The West Central Conference is a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

conference in western central

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. The conference participates in athletics and activities in the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fe ...

. The conference comprises 11 small public high schools and 1 private high school with enrollments between 120-590 students in Adams,

Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...

McDonough McDonough is an Irish surname. Origins and variants The surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "Mac Donnchadha", which means son of Donnchadh or son of Donough. The name itself consists of elements meaning "brown (donn)" or Donn “t ...

, Pike, and

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

counties.

History

The West Central conference was formed in 1969 with Brown County, Camp Point Central, Carthage, Hamilton, Mendon Unity and Warsaw its charter football members. The first new addition to the football wars was Rushville in 1984. There was no West Central conference for football in 1998, the league's teams participated under the Western Illinois Conference which the North division consisted of Avon/Roseville coop, Carthage, Monmouth Yorkwood, Sciota NW/LaHarpe coop, Spoon River Valley and Stronghurst Southern. The South consisted of Brown County, Camp Point Central coop, Hamilton, Mendon Unity, Rushville and Warsaw coop. The West Central name was restored in 1999 for football with the previous 7 teams plus Beardstown, Pittsfield and the Sciota NW/La Harpe coop forming a 10 team loop. In 2003 Colchester joined the Sciota NW/LaHarpe coop and it was renamed West Prairie. In 2004 Hamilton and Warsaw began the West Hancock coop and the Biggsville Union/Stronghurst Southern coop addition kept this a 10 team circuit. In 2005 both Brown County and the Biggsville/Stronghurst coop left and Pleasant Plains was added. From 2006-07 to 2009-10 the league's football teams played in the West Prairie Trail mega football conference. In 2010 Beardstown and Rushville-Industry left for the Prairieland Conference; and West Prairie left for the Lincoln Trial Conference. In 2010 Macomb, Monmouth-Roseville, Orion, Rockridge, and Sherrard joined from the Olympic Conference; Griggsville-Perry, Liberty, and Payson-Seymour joined from the Pike County Conference, the latter three schools (along with Pittsfield and Western) maintaining concurrent membership in both conferences.

Member Schools

North Division

''Sources:IHSA Conferences, IHSA Coop Teams, and IHSA Member Schools Directory''

2017-18 Administration and Leadership

President: Cyle Rigg, Southeastern High School Contact: Matt Long, Central High School

Cooperative Arrangements

*Hamilton+Warsaw=West Hancock coop for all sports *Payson-Seymour and Unity coop for football *Western and Pleasant Hill (Pike County Conference) coop only for football

Football

The West Central Conference for football has 3 teams. Those 3 teams are: West Hancock(Hamilton/Warsaw), Quincy Notre Dame, and Macomb. The rest of the schools play in nearby conferences. Monmouth-Roseville plays in the Three Rivers (Mississippi) Conference. The Payson-Seymour and Unity coop play in the Western Illinois Valley (North) Conference. Also Central plays in the Western Illinois Valley (North) Conference. The Western and Pleasant Hill coop plays in the Western Illinois Valley (South) Conference. Liberty and Southeastern do not play football.

Former Members

''Sources:IHSA Conferences, IHSA Coop Teams, and IHSA Member Schools Directory''

Competitive Success

The West Central Conference has won 11 state championships in IHSA sponsored athletics and activities, 12 including championships my member school participating in the West Prairie Trail conference, at the conclusion of the 2008-2009 academic year.

State Champions

Boys

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

*Pittsfield (1990-1991 A) *Warsaw (1996-1997 A) Boys

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

*Carthage (1995-1996 1A) *Carthage (1998-1999 1A) *Carthage (1999-2000 1A) *Carthage (2000-2001 1A) *Illini West (2008-2009 3A)* *Illini West (2010-2011 3A) ''*as member of West Prairie Trail Conference'' Boys

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

*Pittsfield (1982-1983 A) Girls

*Carthage (1992-1993 A) *Hancock Central (1991-1992 A) *West Hancock (Hamilton-Warsaw) (2007-2008 2A)

Conference Shakeup

The makeup of the West Central Conference changed dramatically in 2010. Many member schools departed, many of them for the

Prairieland Conference The Prairieland Conference is a high school conference in western central Illinois. The conference participates in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference comprises small public high schools with enrollme ...

. In their place came the remaining members of the now-dissolved Olympic Conference. The conference then divided into north and south divisions for most athletics and activities.