View source for Pride of Iowa Conference

{{Location map+ | Iowa
| caption = Pride of Iowa Conference School Locations
| width = 295
| places =
<!-- Bedford -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = blue pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 40.6709
| lon_deg = -94.7232
}}
<!-- Central Decatur -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = left
| mark = red pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 40.7481
| lon_deg = -93.7406
}}
<!-- East Union  -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = blue pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 41.024793
| lon_deg = -94.179931
}}
<!-- Lenox  -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = gold pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 40.876175
| lon_deg = -94.556803
}}
<!-- Martensdale -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = gold pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 41.375047
| lon_deg = -93.738895
}}
<!-- Mount Ayr -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = black pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 40.718024
| lon_deg = -94.226087
}}
<!-- Nodaway Valley -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = black pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 41.311714
| lon_deg = -94.464702
}}
<!-- Southeast Warren -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = green pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 41.205475
| lon_deg = -93.496271
}}
<!-- Southwest Valley -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = black pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 40.9907
| lon_deg = -94.74
}}
<!-- Wayne -->
{{Location map~ | Iowa
| position = right
| mark = black pog.svg
| marksize = 7
| lat_deg = 40.757802
| lon_deg = -93.32064
}}
}}
{{Infobox sports league
| name         = Pride of Iowa Conference
| founded      = 1987
| conference   = [[Iowa High School Athletic Association|IHSAA]] / [[Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union|IGHSAU]]
| teams        = 10
| sports       = 17
| region       = Southern [[Iowa]]
| website      = {{URL|https://www.prideofiowa.org/}}
}}
The '''Pride of Iowa Conference''' ('''POI ''') is a high school athletic conference made up of 10 small schools in southern [[Iowa]], United States.
==Current members==
{| class="wikitable"
!Institution
!Location
!Mascot
!Colors
!Affiliation
!2024-2025 BEDS<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.iahsaa.org/classifications/ | title=IHSAA: Classifications }}</ref>
!Football Class
|-
|[[Bedford High School (Iowa)|Bedford]]
|[[Bedford, Iowa|Bedford]]
|Bulldogs
|{{color box|navy|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
|Public
|94
|Eight-player
|-
|[[Central Decatur Junior - Senior High School|Central Decatur]]
|[[Leon, Iowa|Leon]]
|Cardinals
|{{color box|red|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
|Public
|178
|1A
|-
|[[East Union Community School District|East Union]]
|[[Afton, Iowa|Afton]]
|Eagles
|{{color box|#B9D9EB|border=silver}} {{color box|navy|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
|Public
|118
|Eight-player
|-
|[[Lenox Community School District|Lenox]]
|[[Lenox, Iowa|Lenox]]
|Tigers
|{{color box|black|border=silver}} {{color box|gold|border=silver}}
|Public
|113
|Eight-player
|-
|[[Martensdale-St Marys Community School District|Martensdale-St. Mary's]]
|[[Martensdale, Iowa|Martensdale]]
|Blue Devils
|{{color box|royalblue|border=silver}} {{color box|gold|border=silver}}
|Public
|110
|Eight-player
|-
|[[Mount Ayr Community School District|Mount Ayr]]
|[[Mount Ayr, Iowa|Mount Ayr]]
|Raiders
|{{color box|black|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
|Public
|142
|A*
|-
|[[Nodaway Valley High School|Nodaway Valley]]
|[[Greenfield, Iowa|Greenfield]]
|Wolverines
|{{color box|silver|border=silver}} {{color box|purple|border=silver}} {{color box|black|border=silver}}
|Public
|145
|1A*
|-
|[[Southeast Warren Community School District|Southeast Warren]]
|[[Liberty Center, Iowa|Liberty Center]]
|Warhawks
|{{color box|#4CBB17|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
|Public
|125
|Eight-player
|-
|[[Southwest_Valley_High_School_(Iowa)|Southwest Valley]]
|[[Corning, Iowa|Corning]]
|Timberwolves
|{{color box|silver|border=silver}} {{color box|black|border=silver}} {{color box|teal|border=silver}}
|Public
|140
|A
|-
|[[Wayne Community School District|Wayne]]
|[[Corydon, Iowa|Corydon]]
|Falcons
|{{color box|black|border=silver}} {{color box|silver|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
|Public
|135
|A
|-
|}
Mount Ayr shares a football team with [[Diagonal Community School District|Diagonal]].
Nodaway Valley shares a football team with [[Orient-Macksburg High School|Orient-Macksburg]].
==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2020}}
The conference was founded in 1987 with six schools: I-35, Wayne, Central Decatur, Mt. Ayr, Southeast Warren, and East Union. For the first 13 years of its history, the conference was quite small and compact. The conference added Nodaway Valley and Martensdale-St. Mary's in 1997, two schools in the same relative area of the state. In 2000 and 2001, the conference underwent a two-year, four-team expansion that more than doubled the geographical area of the conference. Corning (formerly of the Rolling Hills Conference) and Bedford (Corner Conference) joined in 2000; with Lenox (Rolling Hills Conference) and reaching into the Des Moines Metro Area by adding Pleasantville (Heart of Iowa Conference) in 2001. The conference has remained stable since then only losing two schools since 2001. In the fall of 2013, [[Southwest_Valley_High_School_(Iowa)|Corning]] and [[Southwest_Valley_High_School_(Iowa)|Villisca]] ([[Corner Conference (Iowa)|Corner Conference]]) became [[Southwest_Valley_High_School_(Iowa)|Southwest Valley High School]] remaining in the Pride of Iowa for all activities. In 2018, founding school Interstate 35 and Pleasantville left the Pride of Iowa conference for the [[West Central Activities Conference (Iowa)|West Central Activities Conference]], due to growing enrollment and proximity of schools to the Des Moines Metro, decreasing travel for both schools, especially Pleasantville. Beginning for the 2022-2023 school year, South Page School district will be whole-grade sharing with Bedford for the next 3 years.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kmaland.com/news/south-page-bedford-schools-enter-planning-phase-of-tuition-agreement/article_b070cd14-c25b-11ec-8821-a7a4ad5c594d.html | title=South Page, Bedford schools enter planning phase of tuition agreement }}</ref> South Page had previously been associated with Clarinda, who competes in the [[Hawkeye 10 Conference]].
== State championships ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 750px; height: 600px;"
|-
! Sport
! Class
! Year(s)
! School
|-
| Baseball
| 1A
| 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012
| Martensdale-St. Mary’s
|-
| Baseball
| 1A
|2006
| Lenox
|-
| Boys’ Basketball
| 2A
| 2006
| Nodaway Valley
|-
| Girls’ Basketball
|1A
| 2011
| Martensdale-St. Mary’s
|-
| Boys’ Cross Country
| 1A
| 2002
| Nodaway Valley
|-
| Girls’ Cross Country
| 1A
| 2009
| Nodaway Valley
|-
| Football
| A
| 1992
| Bedford
|-
| Football
| Eight-player
| 2008
| Lenox
|-
| Softball
| 1A
| 2012
| Martensdale-St. Mary’s
|-
| Track and Field
| 1A
| 1988(Girls) 2014(Boys)
| Mount Ayr
|}
==External links==
* [https://www.prideofiowa.org/ Official website]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Iowa High School Athletic Conferences}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pride Of Iowa Confernce}}
[[Category:High school sports in Iowa]]
[[Category:1987 establishments in Iowa]]
[[Category:Sports leagues established in 1987]]