The Suburban Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, operating from 1925 to 1985 with its membership concentrated in the suburbs of Milwaukee. Its member schools were aligned with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1925–1942
The Suburban Conference, originally known as the Milwaukee Suburban Interscholastic Athletic Association, was formed in 1925 by seven high schools located in the streetcar suburbs of Milwaukee: Cudahy, Milwaukee County Agricultural, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, Waukesha, Wauwatosa and West Allis. It was the second athletic conference to form in the Milwaukee area, preceded only by the Milwaukee City Conference in 1893. Milwaukee County School of Agriculture left the conference when it closed in 1928, and its place was taken by the newly opened high school in West Milwaukee in 1929. Whitefish Bay joined the conference in 1933, and their entry into the Suburban Conference brought the membership group to the maximum number of eight schools per the conference's original constitution.
1942–1980
The growth of the Suburban Conference coincided with population growth in the Milwaukee area. West Allis added a second high school in 1939 when Nathan Hale High School added senior high school grades, and they joined the conference in 1942. West Allis High School changed their name to West Allis Central in the process. Nathan Hale's entry brought the number of member schools in the conference to nine, breaking the 1925 constitutional limit on the number of members. An odd number of schools also created scheduling issues that led the conference to explore adding a tenth member in the early 1950s. After making unsuccessful overtures to Oconomowoc High School to leave the Little Ten Conference, the Suburban Conference extended an invite to the recently opened Greendale High School, and they joined in 1952. Port Washington and Watertown were also reported as candidates for expansion but instead formed half of the new Braveland Conference (along with Cedarburg and Menomonee Falls of the disbanded 4-C Conference) in 1953. Wauwatosa West High School joined the conference soon after it opened in 1961, with Wauwatosa High School becoming Wauwatosa East. They replaced Greendale, who left to join the Braveland Conference for two years before becoming a charter member of the Parkland Conference. A conference realignment plan that merged the Suburban and Braveland Conferences was also discussed that year but never implemented. 1974 brought an eleventh member to the conference in the form of the newly opened Waukesha North High School, and Waukesha High School changed its name to Waukesha South.
1980–1985 After years of discussion between the high school athletic conferences in southeastern Wisconsin, the WIAA stepped in with a sweeping realignment plan in 1980. Five new schools joined the Suburban: four of the smaller schools from the Milwaukee City Conference (Juneau, Riverside, Rufus King and West Division) and Racine Horlick from the former South Shore Conference. Most sports competed as a single division of sixteen schools with the exception of football, which was partitioned into large-school and small-school divisions: +Football-Only AlignmentLarge SchoolsSmall SchoolsCudahyMilwaukee JuneauNathan HaleMilwaukee RiversideRacine HorlickMilwaukee Rufus KingSouth MilwaukeeMilwaukee West DivisionWaukesha NorthShorewoodWaukesha SouthWest MilwaukeeWauwatosa EastWauwatosa WestWest Allis CentralWhitefish Bay Wauwatosa West and Whitefish Bay were moved over to the small-school division for football in 1982, bringing each division to eight schools. In 1983, Racine Case joined from the Parkland Conference and Racine Park joined from the Milwaukee Area Conference, reuniting the three high schools of the Racine Unified School District. For the last two years of the Suburban Conference's existence, it was aligned into two divisions for most sports based on enrollment size: the Gold Division contained larger schools and the Blue Division contained the smaller ones: Gold DivisionBlue DivisionMilwaukee JuneauCudahyMilwaukee Rufus KingMilwaukee RiversideRacine CaseMilwaukee West DivisionRacine HorlickNathan HaleRacine ParkShorewoodWaukesha NorthSouth MilwaukeeWaukesha SouthWest Allis CentralWauwatosa EastWest MilwaukeeWauwatosa WestWhitefish Bay Racine Case and Racine Park joined the large-schools division for football, and they would remain there for the final two seasons of conference play.
Epilogue The Suburban Conference was realigned out of existence in 1985, with most of its members joining three newly formed conferences in southeastern Wisconsin (the Big Nine, North Shore and Suburban Park conferences). The two Waukesha high schools joined an overhauled Braveland Conference, the four Milwaukee high schools rejoined the City Conference, and West Milwaukee joined the Parkland Conference (where it would remain until it closed in 1992).
