Valley Football Association
The Valley Football Association is a former high school football conference with its membership based northeastern and central Wisconsin. Active from the 2011 through 2023 football seasons, the conference and its member schools were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
[edit]
The Valley Football Association was born from a merger of the football-playing members of two conferences for large high schools in eastern and central Wisconsin: the Fox Valley Association and the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The WVC was set to have only six football participants for the 2011 season, which created problems with scheduling nonconference opponents to fill game dates.[1] Competition commenced with the 2011 football season, and the sixteen member schools were broken out into two divisions:[2]
| VFA North Division | VFA South Division |
|---|---|
| Appleton East | Fond du Lac |
| Appleton North | Marshfield |
| Appleton West | Menasha |
| D.C. Everest | Neenah |
| Kaukauna | Oshkosh North |
| Kimberly | Oshkosh West |
| Wausau East | Stevens Point |
| Wausau West | Wisconsin Rapids |
In 2014, Hortonville replaced original member Menasha, who departed the VFA for the Bay Conference.[3] Three years later, Wausau East left the VFA to compete as an independent school for football, prompting the realignment of the conference into three five-team divisions:[4]
| VFA North Division | VFA South Division | VFA West Division |
|---|---|---|
| Appleton East | Fond du Lac | D.C. Everest |
| Appleton North | Hortonville | Marshfield |
| Appleton West | Neenah | Stevens Point |
| Kaukauna | Oshkosh North | Wausau West |
| Kimberly | Oshkosh West | Wisconsin Rapids |
Only five VFA members competed in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those teams, alongside returning member Wausau East, competed in a single division. The members that went on hiatus played in spring 2021 in the temporary Fox Valley Classic Conference with members of the original Fox River Classic Conference and the Wisconsin Valley Conference. Of those teams, only Appleton West and Stevens Point returned to the VFA, while the remaining teams returned to the Fox Valley Association for football.[5] The Valley Football Association name was in use until the 2023 football season,[6] when the conference reverted back to the Wisconsin Valley Conference nomenclature for the 2024-2025 competition cycle.[7][8]
Conference membership history
[edit]Membership timeline
[edit]
North Division South Division West Division
List of state champions
[edit]| School | Year | Division |
|---|---|---|
| Kimberly | 2013 | Division 2 |
| Kimberly | 2014 | Division 1 |
| Kimberly | 2015 | Division 1 |
| Kimberly | 2016 | Division 1 |
| Kimberly | 2017 | Division 1 |
List of conference and division champions
[edit]| School | Quantity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Kimberly | 8 | 2011 (N), 2013 (N), 2014 (N), 2015 (N), 2016 (N), 2017 (N), 2018 (N), 2019 (N) |
| Marshfield | 5 | 2012 (S), 2017 (W), 2018 (W), 2019 (W), 2022 |
| Fond du Lac | 4 | 2015 (S), 2017 (S), 2018 (S), 2019 (S) |
| Stevens Point | 4 | 2012 (S), 2016 (S), 2021, 2023 |
| Wisconsin Rapids | 4 | 2011 (S), 2017 (W), 2021, 2022 |
| Appleton North | 2 | 2011 (N), 2012 (N) |
| Oshkosh North | 2 | 2013 (S), 2014 (S) |
| D.C. Everest | 1 | 2020 |
| Wausau West | 1 | 2021, 2022 |
| Appleton East | 0 | |
| Appleton West | 0 | |
| Hortonville | 0 | |
| Kaukauna | 0 | |
| Menasha | 0 | |
| Neenah | 0 | |
| Oshkosh West | 0 | |
| Wausau East | 0 |
References
[edit]- ^ Arguello, Ricardo (August 4, 2011). "Starting from scratch". Appleton Post-Crescent. pp. B-1. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
- ^ Johnson, Tim (August 14, 2011). "Season of change". Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. pp. B-1. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
- ^ "Menasha, Hortonville to switch conferences". usatodayhss.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014.
- ^ "East football set to leave VFA". Daily Herald Media. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
- ^ "WFCA/WIAA Football-Only Realignment Proposal" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 6, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
- ^ "Proposed Football Only Conference Alignment - 11-Player" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 11, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
- ^ Berg, Brandon (July 12, 2024). "Big Rivers football will be missing big schools". Superior Telegram. pp. B1. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
- ^ "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 14, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2025.