Eastern Suburban Conference

The Eastern Suburban Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, originally formed in 1969 and disbanding in 2001. With the exception of the conference's two private schools, all members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and were located in south central Wisconsin. In 2020, the Eastern Suburban Conference name was revived for use by a current football-only conference.

The Eastern Suburban Conference was formed in 1969 after the dissolution of the eighteen-member Madison Suburban Conference. Six of its original members were part of that conference's Eastern Section (Cambridge, Deerfield, Johnson Creek, Juneau-Reeseville, Lakeside Lutheran in Lake Mills, and Marshall) with Palmyra and Queen of Apostles in Madison rounding out the original membership roster.^[1] Juneau-Reeseville (later renamed Dodgeland) left the conference after only one season to become a charter member of the newly created Flyway Conference.^[2] They were replaced by Hustisford and Williams Bay, formerly of the Fox Valley Tri-County League and Indian Trails Conference, respectively.^[3]

Waterloo joined the Eastern Suburban Conference from the Capitol Conference in 1977,^[4] and two years later, Queen of Apostles High School left the conference after it was closed by the Catholic order (Pallotine Fathers and Brothers of Milwaukee) that ran the school.^[5] They were replaced in 1980 by Dodgeland, making their return to the Eastern Suburban after ten years of competition as members of the Flyway Conference.^[6] Lake Mills became members of the conference after exiting the Capitol Conference in 1983, giving Lakeside Lutheran a crosstown rival for conference play.^[7] For a three-year period, the Eastern Suburban Conference was partitioned into Northern and Southern divisions:

Lake Mills' stint in the Eastern Suburban Cofnerence was short-lived, as they returned to the Capitol Conference in 1987.^[8] Palmyra-Eagle would leave the Eastern Suburban to join the Rock Valley Conference in 1990,^[9] and in 1991, the Eastern Suburban and Dual County Conferences traded members for their football-only alignments. Gone were the three smallest schools in the conference (Deerfield, Hustisford and Johnson Creek), and in its place entered the three largest schools from the Dual County (Montello, Pardeeville and Westfield).^[10] Lakeside Lutheran would make their exit from the Eastern Suburban Conference in 1995 for membership in the Capitol Conference.^[11] The Eastern Suburban Conference would end its run in 2001 with three schools (Cambridge, Marshall and Waterloo) joining the Capitol Conference and the remaining five (Deerfield, Dodgeland, Hustisford, Johnson Creek and Williams Bay) joining with the Dual County Conference to create the new Trailways Conference.^[12]

In February 2019, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, the WIAA released a sweeping football-only realignment for Wisconsin to commence with the 2020 football season and run on a two-year cycle.^[13] The Eastern Suburban Conference name, dormant since the all-sport conference was disbanded in 2001, was resurrected for an eight-member conference including Cambridge, Clinton, Dodgeland, Markesan, Marshall, Palmyra-Eagle, Pardeeville and Waterloo.^[14] Six members of the football-only Eastern Suburban Conference (Cambridge, Dodgeland, Marshall, Palmyra-Eagle, Pardeeville and Waterloo) were also members of the previous football-only alignment from 1991 to 2000. The new conference was originally referred to as the Capitol Small in preseason realignment materials, but was renamed before starting play and is part of the Capitol Conference's organizational structure. In 2022, Pardeeville exited the Eastern Suburban to join the Trailways Conference, where they had all-sport affiliation. They were replaced by Horicon/Hustisford, formerly of the Capitol Conference for football.^[15] Four schools left the Eastern Suburban Conference for the 2024-2025 cycle: Clinton, Dodgeland, Horicon/Hustisford and Palmyra-Eagle. Two outgoing members joined the Capitol Conference (Clinton and Horicon/Hustisford) and two attained full membership in the Trailways Conference (Dodgeland and Palmyra-Eagle). They were replaced by three schools formerly in the Trailways Conference (Deerfield, Fall River/Rio, Pardeeville and Poynette).^[16] For the 2026-2027 cycle, the Trailways Conference is whittling down to seven members, losing Deerfield and Fall River/Rio to the Trailways Conference and welcoming back Horicon/Hustisford from the Capitol Conference. The conference will also enter into a scheduling partnership with the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League where one interconference game that counts in the home conference's standings will be mandatory for each school.^[17]

Northern Division Southern Division  Football-only members  Non-football members