When this school year began it was the beginning of the end of the Sagamore Athletic Conference as we have grown to know it.
The league officially began when talks began Oct. 11, 1966 and then a few months later (Dec. 3, 1966) school officials from Brownsburg, Carmel, Crawfordsville, Frankfort, Lebanon, and Noblesville announced the formation of a new conference. It was also announced the schools had selected the name “Sagamore” — the Abnaki Indian name for the tribal chief or ruler, who was selected because of his qualities of leadership and his dignity as an individual, to honor the memory of the noble chieftains of the Indian tribes which once roamed our domain. Thus, the Sagamore Athletic Conference was born.
In the spring of 1967, champions in golf, track, and baseball were decided by conference play. Beginning in the 1967-68 school year, champions were crowned in cross country, golf, track, and wrestling by conference meets. Basketball and football champions were crowned by highest percentages of games won. To be eligible in basketball and football championships, a team must play at least three games with conference schools.
Over the years, the conference has seen schools come and go. In the spring of 1973, Carmel announced plans to withdraw from the conference at the close of the 1973-74 school year. That opened the door for North Montgomery, which had been a member of the Wabash River Conference, to replace Carmel beginning in the 1975-76 school year.
In the spring of 1979, Noblesville notified the league it would be withdrawing from the conference at the end of the 1979-80 school year. This opened the door for Western Boone to be offered an invitation to join the league in the 1982-83 school year.
In the fall of 1984, Southmont submitted a written application to join the Sagamore Athletic Conference. At the February meeting in 1985 Southmont was voted in as a member beginning with the 1985-86 school year. At that same meeting, Brownsburg announced it would be leaving the conference at the end of the 1984-85 school year.
The league stayed the same until expansion talks began among the conference’s executive committee. These talks continued until the spring of 1997 when it was decided that if the league expanded it would expand by two.
Finally in January on Jan. 20, 1998, Danville and Tri-West were voted into conference pushing it to an eight-team league beginning with the 1999-2000 school year.
The league has not had any changes for the last 24 years. However, change will begin next year when Crawfordsville, Frankfort, North Montgomery, Southmont and Western Boone will join Cascade, Greencastle and North Putnam in the new Monon Athletic Conference.
Barry Lewis has been involved in Montgomery County sports for nearly 50 years. He has a passion for keeping its rich history and tradition alive.
