Upstate Illini Conference

The Upstate Illini Conference (UIC) was a high school conference in northwest and north central Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference included small public and private high schools with enrollments between 75-1,000 students in Bureau, Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Kane, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties.

History

The name Upstate Illini was originally given to a collection of 15 schools primarily coming from five conferences, the Blackhawk, Route 72, Northwestern Illinois, SHARK and US Grant. The 15 original teams included: Ashton, Chadwick, Durand, Elizabeth, Franklin Center, Hanover, Leaf River, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Orangeville, Pearl City, Rockford Lutheran, Scales Mound, Shannon and Thomson. This league began play in 1974, however within two years the league would lose over half of the teams based primarily on football. The teams which left either returned to their original conference or began play under a new moniker, the Northwest 8 Conference. The remaining teams, all without football, maintained the name Upstate Illini. The teams that stayed within the conference, were Chadwick, Elizabeth, Hanover, Scales Mound, Shannon and Thomson.

Eventually talks for a re-branding of the Northwest 8 took place in 1987, due to the fact that it had grown to 12 teams and was looking to expand beyond that number. In 1988, the Upstate Illini Conference was reconstructed and schools from the Northwest 8 joined, competition for all sports, with the exception of football, was established. In 1991, football schedules were set with 6 teams in the North Division: Durand, North Boone, Pearl City, Rockford (Lutheran), Elizabeth (River Ridge)-Warren (coop) and South Beloit and the South Division: Ashton-Franklin Center, Kirkland-Hiawatha, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Mt. Morris and Polo.

In 1994, Mt. Morris was merged into the Oregon School District and dropped out of the conference. In that same year, Huntley joined and the divisions were realigned into East - Durand, Huntley, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Rockford Lutheran and South Beloit and West - Ashton-Franklin Center, Milledgeville, Mt Carroll, Pearl City, Polo, River Ridge and Warren. In 1991, Pecatonica joined the league for all sports except football, due to existing schedules in the Mid-Northern, however, in 1992 joined the East Division. In 1995 Huntley dropped out and East Dubuque, Forreston and La Moille were added to the West Division while Ashton-Franklin Center moved from the West division to the East. In 1996 the Northwestern Illinois Conference (NWIC) and Upstate Illini merged under the Upstate Illini banner. Based on these new additions, three divisions were formed West - Dakota, East Dubuque, Galena, Lena-Winslow, Orangeville, River Ridge, Stockton and Warren. East - Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Pecatonica, Rockford Lutheran and South Beloit. South - Forreston, Freeport Aquin, Lanark (Eastland), Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Pearl City and Polo. In 1999 Savanna was added to the South Division and Rockford Christian Life to the East Division making the total number of teams 24 for football, 26 overall, the largest conference in Illinois outside of the Chicago Public League. The year 2000 was the last year under the Upstate Illini name because six schools (Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Pecatonica and South Beloit) left in 2001 to form the Four Rivers Conference. Rockford Lutheran and Rockford Christian Life also departed the conference in 2001, seeking competition more suited to their locations and size by joining the Private School League. The remaining schools realigned under the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference banner.

All-Time Membership

The Upstate Illini Conference had various divisions throughout its history, the list of schools encompasses all of the schools which were once a part of the conference.

♦ Elizabeth and Hanover consolidated creating the River Ridge CUSD in 1985.

♥ Shannon and Lanark consolidated creating the Eastland CUSD in 1986.

♣ Chadwick and Milledgeville consolidated creating the Chadwick-Milledgeville CUSD in 1989.

° Leaf River ceased operations and was merged into Forreston High School in 1990

³ Mt. Morris ceased operations and was merged into Oregon High School in 1995

♠ Ashton and Franklin Center consolidated creating Ashton-Franklin Center High School in 2004

• Mount Carroll, Savanna and Thomson consolidated, creating the West Carroll School District in 2006.

* River Ridge High School relocated to Hanover, IL in 2004.

