Suburban Conference (St. Louis)
The Suburban Conference (formally the St Louis Suburban Public High School Athletic and Activities Association) is a Missouri State High School Activities Association recognized high school extracurricular league located in the suburbs of St. Louis. There are 31 schools in the Suburban Conference, making it one of the largest high school athletics conferences in the state of Missouri. The conference comprises mostly schools in St. Louis County, but also a few teams from north Jefferson County.
Realignments
Because of the large number of teams in the conference, the conference has historically been divided geographically into sub-conferences and divisions. Prior to the 2014-15 school year, there were four conferences - Suburban East, Suburban North, Suburban South and Suburban West.[1]
In 2018, the St. Louis Suburban Public High School Athletic and Activities Association re-aligned their conferences into various pools by sport, essentially making the sub-conferences and divisions irrelevant, as a given school competes against a different pool of schools in various sports. For purposes of athletic competition, pool assignments are based on the following factors: athletics offered, competitive balance, competitive trends, diversity, and school size. The number of pools varies from two (boys' volleyball) to five (football), depending on the sport, with most sports having three or four pools.[2]
List of member schools
Schools are listed in alphabetical order.
Rivalries
The Suburban Conference has many notable, historic rivalries between its schools that are well-known by the community, but also has many rivalries that some people may have not heard of before. (Note: some information mainly applies to football games. The intensity of these rivalries, and rivalries in general, can vary by sport)
Kirkwood-Webster Groves
The most notable and historic rivalry between any Suburban Conference member school is, by far, the rivalry between the Kirkwood Pioneers and the Webster Groves Statesmen. Their "Turkey Day" football game on Thanksgiving has been a St. Louis tradition for well over a century, with the winner of the game being awarded the "Frisco Bell" trophy. It is the only remaining traditional Thanksgiving Day football game between two MSHSAA high schools.\
Eureka-Lafayette
The Eureka Wildcats and the Lafayette Lancers have a very strong rivalry as well. Not only are they both members of the Rockwood School District, but both schools are located on the same exact road: the state highway MO-109, hence this rivalries nickname "The Highway 109 Rivalry." These games are usually close matchups; its not uncommon for a game to be decided by only a few points.
Mehlville-Oakville
Another notable rivalry is between the Mehlville Panthers and the Oakville Tigers. The two schools are very close, being only about 4 miles apart, so most students know someone attending the other school, and these students, simply put, do not like each other at all. The two Mehlville School District high schools aren't historically successful when it comes to football, but the antics of the students alone is usually enough to drive this rivalry. The tensions have died down quite a bit, mainly because the Panthers have won 6 out of the last 7 games vs the Tigers, but not too long ago it wasn't that uncommon for Oakville kids' to receive threats of vandalization by Mehlville students, and vice versa.
Other notable rivalries
Pattonville vs. Ritenour
Affton vs. Bayless (Bayless High School is not a member of the Suburban Conference)
References
- ^ "Suburban Conferences realignment adds new look for 2014-15 | Latest Headlines | stltoday.com".
- ^ "Pool Assignments". St. Louis Suburban Public High School Athletic and Activities Association. Retrieved 2020-10-29.