Sagamore_Conference_(IHSAA)
Sagamore Conference is an eight-member IHSAA sanctioned athletic conference comprising 2A and 3A and sized schools in Clinton, Boone, Hendricks, and Montgomery Counties in Central Indiana.
The Sagamore Conference was founded in 1966 in Lebanon, Indiana, with a meeting between school officials from Brownsburg, Carmel, Crawfordsville, Frankfort, Lebanon, and Noblesville. The founders selected the name "Sagamore" after the Abnaki Indian tribe's name for "chief".[1] The conference remained stable until Carmel withdrew in 1973 to establish themselves with other schools in then-class AAA and Noblesville followed suit in 1979.[1] This did not stop the Sagamore, however, as North Montgomery was added in 1975, Western Boone in 1981, and Southmont in 1984. Brownsburg departed in 1985.
In 1995, the Sagamore executive council considered expansion. Several schools were mentioned but only two submitted written applications for membership. Starting in 1998, the Sagamore was engaged in discussions with Danville to become the seventh member of the conference and Tri-West was contacted joined the Sagamore to bring the league to eight members. Formally announced in the winter of 1998–1999, the Sagamore conference expanded to eight members. Since then, the conference membership remained stable despite conference realignment around the west central Indiana region the witnessed the formation and disbandment of many different conferences.
In 2023, serious discussions took place among the Sagamore schools outside of the Indianapolis metropolitan loop about forming a new athletic conference. Montgomery County schools had been in contact with Putnam County schools Cloverdale, Greencastle, North Putnam, and South Putnam about the formation of a new league.[2] On May 10, 2023, citing enrollment and competitive balance, five Sagamore schools in Crawfordsville, Frankfort, North Montgomery, Southmont, and Western Boone notified the Sagamore Conference of their intent to separate from the Sagamore and form a new conference with a sixth member school to start as early as the 2024-2025 academic year but no later than the 2026-2027 academic year.[3] Danville, Lebanon, and Tri-West will retain the Sagamore Conference name and history and will leave the conference with three member schools.
In early 2024, it was announced that both Harrison and McCutcheon would join the three remaining Sagamore schools, bringing conference membership to 5. This represents a dramatic shift in conference demographics, as both of the new schools are larger than the three remainders. It also represents a change in conference geography, as both Harrison and McCutcheon are located in West Lafayette, Indiana.
On May 7, 2024, it was announced that Tri-West would depart the Sagamore Conference in 2026-27 and create a new conference being joined by Western Indiana Conference member Indian Creek and the four public schools in the Indiana Crossroads Conference: Beech Grove, Monrovia, Speedway, and Triton Central.
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