High School Conference Membership

[Alum-Ni]

Moving towards the start of the 2018-19 athletic year, an updated listing of high school conference membership. There are some big changes this year. If I have missed any, let me know.

Capitol Conference (8)
Arlington
Ashland-Greenwood
Douglas County West
Fort Calhoun
Platteview
Raymond Central
Syracuse
Wahoo

Centennial Conference (11)
Boys Town (boys only)
Columbus Scotus
David City Aquinas
Fremont Bergan
Grand Island Central Catholic
Hastings St. Cecilia
Kearney Catholic
Lincoln Christian
Lincoln Lutheran
Omaha Concordia
Wahoo Neumann

Central Conference (10)
Aurora
Columbus Lakeview
Crete
Grand Island Northwest
Hastings Adams Central
Holdrege
Lexington
Schuyler
Seward
York

Crossroads Conference (13)
Bruning-Davenport/Shickley
Cross County
Dorchester
East Butler
Exeter-Milligan
Giltner
Hampton
High Plains
McCool Junction
Meridian
Nebraska Lutheran
Osceola
Shelby/Rising City

East Central Nebraska Conference (11)
Auburn
Conestoga
Elmwood-Murdock
Freeman
Johnson County Central
Louisville
Malcolm
Mead
Palmyra
Weeping Water
Yutan

East Husker Conference (15)
Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur
Clarkson/Leigh
Howells-Dodge
Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family
Logan View
Madison
North Bend
Oakland-Craig
Pender
Scribner-Snyder
Stanton
Tekamah-Herman
Twin River
West Point-Beemer
Wisner-Pilger

Eastern Midlands Conference (8)
Bennington
Blair
Elkhorn
Gretna
Nebraska City
Norris
Plattsmouth
Waverly

Fort Kearny Conference (10)
Amherst
Axtell
Elm Creek
Elwood
Eustis-Farnam
Loomis
Overton
Pleasanton
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller
Wilcox-Hildreth

Frontier Conference (7)
Boys Town (girls only)
Cedar Bluffs
College View Academy
Cornerstone Christian
Omaha Brownell-Talbot
Omaha Christian
Parkview Christian

Goldenrod Conference (10)
Burwell
Central Valley
Fullerton
Heartland Lutheran
Humphrey St. Francis
Nebraska Christian
Palmer
Riverside
Spalding Academy
St. Edward

Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference (6)
Columbus
Gering
Hastings
McCook
North Platte
Scottsbluff

Heartland Athletic Conference (11)
Fremont
Grand Island
Kearney
Lincoln East
Lincoln High
Lincoln North Star
Lincoln Northeast
Lincoln Pius X
Lincoln Southeast
Lincoln Southwest
Norfolk

Independents (5)
Falls City
Lutheran High Northeast
Omaha Mercy
Omaha Nation
Omaha Street School

Lewis & Clark Conference (17)
Allen
Bloomfield
Creighton
Emerson-Hubbard
Hartington-Newcastle
Homer
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge
Osmond
Plainview
Ponca
Randolph
Wakefield
Walthill
Wausa
Winnebago
Winside
Wynot

LouPlatte Conference (9)
Central City
Centura
Doniphan-Trumbull
Gibbon
Loup City
Ord
Ravenna
St. Paul
Wood River

Metro Conference (18)
Bellevue East
Bellevue West
Elkhorn South
Millard North
Millard South
Millard West
Omaha Benson
Omaha Bryan
Omaha Burke
Omaha Central
Omaha Creighton Prep
Omaha Marian
Omaha North
Omaha Northwest
Omaha South
Omaha Westside
Papillion-LaVista
Papillion-LaVista South

Mid-Nebraska Activities Conference (12)
Anselmo-Merna
Ansley/Litchfield
Arthur County
Brady
Cody-Kilgore
Hyannis
McPherson County
Mullen
Sandhills/Thedford
South Loup
Stapleton
Twin Loup

