The Southeast Kansas League is a high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 athletic conference

Athletic conference

An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other at the professional, collegiate, or high school level. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller and smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels...

 represented by nine schools in the southeast region of Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. The league offers championships for girls in Basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, Cross Country, Golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, Softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

, Tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, Track & Field, and Volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

. In boys sports, the SEK offers championships in Baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, Basketball, Cross Country, Football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, Track & Field, and Wrestling

Wrestling

Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

.

The league is referred to as "The SEK" or "SEK" when shortened. "SEKL" is never used.

There have been three different leagues known as the Southeast Kansas League. The original was a loose association and existed from 1908 to 1923. This league did not contest a football championship.

The second version of the SEK existed from 1923 to 1927. Another league, known as the Big Seven League, existed for two years, 1926 and 1927. Some SEK schools competed in the Big Seven at the same time.

The current incarnation of the SEK is the third and has existed since 1928. The original eight members were Chanute

Chanute, Kansas

Chanute is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, United States. Founded on January 1, 1873, it was named after railroad engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,119...

, Coffeyville

Coffeyville, Kansas

Coffeyville is a city situated along the Verdigris River in the southeastern part of Montgomery County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,295...

, Columbus

Columbus, Kansas

Columbus is the second largest city and county seat of Cherokee County, Kansas, United States, 15 miles south-southwest of Pittsburg, Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,312.-History:...

, Fort Scott

Fort Scott, Kansas

Fort Scott is a city in and the county seat of Bourbon County, Kansas, United States, south of Kansas City, on the Marmaton River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,087. It is the home of the Fort Scott National Historic Site and the Fort Scott National...

, Independence

Independence, Kansas

Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,483.-Geography:...

, Iola

Iola, Kansas

Iola is a city situated along the Neosho River in the northwestern part of Allen County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,704. Iola is the county seat of Allen County. It is named in honor of Iola Colborn.-History:The...

, Parsons

Parsons, Kansas

Parsons is a city in the northern part of Labette County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,500...

, and Pittsburg

Pittsburg, Kansas

Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, in southeastern Kansas, United States. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and in southeastern Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,233.-History:...

. Labette County

Labette County, Kansas

Labette County is a county located in southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 21,607. Its county seat is Oswego, and its most populous city is Parsons...

 joined prior to the 1968-69 school year. Ottawa

Ottawa, Kansas

Ottawa is a city situated along the Marais des Cygnes River in the central part of Franklin County, located in east-central Kansas, 50 miles southwest of Kansas City, Mo., in the central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,649. It is the county seat and most populous...

 was a league member for four years, 1987-88 to 1990-91. Ottawa is now a member of the Frontier League.

The conference was split into "Upper" and "Lower" divisions for football from 1981 to 2003 as the Kansas State High School Activities Association

Kansas State High School Activities Association

The Kansas State High School Activities Association is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the state of Kansas at the high school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and sponsors championships in several sports and activities.The KSHSAA was...

's district system made it no longer possible for every league team to play each other in football. In 2004, the league went back to a single division format for football but each school is not required to play each of the other eight as this is still not possible due to district assignments. The minimum number of league games required in football is five.

In November of 2010, Iola's school board voted to switch its high school to the Pioneer League starting in 2012-13. In September of 2011, Columbus' school board voted to switch to the Crawford-Neosho-Cherokee League starting in 2012-13, reducing the league's membership to seven schools.

List of member schools

School	Team Name	Colors	Enrollment (2010-11)	Football class*	Class for all other sports
Chanute High School Chanute High School -Curriculum:Chanute High School offers a comprehensive college-preparatory curriculum. Advanced Placement classes are offered in biology, calculus, European history and literature.-Extracurricular activities:...	Blue Comet Comet A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet... s		470	4A	4A
Columbus Unified High School	Titans Titan (mythology) In Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia and Uranus, that ruled during the legendary Golden Age....		240	4A	4A
Field Kindley High School	Golden Tornado Tornado A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...		406	4A	4A
Fort Scott High School	Tiger Tiger The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts... s		414	4A	4A
Independence High School	Bulldog Bulldog Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose... s		425	4A	4A
Iola High School Iola High School Iola High School is a fully accredited high school located in Iola, Kansas, USA, serving students in grades 9-12. The current principal is David Grover. There are two different school mascots for the high school. The boys mascot is the Mustang and the girls mascot is the Fillies...	Mustang Mustang (horse) A Mustang is a free-roaming horse of the North American west that first descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but there is intense debate over terminology... s/Fillies Filly A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....		293	4A	4A
Labette County High School	Grizzlies Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...		408	4A	4A
Parsons High School	Viking Viking The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to... s		288	4A	4A
Pittsburg High School Pittsburg High School (Kansas) Pittsburg High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Pittsburg, Kansas, USA, serving students in grades 9-12. Pittsburg High School is the one of two high schools in Pittsburg, KS and is the largest high school in southeast Kansas and the Greater Pittsburg Area...	Purple Dragon Dragon A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern... s		548	5A	5A

*Classifications for football are set for two-year cycles with enrollment numbers from grades 9-11 from the school year before the cycle begins. For all other sports, enrollment numbers from grades 10-12 are used to determine classes for the current school year.

Field Kindley High School is located in Coffeyville and is usually referred to as "Coffeyville."

Labette County High School is located in Altamont

Altamont, Kansas

Altamont is a city in Labette County, Kansas, United States. The population was 1,092 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Altamont is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

.

Notable athletes

Adam LaRoche

Adam LaRoche

David Adam LaRoche , is a Major League Baseball first baseman. In 2011, the Washington Nationals signed him to a two-year deal...

 and Andy LaRoche

Andy LaRoche

Andrew Christian LaRoche is an American professional baseball third baseman who is a free agent....

 graduated from Fort Scott. Adam is a first baseman for the Washington Nationals

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...

 and Andy is an infielder for the Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

.

Shaun Hill

Shaun Hill

Shaun Hill is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002...

 graduated from Parsons. He is currently a quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 for the Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

.

Kerry Meier

Kerry Meier

Kerry Meier is an American football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Falcons in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Kansas...

 graduated from Pittsburg. He is on the Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

' injured reserve list. Brother Shad

Shad Meier

Shad Meier Shad Meier Shad Meier (born June 7, 1978 in St. Louis, Missouri, is a former professional American football tight end.-High School and College Career:Shad Meier prepped at Pittsburg High School, in his home town, where he was an All-State Top 11 Selection in Kansas in the fall of 1995...

, also a PHS graduate, was a tight end for the Tennessee Titans

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...

.

Bill Russell (baseball)

Bill Russell (baseball)

William Ellis Russell is a former shortstop, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Russell played his entire 18-year, 2,181-game career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the starting shortstop for four National League pennant winners and one World Series champion...

 was a 1966 graduate of Pittsburg and played basketball for the Purple Dragons (they did not field a baseball team at the time). He played 18 seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

(1969-86) and managed the team from 1996-98.