (Franklin, Hamilton and St. Francis), conference leadership decided that a seventeen-member conference was too unwieldy to continue. The eight members in the southern suburbs left to form what later became the Parkland Conference: Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Muskego, New Berlin, Oak Creek, St. Francis and Whitnall. Their departure solidified the Braveland as a conference for the Milwaukee area's northern second-ring suburban schools. In 1966, Granville High School changed its name to Brown Deer High School, due in part to annexation of the formerly unincorporated town of Granville into the city of Milwaukee a few years earlier. Conference membership increased to ten in 1969 with the split of Menomonee Falls High School into Menomonee Falls East and Menomonee Falls North.
1980–1985 After years of discussion on high school conference realignment without any sort of resolution, the WIAA presented a sweeping realignment plan for southeastern Wisconsin to take effect for the 1980-81 school year. Two conferences were dissolved (the Scenic Moraine and South Shore) and four of the thirteen displaced schools joined the Braveland, bringing membership to fourteen. Arrowhead, Germantown and Grafton joined from the Scenic Moraine and Kenosha Bradford from the South Shore. The Braveland Conference competed as a single division for most sports with the exception of football, which subdivided into two groups that were originally referred to Division A and Division B: +Football-Only AlignmentDivision ADivision BArrowheadBrown DeerBrookfield CentralCedarburgBrookfield EastGermantownMenomonee Falls EastGraftonMenomonee Falls NorthHomesteadKenosha BradfordNicoletSussex HamiltonPort Washington For the 1982 football season, Kenosha Bradford and Germantown swapped divisions, and Divisions A and B were renamed the West and East Divisions, respectively. In 1983, Kenosha Bradford left the Braveland Conference to join the Milwaukee Area Conference, and the next year, the two Menomonee Falls high schools merged to form a new Menomonee Falls High School on East's campus. The new school inherited their predecessors' membership in the Braveland Conference.
1985–1993
In 1985, another round of conference realignment had occurred in southeastern Wisconsin, and seven schools left the Braveland Conference. Brown Deer joined the Parkland Conference, and six schools (Cedarburg, Germantown, Grafton, Homestead, Nicolet and Port Washington) left to form the North Shore Conference (along with former Suburban Conference members Shorewood, Wauwatosa East, Wauwatosa West and Whitefish Bay). Replacing the seven schools exiting the conference were Mukwonago from the Parkland Conference and Waukesha North and Waukesha South from the Suburban Conference. For the final eight years of the conference's existence, all of its member schools were located in Waukesha County.
Epilogue The Braveland Conference was realigned out of existence by the WIAA after the 1992-93 school year. Its four largest members (Arrowhead, Mukwonago, Waukesha North and Waukesha South) joined the new fifteen-member Southeast Conference. The four smaller schools were dispersed to three different conferences: Brookfield Central and Brookfield East went to the new Woodland Conference, and Menomonee Falls and Sussex Hamilton went to the North Shore and Parkland Conferences, respectively. Waukesha West High School was slated to become a member of the Braveland when they opened in 1993, but the conference had been disbanded by that time and they joined the Southeast Conference.
