# Pride of Iowa Conference

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The **Pride of Iowa Conference** (**POI**) is a high school athletic conference made up of 9 small schools in southern [Iowa](/source/Iowa), United States.

## Current members

Institution Location Mascot Colors Affiliation 2026-2027 BEDS[1] Football Class Central Decatur Leon Cardinals Public 128 A East Union Afton Eagles Public 102 Eight-player Lenox Lenox Tigers Public 91 Eight-player Martensdale-St. Mary's Martensdale Blue Devils Public 113 A Mount Ayr Mount Ayr Raiders Public 115 A* Nodaway Valley Greenfield Wolverines Public 151 A Southeast Warren Liberty Center Warhawks Public 97 Eight-player Southwest Valley Corning Timberwolves Public 148 A Wayne Corydon Falcons Public 123 Eight-player

Mount Ayr shares a football team with [Diagonal](/source/Diagonal_Community_School_District).

## History

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, [Corning](/source/Southwest_Valley_High_School_(Iowa)) and [Villisca](/source/Southwest_Valley_High_School_(Iowa)) ([Corner Conference](/source/Corner_Conference_(Iowa))) became [Southwest Valley High School](/source/Southwest_Valley_High_School_(Iowa)) 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](/source/West_Central_Activities_Conference_(Iowa)), 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.[2] South Page had previously been associated with Clarinda, who competes in the [Hawkeye 10 Conference](/source/Hawkeye_10_Conference).

Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, Bedford left the Pride of Iowa Conference to join the [Corner Conference](/source/Corner_Conference_(Iowa)). [3]

On September 18, 2025, the [Martensdale-St Marys Community School District](/source/Martensdale-St_Marys_Community_School_District) voted to join the [West Central Activities Conference](/source/West_Central_Activities_Conference_(Iowa)). The school will join for the 2026-2027 school year.[4]

## State championships

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 Eight-player 2008 Lenox Softball 1A 2012 Martensdale-St. Mary’s Boys’ Track and Field 1A 2014 Mount Ayr Girls’ Track and Field 1A 1988 Mount Ayr

## External links

- [Official website](https://www.prideofiowa.org/)

## References

1. ["IHSAA: Classifications"](https://www.iahsaa.org/classifications/)

1. ["South Page, Bedford schools enter planning phase of tuition agreement"](https://www.kmaland.com/news/south-page-bedford-schools-enter-planning-phase-of-tuition-agreement/article_b070cd14-c25b-11ec-8821-a7a4ad5c594d.html)

1. ["Bedford Approved To Join Corner Conference for 2024-2025 School Year"](https://www.kmaland.com/sports/bedford-approved-to-join-corner-conference-for-2024-25-school-year/article_25c3d092-202b-11ee-a939-a7c8dd986262.html). *KMA News*. Retrieved 8 April 2025.

1. [https://www.indianola-ia.com/news/martensdale-st-marys-is-moving-to-the-west-central-activities-conference/article_a0b04cc0-59fc-41e4-9e51-d54c22ba8662.html](https://www.indianola-ia.com/news/martensdale-st-marys-is-moving-to-the-west-central-activities-conference/article_a0b04cc0-59fc-41e4-9e51-d54c22ba8662.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pride of Iowa Conference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_Iowa_Conference) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_Iowa_Conference?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.