Mid-State Conference (9)
Battle Creek
Boone Central/Newman Grove
Crofton
Guardian Angels Central Catholic
Hartington Cedar Catholic
Norfolk Catholic
O'Neill
Pierce
Wayne

Minuteman Activities Conference (8)
Banner County
Bayard
Creek Valley
Garden County
Leyton
Minatare
Potter-Dix
South Platte

MUDECAS (8)
Diller-Odell
Falls City Sacred Heart
Freeman
Lewiston
Nebraska City Lourdes
Parkview Christian
Pawnee City
Sterling

Niobrara Valley Conference (13)
Atkinson West Holt
Boyd County
Chambers/Wheeler Central
Clearwater/Orchard
Elgin/Elgin Pope John
Elkhorn Valley
Ewing
Neligh-Oakdale
Niobrara/Verdigre
North Central
O'Neill St. Mary's
Santee
Stuart

Panhandle Conference (5)
Crawford
Edgemont (South Dakota)
Hay Springs
Hemingford
Sioux County

Pioneer Conference (10)
Diller-Odell
Falls City Sacred Heart
Friend
Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer
Johnson-Brock
Lewiston
Nebraska City Lourdes
Pawnee City
Southern
Sterling

Republican Plains Activities Conference (15)
Alma
Arapahoe
Bertrand
Cambridge
Dundy County-Stratton
Hayes Center
Hitchcock County
Maxwell
Maywood
Medicine Valley
Paxton
Southern Valley
Southwest
Wallace
Wauneta-Palisade

River Cities Conference (8)
Beatrice
Elkhorn Mt. Michael
Omaha Duchesne
Omaha Gross
Omaha Roncalli
Omaha Skutt
Ralston
South Sioux City

South Platte Valley Association (7)
Bridgeport
Chase County
Hershey
Kimball
North Platte St. Patrick's
Perkins County
Sutherland

Southern Nebraska Conference (12)
Centennial
David City
Fairbury
Fillmore Central
Heartland
Milford
Sandy Creek
Superior
Sutton
Thayer Central
Tri County
Wilber-Clatonia

Southwest Conference (8)
Ainsworth
Broken Bow
Cozad
Gothenburg
McCook
Minden
Ogallala
Valentine

Twin Valley Conference (9)
Blue Hill
Deshler
Franklin
Harvard
Kenesaw
Lawrence-Nelson
Red Cloud
Shelton
Silver Lake

Western Conference (6)
Alliance
Chadron
Gering
Mitchell
Scottsbluff
Sidney

Western Trails Conference (7)
Bayard
Bridgeport
Gordon-Rushville
Hemingford
Kimball
Mitchell
Morrill

 

[hailvictors2]

Great work, as always. Pardon my stupidity, what is the purpose of dual membership?

 

[Alum-Ni]

Great work, as always. Pardon my stupidity, what is the purpose of dual membership?

Not really any purpose other than filling out a league.

 

[LooseCannon]

-The GNAC just needs to be done.
-Columbus should be in the Heartland Athletic Conference with rivals Fremont and Norfolk.

 

[1000yd.guy]

My friend, I can't compliment you enough on the great work you provide for Nebraska high school sports. Golden source for so many things. This shining example of your excellent work. I look forward to the day I can meet you in person. High props to you, man...…………………..1000 Yard Guy

 

[Alum-Ni]

My friend, I can't compliment you enough on the great work you provide for Nebraska high school sports. Golden source for so many things. This shining example of your excellent work. I look forward to the day I can meet you in person. High props to you, man...…………………..1000 Yard Guy

The feeling is mutual.

 

[Alum-Ni]

-The GNAC just needs to be done.
-Columbus should be in the Heartland Athletic Conference with rivals Fremont and Norfolk.

Columbus sure needs a different home.

 

[hailvictors2]

It probably won't be long before Columbus ends up elsewhere. Columbus would make an even dozen in the Heartland Athletic Conference. North Platte is the tough one in that conference. There is really nowhere for them to go.

 

[Alum-Ni]

It probably won't be long before Columbus ends up elsewhere. Columbus would make an even dozen in the Heartland Athletic Conference. North Platte is the tough one in that conference. There is really nowhere for them to go.

