Northwest Football League (Wisconsin)

The Northwest Football League is a former high school football conference with its membership base in northwestern Wisconsin. It was only in existence for the 1994 and 1995 seasons, and its members were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

The Northwest Football League was founded in 1994 when two high school athletic conferences in northwestern Wisconsin (the Heart O'North and Middle Border) merged for football into an eighteen-member, three-division superconference.[1] They were joined by two members of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference that were previously affiliated with the MBC (Mondovi and Prescott).[2] This was the WIAA's first attempt to create a football-only conference; they had existed in the past but were created before the WIAA's organizational structure brought conference realignment under its scope:

Red Conference White Conference Blue Conference
Amery Barron Baldwin-Woodville
Durand-Arkansaw Bloomer Chetek
Ellsworth Ladysmith Cumberland
Hayward Northwestern Mondovi
New Richmond Osceola Prescott
Spooner Unity St. Croix Falls

This arrangement lasted for two seasons until the Northwest Football League was dissolved after the 1995 season. The main factor leading to the conference's ending was that members were grouped together primarily by enrollment with little regard to proximity to each other, which created long travel distances and interrupted long-standing rivalries.[3] The Heart O'North Conference and Middle Border Conference resumed sponsoring their own football conferences for the 1996 season.

Conference membership history

School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Conference Primary Conference
Amery Amery, WI Public 467 Warriors     Red Middle Border
Baldwin-Woodville Baldwin, WI Public 506 Blackhawks     Blue Middle Border
Barron Barron, WI Public 331 Golden Bears     White Heart O'North
Bloomer Bloomer, WI Public 429 Blackhawks     White Heart O'North
Chetek Chetek, WI Public N/A Bulldogs     Blue Heart O'North
Cumberland Cumberland, WI Public 300 Beavers     Blue Heart O'North
Durand-Arkansaw Durand, WI Public 307 Panthers     Red Middle Border
Ellsworth Ellsworth, WI Public 518 Panthers     Red Middle Border
Hayward Hayward, WI Public 604 Hurricanes     Red Heart O'North
Ladysmith Ladysmith, WI Public 246 Lumberjacks     White Heart O'North
Mondovi Mondovi, WI Public 250 Buffaloes     Blue Dunn-St. Croix
New Richmond New Richmond, WI Public 1,112 Tigers     Red Middle Border
Northwestern Maple, WI Public 400 Tigers     White Heart O'North
Osceola Osceola, WI Public 552 Chieftains     White Middle Border
Prescott Prescott, WI Public 431 Cardinals     Blue Dunn-St. Croix
Spooner Spooner, WI Public 365 Rails     Red Heart O'North
St. Croix Falls St. Croix Falls, WI Public 345 Saints     Blue Middle Border
Unity Balsam Lake, WI Public 295 Eagles     White Middle Border

Membership timeline

 Red Conference  White Conference  Blue Conference

List of conference champions

School Quantity Years
Baldwin-Woodville 2 1994, 1995
New Richmond 2 1994, 1995
Northwestern 2 1994, 1995
Amery 0
Barron 0
Bloomer 0
Chetek 0
Cumberland 0
Durand-Arkansaw 0
Ellsworth 0
Hayward 0
Ladysmith 0
Mondovi 0
Osceola 0
Prescott 0
Spooner 0
St. Croix Falls 0
Unity 0

References

  1. ^ "Scoreboard (see Football, Prep, Northwest Football League)". Eau Claire Leader Telegram. 8 September 1994. pp. 2D. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  2. ^ Holmes, Kirk (8 August 1994). "Prep football: Change in the air". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. pp. D. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  3. ^ Holmes, Kirk (11 December 1995). "Nobody's mourning early demise of NFL". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. pp. D. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
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