Northern Indiana Valley Conference Explained

The Northern Indiana Valley Conference was an Indiana High School Athletic Association sanctioned conference in the South Bend/Mishawaka metropolitan area. The conference began as the St. Joseph County Conference in 1932, made up of county schools and South Bend schools not in the Northern Indiana Conference. Smaller county schools consolidated and moved to different conferences with schools of similar size, and by 1966 the county league was down to four members. The league decided to take in the two county Catholic schools, Marian and St. Joseph the next year, and rebranded as the Northern Indiana Valley Conference. The league took a hard hits beginning in 1974. Clay became an Independent (until 1978). Penn was accepted into the Northern Indiana Athletic Conference, South Bend Jackson announced its closure after the school year, and the league stopped sponsoring football. South Bend LaSalle were invited to replace LaPorte in the Northern Indiana Athletic Conference in 1976, although like Penn, they played in both leagues where schedules permitted. However, when Clay joined the Northern Indiana Athletic Conference in 1978, the schools broke off their relationship with the Catholic schools. Marian and St. Joseph continued on as independents for the next 27 years. With LaSalle closing in 2002, the Northern Indiana Athletic Conference discussed expanding beyond its seven schools, and took on both of the Catholic schools in 2005, so they absorbed every school in the Northern Indiana Valley Conference.

Membership

All schools located in St. Joseph County.

SchoolLocationMascotColorsYear joinedPrevious conferenceYear leftConference joined
Greene TownshipCrumstownBulldogs19321965none (consolidated
into Walkerton
LakevilleLakevilleTrojans19321965none (consolidated
into LaVille
Madison TownshipWyattPanthers19321964none (consolidated
into Penn)
New CarlisleNew CarlisleTigers19321966Northern State
North LibertyNorth LibertyShamrocks19321966Northern State
South Bend WilsonSouth BendPresidents19321950none (school closed)
WalkertonWalkertonIndians19321966none (consolidated
into Glenn
South Bend Clay1South BendColonials1939
1963
1974
none (new school)
Northern State
Independents
1958
1974
1978
Northern State
Independents
Northern Indiana
Penn2MishawakaKingsmen1958none (new school)1978Northern Indiana
South Bend JacksonSouth BendTigers1965none (new school)1975none (school closed)
South Bend LaSalle3South BendLions1965none (new school)1978Northern Indiana
Mishawaka MarianMishawakaKnights1967Independents1978Independents
(Northern Indiana Athletic Conference 2005)
South Bend
St. Joseph's
South BendIndians1967Independents1978Independents
(Northern Indiana Athletic Conference 2005)
  1. Was Washington-Clay until 1963
  2. Concurrent in Northern Indiana Valley Conference and Northern Indiana Athletic Conference, 1974–78.
  3. Concurrent in Northern Indiana Valley Conference and Northern Indiana Athletic Conference, 1976–78.

Conference champions (Football)

Related links