I believe the Heartland is saving the "12th spot" in their league for another Lincoln high school that could be built in the near future.

Maybe the Heartland could go to 14 and add North Platte and Columbus, but it doesn't seem likely.

 

[LooseCannon]

I believe the Heartland is saving the "12th spot" in their league for another Lincoln high school that could be built in the near future.

Maybe the Heartland could go to 14 and add North Platte and Columbus, but it doesn't seem likely.

Correct, they are saving it for the next LPS school.

Columbus is just in a tough spot. They are always a kid away from being in A or B year in and year out. Even in Class B they would fit well with the Central Conference (Lakeview fits better in the Mid State conference IMO. Or CHS in the Eastern Midlands (kick out Nebraska City)

 

[hailvictors2]

Columbus to the Eastern Midlands would be quite a trip for them to get to Norris (or Neb City if they were to stay).

 

[nenebskers]

Columbus to the Eastern Midlands would be quite a trip for them to get to Norris (or Neb City if they were to stay).

Huh? Compared to Gering, Mccook, Scottsbluff, and North Platte it's a short bike ride.

 

[hailvictors2]

Huh? Compared to Gering, Mccook, Scottsbluff, and North Platte it's a short bike ride.

Obviously. My point was that if we are re-aligning a conference it doesn’t make sense to continue to make them travel 2 hours.

I also think it is absurd that a conference would ever have more than 12 schools. Northeast Nebraska has two conferences with 15+ schools. Those should be broken into 4 separate conferences. There are 32 schools in the East Husker and Lewis/Clark. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that should be 4 conferences of 8. Makes conference basketball, volleyball, wrestling, etc brackets easy. Also makes conference track simple, assuming they use an 8 lane track.

 

[nenebskers]

Obviously. My point was that if we are re-aligning a conference it doesn’t make sense to continue to make them travel 2 hours.

I also think it is absurd that a conference would ever have more than 12 schools. Northeast Nebraska has two conferences with 15+ schools. Those should be broken into 4 separate conferences. There are 32 schools in the East Husker and Lewis/Clark. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that should be 4 conferences of 8. Makes conference basketball, volleyball, wrestling, etc brackets easy. Also makes conference track simple, assuming they use an 8 lane track.

Ah, I was starting to think you were far from a geographic wiz!

I couldn't agree more! If your an athlete in the Lewis and Clark or East Husker there is a possibility that in the four years of high school you might never compete against another school in your conference. I'm not 100% sure but I believe in the Lewis and Clark a school is required to play 8 conference regular season games. That leaves another 8 schools that you may never play unless part of conference tournament or post season play. Seems pointless to me. This isn't college athletics. TV revenue isn't an issue here!

The Metro conference is silly too. Why not just call it Class A? The Heartland is going that same direction. Why not have all OPS in a conference, all non OPS Omaha metro schools in a conference, and all LPS along with Pius? How about South Sioux, Norfolk, Columbus, Fremont, Blair, and ???? Most of the non metro class A schools are just in a tough spot geographically. If we had four or even five classes total in the state with Class A and Class B both at 36 schools conference affiliation would be a lot easier. Schools and people in general hate to have schools two classes apart in the same conference and/or on the schedule. Once you get to Class A it's even worse, though it does seem like Class A has been more open to scheduling Class B of late. If we had four or even five classes for non football sports so much of our oddities in scheduling and conference affiliation would be corrected.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Obviously. My point was that if we are re-aligning a conference it doesn’t make sense to continue to make them travel 2 hours.

I also think it is absurd that a conference would ever have more than 12 schools. Northeast Nebraska has two conferences with 15+ schools. Those should be broken into 4 separate conferences. There are 32 schools in the East Husker and Lewis/Clark. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that should be 4 conferences of 8. Makes conference basketball, volleyball, wrestling, etc brackets easy. Also makes conference track simple, assuming they use an 8 lane track.

