Northern Lights Conference

The Northern Lights Conference is a high school athletic conference located in northwestern Wisconsin. Originally founded as the Bayfield County Athletic League in 1936, the conference's name was changed to its current moniker in 2023, and its members are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

1936-1970

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Location of Indianhead Conference Members (1948-1964)

The Bayfield County Athletic League was founded in 1936^[1] by six small high schools in far northwestern Wisconsin: Bayfield, Drummond, Iron River, Ondossagon Port Wing (later South Shore) and Washburn.^[2] Cable were also announced as members but did not participate in the conference's first basketball season. Saxon was admitted to the conference 1937, which along with Cable's entry into competition increased membership to eight schools.^[3] Along with Saxon's entry into the conference came a new name: the Indianhead Conference.^[4] The Indianhead moniker refers to a group of counties in northwestern Wisconsin that resemble the side profile of a Native American.^[5] Drummond and Port Wing dropped out of the conference for the 1938 season, and membership stood at six with Cable's addition.^[6] In 1940, Mellen joined the conference and Drummond made their return, offsetting the loss of Cable as members.^[7] The return of Port Wing in 1943^[8] and Cable in 1948 brought membership up to nine schools by the end of the decade.^[9] The Indianhead Conference's roster remained stable at nine schools for sixteen years before rural school district consolidation whittled away at the group. Saxon was the first to leave the conference, consolidating with Hurley of the Michigan-Wisconsin Conference in 1964.^[10] Three years later, Iron River was folded into another M-W Conference school (Northwestern High School in Maple).^[11] Former independent Solon Springs entered the Indianhead Conference in 1968, offsetting some of the losses suffered in previous seasons.^[12] In 1969, Cable was merged into Drummond, bringing membership back down to seven schools.^[11] The Indianhead Conference gained four new members in 1970, two from the disbanded Flambeau League (Butternut and Glidden), one from the Michigan-based Porcupine Mountain Conference (Mercer) and a former independent (Northwood).^[13]

1970-2023

The Indianhead Conference operated as an eleven-member circuit for ten years before Northwood left to become members of the Lakeland Conference in 1980.^[14][15] Hurley joined the conference in 1986 after competing in the Michigan-based Gogebic Range Conference for the past six years.^[16] In 1990, Ondossagon closed its doors and its district was split up among other area districts, decreasing the ledger to ten members.^[17] The Indianhead Conference operated at ten schools for nineteen years, including two years where Butternut and Glidden ran a cooperative athletic program from 2007 to 2009.^[18] This arrangement ended in 2009 when Glidden was merged with Park Falls of the Marawood Conference to form the new Chequamegon High School, and the new school inherited Park Falls' conference affiliation.^[19] Luther L. Wright High School in Ironwood crossed the Michigan-Wisconsin border to join the Indianhead Conference from the Michigan-based Western Peninsula Conference in 2010.^[20] Three years later, the Indianhead Conference acquired another cross-border member from Michigan: the Gogebic Miners (a cooperative between Bessemer Johnston and Wakefield-Marenisco).^[21] A twelfth school was added to the Indianhead Conference when Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School in Hayward became members in 2021.^[22] After the exit of Gogebic and Ironwood Wright in 2022, the Indianhead Conference assumed its current lineup of ten schools.

2023-present

Citing the pejorative nature of the Indianhead name, the conference changed its name to the Northern Lights Conference in 2023. The new name was suggested by students at Butternut and Washburn and beat out four other options considered (Great Divide, Great Lakes, Northland and Snowbelt).^[23]

List of conference members

Current members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined
Bayfield	Bayfield, WI	Public	116	Trollers		1936[1][2]
Butternut	Butternut, WI	Public	57	Midgets		1970[13]
Drummond	Drummond, WI	Public	108	Lumberjacks		1936,[1][2] 1940[7]
Hurley	Hurley, WI	Public	192	Northstars		1986[16]
Lac Courte Oreilles	Hayward, WI	Tribal (Ojibwe)	105	Eagles		2021[22]
Mellen	Mellen, WI	Public	81	Granite Diggers		1940[7]
Mercer	Mercer, WI	Public	41	Tigers		1970[13]
Solon Springs	Solon Springs, WI	Public	81	Eagles		1968[12]
South Shore	Port Wing, WI	Public	63	Cardinals		1936,[1][2] 1943[8]
Washburn	Washburn, WI	Public	198	Castle Guards		1936[1][2]

Former members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Left	Conference Joined	Current Conference
Butternut/Glidden	Butternut, WI	Public	N/A	Midgets		2007[18]	2009[19]	Cooperative ended (Glidden merged into Chequamegon)
Cable	Cable, WI	Public	N/A	Eskimos		1937,[4] 1948[9]	1940,[7] 1969[11]	Closed (consolidated into Drummond)
Glidden	Glidden, WI	Public	N/A	Black Bears		1970[13]	2007[18]	Entered into cooperative with Butternut
Gogebic	Bessemer, MI	Public	221[24]	Miners		2013[21]	2022[21]	Independent
Iron River	Iron River, WI	Public	N/A	Wolverines		1936[1][25]	1967[11]	Closed (consolidated into Northwestern)
Ironwood	Ironwood, MI	Public	194[24]	Red Devils		2010[20]	2022[20]	Independent
Northwood	Minong, WI	Public	87	Evergreens		1970[13]	1980[14][15]	Lakeland
Ondossagon	Ashland, WI	Public	N/A	Aggies		1936[1][25]	1990[17]	Closed (district split between Ashland, Drummond and Washburn)
Saxon	Saxon, WI	Public	N/A	Knights		1937[3]	1964[10]	Closed (consolidated into Hurley)

Membership timeline

Membership map

Northern Lights Conference

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10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

   

Location of Northern Lights Conference full members:

1

Bayfield

2

Butternut

3

Drummond

4

Hurley

5

Lac Courte Oreilles

6

Mellen

7

Mercer

8

Solon Springs

9

South Shore

10

Washburn

List of state champions

Fall sports

Boys Cross Country

School	Year	Division
Drummond	1976	Class C
Drummond	1997	Division 3

Girls Volleyball

School	Year	Division
Bayfield	1977	Class C
Mercer	1988	Class C
Mercer	1992	Division 4
Washburn	2000	Division 3
Washburn	2021	Alternate Season

Winter sports

None

Spring sports

Softball

School	Year	Division
Bayfield	1981	Class C
Bayfield	1982	Class C