South Lake Michigan Conference

The South Lake Michigan Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference situated in LaPorte and Starke counties. Started by 1931[1] (if not earlier) as the LaPorte County Conference, the county had only five non-city schools left by 1965. The league then decided to rebrand itself as the SLMC and add Michigan City Marquette and Oregon-Davis.[2] However, continuing consolidation would leave the league unstable, and the conference was back down to five schools by 1969. The end came when two of those schools joined the Porter County Conference, leaving the three remaining schools to become independents.

The league can be considered a predecessor to the Northland Conference, which was started 23 years later by four of the five SLMC members at the time of its disbanding. That conference was also plagued by a lack of stability, and folded in 2010.

Members

School Location Mascot Colors County Year Joined Previous Conference Year Left Conference Joined
Clinton Township Wanatah Trojans           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1962 none (consolidated into
South Central (UM))
Hanna Hanna Fishermen           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1962 none (consolidated into
South Central (UM))
Kingsbury Kingsbury Slicers           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1964 none (consolidated
into LaPorte)
LaCrosse LaCrosse Tigers           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1975 Porter County
Mill Creek Mill Creek Creekers           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1964 none (consolidated
into LaPorte)
Springfield Township Michiana Shores Indians           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1950 none (consolidated
into Michigan City)
Stillwell Stillwell Vikings           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1964 none (consolidated
into LaPorte)
Union Mills Union Mills Millers           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1962 none (consolidated into
South Central (UM))
Union Township South Center Tigers           46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1965 none (consolidated
into LaPorte)
Wanatah Wanatah Midgets                46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1969 none (consolidated
into LaCrosse
Westville Westville Blackhawks                46
LaPorte
pre-1931 Independents 1975 Porter County
South Central
(Union Mills)
Union Mills Satellites           46
LaPorte
1962 none (new school) 1975 Independents
Marquette Catholic Michigan City Blazers           46
LaPorte
1965 Independents 1975 Independents
Oregon-Davis* Hamlet Bobcats                75
Starke
1965 Tippecanoe Valley 1975 Independents

References

  1. "Vikings Play Michigan City Tonight". Valparaiso Vidette Messenger. 1937-02-27. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  2. "Cage Scores". Anderson Daily Bulletin. 1966-01-21. Retrieved 2012-07-25.

Resources

E.T. Pearl's Basketball Corner