But look at the makeup of those two mega-conferences in northeast Nebraska. A lot of those schools are really starting to hurt for enrollment. In five years with co-ops and consolidations those 15-16 team conferences could easily be 10-12 team conferences.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Correct, they are saving it for the next LPS school.

Columbus is just in a tough spot. They are always a kid away from being in A or B year in and year out. Even in Class B they would fit well with the Central Conference (Lakeview fits better in the Mid State conference IMO. Or CHS in the Eastern Midlands (kick out Nebraska City)

Good ideas. I think Columbus already tried to get into the Eastern Midlands and was denied.

Lakeview to the Mid-State Conference would be a good fit and would get that league back to an even 10 members and Columbus in the Central wouldn't be bad, either.

 

[nenebskers]

Has the Mid-States ever considered West Point-Beemer or vice versa? Just seems to make sense to me. Though I'm sure Guardian Angel's wouldn't be too fond of it.

 

[nenebskers]

Are there any schools that will be taking a big dip in enrollments in the next 5-10 years? Seems like in Northeast Nebraska we had a lot of schools from around 2000 to about 2015 that took big drops. Schools that were always a C2 or even C1 then dropped to D real fast.

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the East Husker, Lewis and Clark and Mid-States reorganizing. For example.....Crofton, Hartington, Hartington CC, Ponca, Laurel, Wakefield (and likely Allen), Pender (if combined with Emerson-Hubbard), Battle Creek, Stanton, and Wisner-Pilger.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Has the Mid-States ever considered West Point-Beemer or vice versa? Just seems to make sense to me. Though I'm sure Guardian Angel's wouldn't be too fond of it.

I've always thought, from a size standpoint, West Point-Beemer and GACC could switch leagues. With that said, GACC does a pretty good job competing in the Mid-State and maybe WP-B enjoys being the "bigger" school in the East Husker. I've always thought Lutheran High Northeast would end up in the Mid-State someday, but their enrollment too lately has been taking a hit.

 

[fbnut999]

I've always thought, from a size standpoint, West Point-Beemer and GACC could switch leagues. With that said, GACC does a pretty good job competing in the Mid-State and maybe WP-B enjoys being the "bigger" school in the East Husker. I've always thought Lutheran High Northeast would end up in the Mid-State someday, but their enrollment too lately has been taking a hit.

I agree--size-wise, it makes sense, but until GACC can't compete in the MId-State, I don't see anything changing. Adding Lakeview to get to 10 teams seems like an overdue move, however.

With Norfolk Catholic dropping to C-2, do you think the Mid-State could refer to itself as the best "small Class C" conference in Nebraska? (I think the Centennial took the title of best Class C conference a few years ago...)

 

[LooseCannon]

Are there any schools that will be taking a big dip in enrollments in the next 5-10 years? Seems like in Northeast Nebraska we had a lot of schools from around 2000 to about 2015 that took big drops. Schools that were always a C2 or even C1 then dropped to D real fast.

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the East Husker, Lewis and Clark and Mid-States reorganizing. For example.....Crofton, Hartington, Hartington CC, Ponca, Laurel, Wakefield (and likely Allen), Pender (if combined with Emerson-Hubbard), Battle Creek, Stanton, and Wisner-Pilger.

In 5 or so years, I think these could be cool new conferences.


East Husker (8)
Tekamah-Herman
Oakland-Craig
BRLD
Pender
LVSS
GACC
Wakefield
Winnebago

West Husker (8)
North Bend
Wisner-Pilger
Stanton (maybe Winside joins them?)
Howells-Dodge
Clarkson-Leigh
Humphrey/LHF
Humphrey St. Francis
Twin River

Lewis and Clark (8)
Macy
Walthill
Emerson-Hubbard/Homer
Ponca-Allen
Laurel-Concord-Colridge
Hartington/Newcastle
Wynot-Crofton
Randolph (maybe Winside joins them?)

Mid-State (8)
West Point-Beemer
Wayne
Pierce
Norfolk Catholic
Battle Creek
Madison
Columbus Lakeview
Boone County (BCNG-St. Edward)

 

[nenebskers]

In 5 or so years, I think these could be cool new conferences.


