Northwest Suburban Conference (Illinois)

The Northwest Suburban Conference (NWSC) was a high school athletic conference in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago, primarily centered around western Lake County and northwestern Cook County. All of the schools were members of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).

Northwest Suburban Conference
ConferenceIHSA
Founded1925
Ceased1997
No. of teams25
RegionChicagoland (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties)

The conference housed 25 different schools in its 72-year history, with a high turnover rate of schools joining and leaving the conference. Wauconda was the only consistent member of the NWSC for its entire existence.

History

The conference was formed in the spring of 1925 with seven original members: Antioch, Arlington, Barrington, Libertyville, Palatine, Warren, and Wauconda. By 1937, the conference had grown to 13 members with the additions of Leyden in 1926, Bensenville (renamed Fenton in 1955) in 1927, Ela-Vernon (renamed Lake Zurich in 1965) in 1928, Grant and Lake Forest in 1935, and Niles in 1937. Two years later, membership reduced down to 8 when Arlington, Lake Forest, Leyden, Libertyville, Niles, and Warren left and Northbrook joined, and the conference had a stable lineup for 13 years until 1952. Grayslake joined in 1952 when Barrington left for the North Suburban Conference and Northbrook closed, but one year later Northbrook's new school Glenbrook opened and joined the conference. In 1957, Fenton, Glenbrook, and Palatine left to create the Tri County Conference, while Lake Forest and Warren returned and Round Lake joined.[1]

The conference had a stable lineup for 16 years until 1973, when Lake Forest left for the North Suburban and the NWSC added three new members: Cary-Grove, Stevenson, and Woodstock. With two more additions in 1976, Dundee and Jacobs, the NWSC had 12 members, and the conference was split into North and South divisions for football. The division format lasted only two seasons, however, as membership reduced down to 8 after Cary-Grove, Dundee, Jacobs, and Woodstock all left in 1978 to create the Fox Valley Conference.[1]

Stevenson left in 1982 to join the North Suburban and was replaced with Johnsburg. One year later, Antioch and Warren also left to join the North Suburban (Antioch's departure left Wauconda as the sole charter member remaining in the NWSC), and they were replaced with Marengo and Marian Central, the latter being the only private school to ever be a member of the NWSC. In 1991, Lake Zurich left for the Fox Valley Conference and Marengo left for the Big Northern Conference, leaving the NWSC with only 6 teams for the remainder of its existence.[1]

After Grayslake and Marian Central left in 1997 to join the Fox Valley and Suburban Catholic Conferences, respectively, the NWSC officially folded.[1] The four remaining members, Grant, Johnsburg, Round Lake, and Wauconda, played the 1997 football season as independents, although unofficially they played a conference schedule where they each played each other twice for a total of 6 conference games.[2] Johnsburg had joined the Big Northern for all other sports that year and later joined the BNC for football in 1998, while Grant, Round Lake, and Wauconda played all sports as independents until 2000 when they were all accepted into the North Suburban.

From the end of the NWSC until 2006, five schools (Grant, Johnsburg, Marengo, Round Lake, and Wauconda) continued to play tennis together in the "Spirit of the Northwest Suburban Conference" due to the Big Northern Conference (Johnsburg and Marengo's conference at the time) not having tennis as a conference sport. This conference was not recognized by the IHSA.[3]

All-Time Membership

School Location County Mascot Colors Year Joined Year Left Total Years Still open Current Conference
Antioch Community High School Antioch Lake Sequoits     1925 1983 58 Yes Northern Lake County Conference
Arlington High School Arlington Heights Cook Cardinals     1925 1939 14 No[nb 1]
Barrington High School Barrington Lake Broncos/Fillies       1925 1952 27 Yes Mid-Suburban League
Cary-Grove High School Cary McHenry Trojans     1973 1978 5 Yes Fox Valley Conference
Dundee Community High School Carpentersville Kane Cardunals[nb 2]     1976 1978 2 No[nb 3]
Fenton High School Bensenville DuPage Bison     1927 1957 30 Yes Upstate Eight Conference
Glenbrook High School[nb 4] Northbrook Cook Spartans     1953 1957 4 Yes Central Suburban League
Grant Community High School Fox Lake Lake Bulldogs     1935 1997 62 Yes Northern Lake County Conference
Grayslake Community High School[nb 5] Grayslake Lake Rams     1952 1997 45 Yes Northern Lake County Conference
Jacobs High School Algonquin McHenry Golden Eagles     1976 1978 2 Yes Fox Valley Conference
Johnsburg High School Johnsburg McHenry Skyhawks     1982 1997 15 Yes Kishwaukee River Conference
Lake Forest High School Lake Forest Lake Scouts     1935 1939 20 Yes North Suburban Conference
1957 1973
Lake Zurich High School Lake Zurich Lake Bears     1928 1991 63 Yes North Suburban Conference
Leyden High School[nb 6] Franklin Park Cook Eagles     1926 1939 13 Yes West Suburban Conference
Libertyville High School Libertyville Lake Wildcats     1925 1939 14 Yes North Suburban Conference
Marengo Community High School Marengo McHenry Indians     1983 1991 8 Yes Kishwaukee River Conference
Marian Central Catholic High School Woodstock McHenry Hurricanes       1983 1997 14 Yes Independent;

Joining the upcoming Chicagoland Christian Conference in 2023

Niles Township High School[nb 7] Niles Center Cook Trojans     1937 1939 2 No[nb 8]
Northbrook High School Northbrook Cook Vikings 1939 1952 13 No[nb 9]
Palatine High School Palatine Cook Pirates     1925 1957 32 Yes Mid-Suburban League
Round Lake High School Round Lake Lake Panthers     1957 1997 40 Yes Northern Lake County Conference
Adlai E. Stevenson High School Lincolnshire Lake Patriots     1973 1982 9 Yes North Suburban Conference
Warren Township High School Gurnee Lake Blue Devils     1925 1939 40 Yes North Suburban Conference
1957 1983
Wauconda High School Wauconda Lake Bulldogs     1925 1997 72 Yes Northern Lake County Conference
Woodstock High School Woodstock McHenry Blue Streaks     1973 1978 5 Yes Kishwaukee River Conference

Membership Timeline

Notes

  1. Closed in 1984.
  2. The nickname "Cardunals" was derived from the names of the four towns whose students went to Dundee: Carpentersville, East and West Dundee, and Algonquin. The school's mascot was a cardinal.
  3. Consolidated with Irving Crown High School in 1983 to become Dundee-Crown High School.
  4. Renamed Glenbrook North High School in 1962.
  5. Renamed Grayslake Central High School in 2004.
  6. Renamed East Leyden High School in 1958; East and West Leyden have a combined athletics program that operates under "Leyden High School".
  7. Renamed Niles East High School in 1959.
  8. Closed in 1980.
  9. Closed in 1952 and replaced with Glenbrook High School in 1953.

References

  1. "Great Conferences". Illinois High School Glory Days. June 13, 2022.
  2. Hanley, Reid (October 17, 1997). "Regardless of IHSA rulings, Johnsburg again standing tall". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  3. Waddick, Ian (March 26, 2002). "What is the Spirit of the Northwest Suburban Conference?". Northwest Herald. p. 2. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
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