Madison Athletics to join Mid Southern Conference

Tentative timeline for full transition is slated for the 2026 - 2027 school year.

With unanimous and enthusiastic support from the School Board of Trustees, it was made official - the Madison Cubs are now part of the Mid-Southern Athletic Conference. “This has been a journey,” shared Madison Athletic Director Patric Morrison. “Since leaving the HHC in 2020, we have actively searched for and applied to other conferences in hopes of finding a better fit where we could compete with schools who are competitive but also aligned better with our enrollment size. I believe we have found both in the Mid-Southern Conference and are very excited about this opportunity.”

“Going back a decade or more, there had been discussions about our school and the HHC - how it may not have been the best fit,” Morrison recalled. “I can remember shortly after I graduated that Roger Williams, a former coach, avid Cub supporter, and parent, made a very viable case to move away from the conference for many reasons.” At the time, it seemed a radical and bit unpopular change, but other schools were growing quickly, and Madison was steadily becoming the smallest school in terms of enrollment competing against much larger schools and teams. “Roger has been a huge supporter and advocate for us in the process to find a new conference,” shared Morrison. “He, along with a number of other coaches, parents, community members, and athletes have shared input as to where they wanted to see our athletic programs grow and prosper where student-athletes could have additional opportunities.” In March 2023, Morrison met with the Madison Athletic Council, which consists of varsity head coaches, administrators, parents, athletes, and school board representation, to gauge interest in the future direction of the conference search. “Of that group, 72.7% voted in favor to pursue membership in the Mid-Southern Conference,” Morrison shared. “While we have been pursuing things for a while, we have not been successful with any of our requests. We wanted to step back to ensure that everyone still felt the same about continuing with our pursuit, and specifically the MSC.”

The Mid-Southern Conference consists of Austin, Brownstown, Charlestown, Corydon, North Harrison, Salem, Scottsburg, and Silver Creek. Having previously proposed a move to the MSC in January 2020, Morrison re-submitted membership proposals in September 2023 and October 2024. Eastern Pekin left the conference in February 2025, creating an opening for a new addition to the conference. On February 27, 2025, Mid-Southern athletic directors voted in favor of Madison joining, and that vote was followed by a supporting vote of all conference school principals to make the final decision in favor of the move.

“We feel this is a great fit for our school,” Morrison continued. “We are right in the middle of the pack size-wise; we aren’t the smallest, and we aren’t the largest. Over the past five years, we have made strategic moves with scheduling with hopes that this would one day work out. We already have a number of these teams on our schedules and have a great working relationship with all ADs and schools. We look forward to conference play, academic opportunities for our students, and moving forward in a great conference.”

While currently, a number of the Cubs teams already compete against conference schools, Morrison will move to formalize the relationship with other schools. “If there are opportunities where we need to fill in some schedules or move things around, we will do that over the next several weeks and months as we begin the transition,” he continued. “We will begin to work on the marketing/branding obligations and get banners hanging in various venues, and begin to promote this great partnership with eight other very competitive and respected schools. This change does come with a financial obligation, and through a very generous two-year pledged donation from Roger and Jane Williams, it is largely covered,” Morrison shared. In addition to the pledge, the cost will be covered by funds that have been accumulated by the athletic department through ticket sales, fundraising, and concession proceeds in preparation for anticipated needs if we were to gain entry into a new conference. “We have been planning and are ready to make this transition,” Morrison shared.

The tentative timeline for full transition is slated for the 2026 - 2027 school year.