East Husker (8)
Tekamah-Herman
Oakland-Craig
BRLD
Pender
LVSS
GACC
Wakefield
Winnebago

West Husker (8)
North Bend
Wisner-Pilger
Stanton (maybe Winside joins them?)
Howells-Dodge
Clarkson-Leigh
Humphrey/LHF
Humphrey St. Francis
Twin River

Lewis and Clark (8)
Macy
Walthill
Emerson-Hubbard/Homer
Ponca-Allen
Laurel-Concord-Colridge
Hartington/Newcastle
Wynot-Crofton
Randolph (maybe Winside joins them?)

Mid-State (8)
West Point-Beemer
Wayne
Pierce
Norfolk Catholic
Battle Creek
Madison
Columbus Lakeview
Boone County (BCNG-St. Edward)

Allen is going with Wakefield for girls only this year. Everything this far looks like they would be a longterm fit. I still feel that Emerson Hubbard ends up with Pender eventually but there will be a lot of open enrollments into Homer, Ponca, and Wakefield, similar to what happened with Hartington/Newcastle.

Madison just got out of the Mid-States, cant swe them going back in.

Is West Point Beemer interested in Mid-States? Just seems like a natural fit.

LHNE has dropped in enrollment the past few years here. Anyone have insight about their future projections?

 

[fbnut999]

Allen is going with Wakefield for girls only this year. Everything this far looks like they would be a longterm fit. I still feel that Emerson Hubbard ends up with Pender eventually but there will be a lot of open enrollments into Homer, Ponca, and Wakefield, similar to what happened with Hartington/Newcastle.

Madison just got out of the Mid-States, cant swe them going back in.

Is West Point Beemer interested in Mid-States? Just seems like a natural fit.

LHNE has dropped in enrollment the past few years here. Anyone have insight about their future projections?

Agreed on Madison, they won't want to jump back into the Mid-State, even though the travel and location makes sense.

I don't see West Point-Beemer joining any conference that GACC is in. Just some hard feelings and bad blood between those two schools (again, probably between the parents and grandparents, not the kids!)

GACC is getting smaller, but as long as they can compete in the Mid-State, I don't see them leaving.

Don't see LHNE being invited to the MId-State. Not sure of their long-term enrollment projections.

 

[Bubman86]

Good ideas. I think Columbus already tried to get into the Eastern Midlands and was denied.

Lakeview to the Mid-State Conference would be a good fit and would get that league back to an even 10 members and Columbus in the Central wouldn't be bad, either.

You do realize that the Central Conference includes Holdrege and now Lexington both of which are two plus hours away. Doesn’t that defeat your purpose of wanting to keep them closer to their conference schools? Lakeview needs to stay put and Columbus needs to find a different conference.

 

[Alum-Ni]

You do realize that the Central Conference includes Holdrege and now Lexington both of which are two plus hours away. Doesn’t that defeat your purpose of wanting to keep them closer to their conference schools? Lakeview needs to stay put and Columbus needs to find a different conference.

It's two plus hours away already for Lakeview. Columbus just doesn't have many options.

 

[SPbObRT]

I've always thought, from a size standpoint, West Point-Beemer and GACC could switch leagues. With that said, GACC does a pretty good job competing in the Mid-State and maybe WP-B enjoys being the "bigger" school in the East Husker. I've always thought Lutheran High Northeast would end up in the Mid-State someday, but their enrollment too lately has been taking a hit.

Enrollement has nothing to due with why they are not in the MID STATE conference.

 

[HuskDaddy]

Enrollement has nothing to due with why they are not in the MID STATE conference.

Well.....

Mid-State Conference (9)
Battle Creek
Boone Central/Newman Grove
Crofton
Guardian Angels Central Catholic
Hartington Cedar Catholic
Norfolk Catholic
O'Neill
Pierce
Wayne

Seems to me that Lutheran High Northeast (Norfolk) might just fit in the neighborhood with this conference.