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1150 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1974 till:2000
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:green
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a full member in a football coop
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.78,0.391,0.654) # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of the Northwest 8 Conference
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of the NWIC
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of the Mid Northern Conference
id:OtherC3 value:rgb(0.253,0.63,0.146) # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of the SHARK Conference

PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:FullxF from:1974 till:1990 text:Chadwick (1974-89)
bar:1 color:white from:1990 till:2000 text:(1990) Consolidated with Milledgeville

bar:2 color:FullxF from:1974 till:1985 text:Elizabeth (1974-84)
bar:2 color:white from:1985 till:2000 text:(1985) Consolidated with Hanover to become River Ridge

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1974 till:1985 text:Hanover (1974-84)
bar:3 color:white from:1985 till:2000 text:(1985) Consolidated with Elizabeth to become River Ridge

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1974 till:2000 text:Scales Mound (1974-2000)

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1974 till:1987 text:Shannon (1974-86)
bar:5 color:white from:1987 till:2000 text:(1987) Consolidated with Lanark to become Eastland

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1974 till:2000 text:Thomson (1974-2000)

bar:7 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Ashton (1974-76)
bar:7 color:AssocOS from:1977 till:1985 text:Northwest 8 (1977-90)
bar:7 color:AssocOS from:1985 till:1991 text:(1985) (All sport CoOp with Franklin Center begins)
bar:7 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text: (1991-2000)

bar:8 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Durand (1974-76)
bar:8 color:AssocOS from:1977 till:1991 text:Northwest 8 (1977-90)
bar:8 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text: (1991-2000)

bar:9 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Franklin Center (1974-76)
bar:9 color:AssocOS from:1977 till:1985 text:Northwest 8 (1977-90)
bar:9 color:AssocOS from:1985 till:1991 text:(1985) (All sport CoOp with Ashton begins)
bar:9 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text: (1991-2000)

bar:10 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Leaf River (1974-76)
bar:10 color:AssocOS from:1977 till:1990 text:Northwest 8 (1977-89)
bar:10 color:white from:1990 till:2000 text:(1990) Merged into Forreston High School

bar:11 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Milledgeville (1974-76)
bar:11 color:AssocOS from:1977 till:1990 text:Northwest 8 (1977-90)
bar:11 color:AssocOS from:1990 till:1991 text:(1990) Consolidated with Chadwick
bar:11 color:Full from:1991 till:1994
bar:11 color:Full from:1994 till:2000 text:(1991-2000)

bar:12 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Mt. Carroll (1974-76)
bar:12 color:AssocOS from:1977 till:1991 text:Northwest 8 (1977-90)
bar:12 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text: (1991-2000)

bar:13 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Orangeville (1974-76)
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1977 till:1996 text:NWIC (1977-95)
bar:13 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:(1996-2000)

bar:14 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Pearl City (1974-76)
bar:14 color:AssocOS from:1977 till:1991 text:Northwest 8 (1977-90)
bar:14 color:Full from:1991 till:1995 text:(1991-95)
bar:14 color:Full from:1995 till:2000 text:(1995–2000) (Football CoOp with Eastland)

bar:15 color:Full from:1974 till:1977 text:Rockford Lutheran (1974-76)
bar:15 color:AssocOS from:1977 till:1982 text: Northwest 8 (1977-81)
bar:15 color:AssocF from:1982 till:1987 text:Prairie (1982-87)
bar:15 color:AssocOS from:1987 till:1991 text:Northwest 8 (1988-90)
bar:15 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text:(1991–2000)

bar:16 color:white from:1974 till:1985 text:River Ridge
bar:16 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1988 text:(1985-87)
bar:16 color:AssocOS from:1988 till:1991 text:Northwest 8 (1988-1990)
bar:16 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text:(1991-2000) (Football CoOp with Warren)

bar:17 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1985 text:Kirkland-Hiawatha - Trailblazer (1974-1984)
bar:17 color:AssocOS from:1985 till:1991 text:Northwest 8 (1985-90)
bar:17 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text:(1991-2000)

bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1988 text:Warren - NWIC (1974-87)
bar:18 color:AssocOS from:1988 till:1991 text:Northwest 8 (1988-1990)
bar:18 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text:(1991-2000) (Football CoOp with River Ridge)

bar:19 color:OtherC3 from:1974 till:1981 text:South Beloit - SHARK (1974-81)
bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1989 text:Trailblazer (1981-88)
bar:19 color:AssocOS from:1989 till:1991 text:NW 8 (1989-90)
bar:19 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text:(1991-2000)

bar:20 color:OtherC3 from:1974 till:1981 text:North Boone - SHARK (1974-81)
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1989 text:Big 8 / Big Northern (1981-89)
bar:20 color:AssocOS from:1989 till:1991 text:NW 8 (1989-90)
bar:20 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text:(1991-2000)

bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:1974 till:1991 text:Polo - Mid-Northern (1974-90)
bar:21 color:AssocOS from:1990 till:1991 text:NW 8
bar:21 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text:(1991-2000)

bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:1974 till:1990 text:Mt. Morris - Mid-Northern (1974-90)
bar:22 color:AssocOS from:1990 till:1991 text:NW 8
bar:22 color:Full from:1991 till:1995 text:(1991-94)
bar:22 color:white from:1995 till:2000 text:(1995) Merged into Oregon High School

bar:23 color:OtherC2 from:1974 till:1991 text:Pecatonica - Mid-Northern (1974-90)
bar:23 color:Full from:1991 till:2000 text:(1991-2000)

bar:24 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1980 text: Huntley
bar:24 color:AssocF from:1980 till:1993 text:Big 8 Conference (1980-92)
bar:24 color:Full from:1993 till:1996 text:(1993-95)
bar:24 color:OtherC2 from:1996 till:2000 text:Big Northern (1996-2000)

bar:25 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1995 text:La Moille - Bureau Valley (1974-94)
bar:25 color:Full from:1995 till:1996 text:(1995-96)
bar:25 color:AssocF from:1996 till:2000 text:Little Ten (1996-Present)

bar:26 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1988 text:East Dubuque - Independent (1974-87)
bar:26 color:OtherC1 from:1988 till:1996 text:NWIC (1988-95)
bar:26 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:(1996–2000)

bar:27 color:OtherC2 from:1974 till:1990 text:Forreston - Mid-Northern/Big Northern (1974-95)
bar:27 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1996 text:(1990) Leaf River merged into Forreston
bar:27 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:(1996–2000)

bar:28 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1996 text:Freeport Aquin - NWIC (1974-95)
bar:28 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:(1996-2000)

bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1996 text:Dakota - NWIC (1974-95)
bar:29 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:(1996-2000)

bar:30 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1987 text:Lanark - NWIC (1974-86)
bar:30 color:white from:1987 till:2000 text:(1987) Consolidated with Shannon to become Eastland

bar:31 color:white from:1974 till:1987 text:Eastland
bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:1995 text:NWIC (1987-95)
bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:1996 text:(1995) (Football CoOp with Pearl City)
bar:31 color:Full from:1996 till: 2000

bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1996 text:Galena - NWIC (1974-95)
bar:32 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:(1996–2000)

bar:33 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1996 text:Lena-Winslow - NWIC (1974-95)
bar:33 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:(1996-2000)

bar:34 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1996 text:Stockton - NWIC (1974-95)
bar:34 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:(1996-2000)

bar:35 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1999 text:Rockford Christian Life (1974-98)
bar:35 color:Full from:1999 till:2000 text:(1999-2000)

bar:36 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1999 text:Savanna - Three Rivers (1974-98)
bar:36 color:Full from:1999 till:2000 text:(1999-2000)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:1974
TextData =

fontsize:L

textcolor:black

pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center)

text:^"Upstate Illini Membership History"
#> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

References

External links

{{Illinois High School Association

High school sports in Illinois
Illinois high school sports conferences