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceCudahyCudahy, WIPublicPackers 19251985Suburban ParkWoodlandMilwaukee JuneauMilwaukee, WIPublicPioneers 19801985Milwaukee CityMilwaukee RiversideMilwaukee, WIPublicTigers 19801985Milwaukee CityMilwaukee Rufus KingMilwaukee, WIPublicGenerals 19801985Milwaukee CityMilwaukee West DivisionMilwaukee, WIPublicRedmen 19801985Milwaukee CityNathan HaleWest Allis, WIPublicHuskies 19421985Suburban ParkGreater MetroRacine CaseRacine, WIPublicEagles 19831985Big NineSoutheastRacine HorlickRacine, WIPublicRebels 19801985Big NineSoutheastRacine ParkRacine, WIPublicPanthers 19831985Big NineSoutheastShorewoodShorewood, WIPublicGreyhounds 19251985North ShoreWoodlandSouth MilwaukeeSouth Milwaukee, WIPublicRockets 19251985Suburban ParkWoodlandWaukesha NorthWaukesha, WIPublicNorthstars 19741985BravelandWoodlandWaukesha SouthWaukesha, WIPublicBlackshirts 19251985BravelandWoodlandWauwatosa EastWauwatosa, WIPublicRed Raiders 19251985North ShoreGreater MetroWauwatosa WestWauwatosa, WIPublicTrojans 19611985North ShoreGreater MetroWest Allis CentralWest Allis, WIPublicBulldogs 19251985Suburban ParkWoodlandWest MilwaukeeWest Milwaukee, WIPublicMustangs 19291985ParklandClosed 1992Whitefish BayWhitefish Bay, WIPublicBlue Dukes 19331985North Shore
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceGreendaleGreendale, WIPublicPanthers 19521961BravelandWoodlandMilwaukee County School of AgricultureWauwatosa, WIPublicAggies 19251928Closed
Notes
Membership timeline
List of state champions
Fall sports +Boys Cross CountrySchoolYearDivision West Allis1934Single Division South Milwaukee1937Single Division South Milwaukee1938Single Division South Milwaukee1939Single Division South Milwaukee1940Single Division South Milwaukee1941Single Division Wauwatosa1946Single Division South Milwaukee1949Small Schools South Milwaukee1950Small Schools South Milwaukee1951Small Schools South Milwaukee1952Small Schools Wauwatosa1953Large Schools Wauwatosa1954Large Schools Whitefish Bay1955Small Schools Waukesha1956Large Schools Whitefish Bay1957Medium Schools West Allis Central1958Large Schools Whitefish Bay1961Medium Schools Whitefish Bay1962Medium Schools South Milwaukee1965Medium Schools Nathan Hale1968Large Schools +Girls Cross CountrySchoolYearDivision West Allis Central1977Single Division +Boys SoccerSchoolYearDivision Whitefish Bay1982Single Division Whitefish Bay1983Single Division +Girls TennisSchoolYearDivision Whitefish Bay1971Single Division Wauwatosa West1972Single Division Wauwatosa West1973Single Division Whitefish Bay1974Single Division Whitefish Bay1979Single Division +Boys VolleyballSchoolYearDivision Waukesha1951Single Division Waukesha1952Single Division Waukesha1953Single Division Waukesha1955Single Division Waukesha1957Single Division Waukesha1958Single Division Waukesha1959Single Division Waukesha1960Single Division Waukesha1961Single Division Wauwatosa West1964Single Division Whitefish Bay1966Single Division Whitefish Bay1973Single Division South Milwaukee1974Single Division Nathan Hale1975Single Division Nathan Hale1976Single Division Nathan Hale1979Single Division Waukesha South1981Single Division +Girls VolleyballSchoolYearDivision Wauwatosa East1974Class A Wauwatosa East1975Class A Nathan Hale1976Class A Nathan Hale1979Class A Wauwatosa East1980Class A West Milwaukee1980Class B Wauwatosa East1985Class A
Winter sports +Boys BasketballSchoolYearDivision Shorewood1942Single Division Waukesha1944Single Division Wauwatosa1948Single Division South Milwaukee1952Single Division South Milwaukee1976Class A +Girls BasketballSchoolYearDivision Wauwatosa East1981Class A +Boys Swimming & DivingSchoolYearDivision West Allis1926Single Division West Milwaukee1932Single Division Shorewood1933Single Division Shorewood1935Single Division Shorewood1936Single Division Shorewood1937Single Division Shorewood1938Single Division Shorewood1939Single Division Wauwatosa1940Single Division Shorewood1941Single Division Shorewood1942Single Division Shorewood1943Single Division Wauwatosa1944Single Division Wauwatosa1945Single Division Wauwatosa1946Single Division Wauwatosa1947Single Division Waukesha1948Single Division Wauwatosa1949Single Division Wauwatosa1950Single Division Wauwatosa1951Single Division Whitefish Bay1953Single Division Whitefish Bay1954Single Division Wauwatosa1956Single Division Whitefish Bay1957Single Division Waukesha1958Single Division Waukesha1959Single Division Waukesha1960Single Division Waukesha1962Single Division Waukesha1964Single Division Waukesha1965Single Division Waukesha1966Single Division Waukesha1967Single Division Waukesha1968Single Division Waukesha1969Single Division Waukesha1970Single Division Wauwatosa West1971Single Division Waukesha1972Single Division Waukesha1973Single Division Waukesha1974Single Division +Boys WrestlingSchoolYearDivision West Milwaukee1948Single Division Waukesha South1980Class A
Spring sports +Boys GolfSchoolYearDivision South Milwaukee1926Single Division South Milwaukee1927Single Division Wauwatosa1937Single Division Nathan Hale1942Single Division Wauwatosa1946Single Division Wauwatosa1954Single Division Whitefish Bay1979Single Division +Girls SoccerSchoolYearDivision Whitefish Bay1983Single Division Whitefish Bay1984Single Division Whitefish Bay1985Single Division +Boys TennisSchoolYearDivision Shorewood1925Single Division Shorewood1926Single Division Shorewood1927Single Division Shorewood1929Single Division West Allis1930Single Division Wauwatosa1947Single Division Whitefish Bay1949Single Division Wauwatosa1955Single Division Wauwatosa1956Single Division Whitefish Bay1975Single Division +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivision South Milwaukee1935Class B Whitefish Bay1937Class B Whitefish Bay1938Class B Whitefish Bay1939Class B Whitefish Bay1940Class B Whitefish Bay1941Class B Whitefish Bay1942Class B Wauwatosa1943Class A Whitefish Bay1943Class B Whitefish Bay1944Class B Whitefish Bay1945Class B Whitefish Bay1946Class B Whitefish Bay1947Class B Whitefish Bay1948Class B Whitefish Bay1949Class B Whitefish Bay1950Class B Whitefish Bay1951Class B Whitefish Bay1952Class B West Milwaukee1955Class B Greendale1956Class B Waukesha1959Class A Whitefish Bay1962Class A Whitefish Bay1970Class A Wauwatosa East1972Class A +Girls Track & FieldSchoolYearDivision Racine Horlick1984Class A
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball