Big Nine Conference

The Big Nine Conference, formerly the Big Eight Conference, was a high school sports conference in Genesee County, Michigan, that ended with four high schools in 2012.

This article is about a former high school sports conference in Michigan. For the NCAA sports conference that was known as the Big Nine during the early 1900s and late 1940s, see Big Ten Conference.
Big Nine Conference
SportFootball, baseball, basketball, golf, soccer, swimming, volleyball, wrestling
Founded1968
Ceased2012
No. of teams4
CountryUnited States

History

Formed in 1960 as the Big Eight Conference, the conference became the Big Nine Conference in 1962 with the addition of Mt. Morris High School. Ainsworth High School left in 1968, and Mt. Morris left in 1972. Powers Catholic High School joined in 1974. In 1976, Carman High School and Swartz Creek High School were added from the Flint Metro League, giving the conference its peak membership of 10.[1] Due to the collegiate Big Ten Conference, the conference's name remained the Big Nine Conference.

Membership in the Big Nine remained stable for the next 21 years, with only the newly merged Carman-Ainsworth taking Carman's place in the conference in 1986. Owosso High School left in 1997 for the Mid-Michigan Athletic Conference - A.[2] Beecher left the league after the 2002 season.[1] In 2003, the Owosso Trojans returned to the league after the Mid-Michigan Athletic Conference - A dispersed.[2]

Clio in 2005 and Swartz Creek in 2006 moved to the Flint Metro League as the conference was perceived as being overpowering to those schools.[3]

In 2006, the entire Big Nine Conference applied for membership in the Flint Metro League to encourage discussion on a merger. As a result of that and Kearsley's interest back in 2005–2006, a membership invitation was extended to Kearsley.[4] In 2007, Owosso left for the Capital Area Activities Conference - Red.[2]

Grand Blanc Schools moved to the Kensington Lakes Activities Association starting in the 2009–2010 season.[5] In August 2011, the remaining Big Nine members and Flint Northwestern High applied together to join the Saginaw Valley League and were accepted to join starting in the 2012–2013 school year, forming Saginaw Valley's southern division with the other Flint City District High Schools.[6]

Membership

The conference had 13 different members over the course of its history.[1][7] Of the 11 existing former members, four are in the Flint Metro League, three are in the Saginaw Valley League, two are in the Genesee Area Conference, one is in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, and one is in the Capital Area Activities Conference.

School Location Tenure Subsequent conference membership
Ainsworth High School Mundy Township 1960–1968 Flint Metro League (1968–1986)
closed in 1986 (merged into Carman)
Beecher High School Beecher 1960–2002 Independent (2002–2009)
Carman High School Flint Township 1976–1986 (renamed with Ainsworth students move to Carman)
Carman-Ainsworth High School Flint Township 1986–2012 Saginaw Valley League (2012–present)
Clio High School Clio 1960–2005 Flint Metro League (2005–present)
Davison High School Davison 1960–2012 Saginaw Valley League (2012–present)
Flushing High School Flushing 1960–2012 Saginaw Valley League (2012–2014)
Flint Metro League (2014-present)
Grand Blanc High School Grand Blanc 1960–2009 Kensington Lakes Activities Association (2009–present)
Kearsley High School Flint 1960–2008 Flint Metro League (2008–present)
Mount Morris High School Mount Morris 1962–1972 Flint Metro League (1972–2002)
Genesee Area Conference (2002–present)
Owosso High School Owosso 1960–1997
2003–2007		 Mid-Michigan Athletic Conference - A (1997–2003)
Capital Area Activities Conference (2007–present)
Powers Catholic High School Flint 1974–2012 Saginaw Valley League (2012–present)
Swartz Creek High School Swartz Creek 1976–2006 Flint Metro League (2006–present)

Timeline

References
  1. Greg Tunnicliff. "Big Nine Conference Boys' Basketball All-Time League standings". Greg Tunnicliff's Flint Area Sports Page. Archived from the original on July 31, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  2. "Owosso Trojans". MIchigan High School Football. BusStop Computing. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  3. Tunnicliff, Greg. "Balance, competitiveness, friendships keep league rolling". Flint Journal. Advance Newspapers. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2007.
  4. Khan, Bill. "Kearsley invited to join Metro League". Flint Journal. Advance Newspapers. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  5. Grand Blanc to leave Big Nine Conference for Kensington Lakes league next fall Archived October 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Bill, Bill (April 13, 2011). "Saginaw Valley Conference adds four remaining Big Nine Conference schools, Flint Northwestern starting with 2012-13 school year". The Flint Journal. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  7. "HISTORY OF FLINT METRO LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP". Archived from the original (DOC) on July 11, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
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