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceArrowheadHartland, WIPublicWarhawks 19801993SoutheastClassic 8Brookfield CentralBrookfield, WIPublicLancers 19561993WoodlandGreater MetroBrookfield EastBrookfield, WIPublicSpartans 19611993WoodlandGreater MetroHamiltonSussex, WIPublicChargers 19621993ParklandGreater MetroMenomonee FallsMenomonee Falls, WIPublicIndians 19841993North ShoreGreater MetroMukwonagoMukwonago, WIPublicIndians 19851993SoutheastClassic 8Waukesha NorthWaukesha, WIPublicNorthstars 19851993SoutheastWoodlandWaukesha SouthWaukesha, WIPublicBlackshirts 19851993SoutheastWoodland
Notes
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBrown DeerBrown Deer, WIPublicFalcons 19581985ParklandWoodlandCedarburgCedarburg, WIPublicBulldogs 19531985North ShoreGermantownGermantown, WIPublicWarhawks 19801985North ShoreGreater MetroGraftonGrafton, WIPublicBlack Hawks 19801985North ShoreGreendaleGreendale, WIPublicPanthers 19611963ParklandWoodlandGreenfieldGreenfield, WIPublicHustlin' Hawks 19611963ParklandWoodlandHomesteadMequon, WIPublicHighlanders 19611985North ShoreKenosha BradfordKenosha, WIPublicRed Devils 19801983Milwaukee AreaSoutheastMenomonee Falls EastMenomonee Falls, WIPublicTitans 19691984Closed (merged into Menomonee Falls)Menomonee Falls NorthMenomonee Falls, WIPublicIndians 19531984Closed (merged into Menomonee Falls)MuskegoMuskego, WIPublicWarriors 19581963ParklandClassic EightNew BerlinNew Berlin, WIPublicVikings 19611963ParklandWoodlandNicoletGlendale, WIPublicKnights 19561985North ShoreOak CreekOak Creek, WIPublicKnights 19591963ParklandClassic 8Port WashingtonPort Washington, WIPublicPirates 19531985 North ShoreGlacier TrailsSalem CentralPaddock Lake, WIPublicFalcons 19551958Southeastern WisconsinSouthern LakesWatertownWatertown, WIPublicGoslings 19531959Little TenBadgerWhitnallGreenfield, WIPublicFalcons 19611963ParklandWoodland
Notes
Membership timeline
List of state champions
Fall sports +Boys Cross CountrySchoolYearDivision Port Washington1956Small Schools Port Washington1957Small Schools Port Washington1960Small Schools Brookfield Central1964Medium Schools Homestead1967Medium Schools Menomonee Falls North1971Medium Schools Menomonee Falls North1976Class A Menomonee Falls North1982Class A Brookfield Central1986Class A +Girls Cross CountrySchoolYearDivision Waukesha North1992Division 1 +FootballSchoolYearDivision Menomonee Falls East1976Division 2 Grafton1981Division 2 Grafton1982Division 2 +Girls GolfSchoolYearDivision Nicolet1984Single Division +Girls Swimming & DivingSchoolYearDivision Homestead1984Single Division Arrowhead1987Single Division +Girls TennisSchoolYearDivision Nicolet1975Single Division Nicolet1976Single Division Nicolet1977Single Division Nicolet1978Single Division Nicolet1980Single Division Nicolet1981Single Division Nicolet1982Single Division Brookfield Central1983Single Division Brookfield Central1984Single Division Brookfield Central1985Single Division Brookfield Central1986Single Division Brookfield Central1987Single Division Brookfield Central1991Single Division
Winter sports +Girls BasketballSchoolYearDivision Brookfield Central1985Class A Arrowhead1988Class A Arrowhead1991Class A +GymnasticsSchoolYearDivision Homestead1975Single Division Brookfield Central1976Single Division Brookfield Central1977Single Division Brookfield East1978Class A Brookfield East1979Class A Nicolet1980Class A Nicolet1981Class A Nicolet1982Class A Brookfield Central1988Class A Brookfield Central1991Class A +Boys Swimming & DivingSchoolYearDivision Greenfield1963Single Division +Boys WrestlingSchoolYearDivision Port Washington1971Single Division Port Washington1984Class A
Spring sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivision Watertown1955Single Division +Boys GolfSchoolYearDivision Brookfield Central1978Single Division Nicolet1980Single Division Waukesha South1989Single Division +SoftballSchoolYearDivision Menomonee Falls East1979Class A Arrowhead1982Class A +Boys TennisSchoolYearDivision Nicolet1959Single Division Nicolet1967Single Division Nicolet1968Single Division Nicolet1969Single Division Nicolet1970Single Division Nicolet1971Single Division Nicolet1972Single Division Nicolet1973Single Division Nicolet1974Single Division Nicolet1976Single Division Nicolet1977Single Division Nicolet1978Single Division Brookfield East1979Single Division Brookfield East1980Single Division Brookfield East1981Single Division Nicolet1982Single Division Nicolet1983Single Division Nicolet1984Single Division Brookfield Central1985Single Division +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivision Port Washington1954Class B Homestead1963Class B Homestead1964Class B Sussex Hamilton1978Class A Brookfield Central1983Class A Waukesha North1993Class A +Girls Track & FieldSchoolYearDivision Homestead1983Class A
Summer sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivision Granville1966Single Division Brookfield Central1969Single Division Homestead1974Single Division Brown Deer1975Single Division Brookfield Central1976Single Division Brown Deer1977Single Division Homestead1978Single Division Sussex Hamilton1981Single Division Nicolet1985Single Division
Notes
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball