Northern Illinois Sports Beat: History of the NCIC

By Cody Cutter, NISB Publisher
[email protected]

Unions help propel the passion of wanting to compete in high school sports. Athletic conferences are these unions. With schools together in an athletic conference, they can establish themselves as traditional rivals.

There has always been at least one team considered �at the top� of a conference in a particular sport. They are always considered the team to beat, year in and year out. Unions also secure longevity of a rivalry. Quite possible are rivalries that last multiple generations. One's mother or father could boast that they beat a certain rival, and pulled for their own to do the same.

Conferences establish a reason why high school sports are worth participating in. The North Central Illinois Conference has been in existence since 1929, long enough to last four generations.

Beginning of High School Conferences

High school conferences, or leagues (depending on how one looks at them), started in Illinois during the turn of the previous century. The Cook County League formed in 1889 with 13 schools. That conference changed it's name, and existence, to the Chicago Public League, which is still operating today. The Academic League was formed in 1896, consisting of Chicago boarding schools and academies. That union ended 14 years later, before most of these schools closed.

The movement did not pick up in �downstate� Illinois until the late 1910s. At that time, high schools were not fully established. Sports did not become popular at all schools until that time. Two of the first conferences outside of Chicagoland were the Little 10 (still in existence today) and the Big 7 (reformed later as today's NIC-10).

The Rock River Valley Conference was formed in 1920. That conference had three members that went on to form the NCIC: Dixon, Rochelle and Sterling. Other members included Rock Falls, Mount Morris, Polo, Oregon and Morrison. Early conferences, like the Rock River Valley, consisted of schools that were close in geography. It didn't matter how large or small the schools were. Competition was not as one-sided as it would later be.

It would only be ten years until high school sports competition became divided. During the late 1920s, the second wave of conferences began to form to accommodate the talent levels. The NCIC was one of those conferences.

Dixon, Rochelle and Sterling eventually distanced themselves from the rest of the Rock River Valley by 1929. These three schools broke off to form a league of their own. Belvidere, the western-most school in the Little Five (with Crystal Lake, Harvard, Marengo and Woodstock), joined. DeKalb, a member of the Big 7 (with both Aurora schools, Elgin, Freeport, Joliet and Rockford), joined. Mendota was the last one to join, and thus the North Central Illinois Conference was formed to begin play for the 1929-30 school year.

Conference sports at the formation were football, basketball and track and field. Cross country, golf and tennis began competition in the late 1930s.

The NCIC is Born

Save for Belvidere, three state highways connected the towns in one way or another. US Route 51 connected Rochelle and Mendota (today this is Illinois Route 251). US Route 330 connected Sterling, Dixon, Rochelle and DeKalb (today this is Illinois Route 38). US Route 52 still connects Dixon and Mendota. The latter two connections were also possible by train. Indeed, the railroad had an important part in the developments of the towns in the NCIC. DeKalb is home to Northern Illinois University, Rochelle had industry due to an important rail junction, for many years Dixon had been the most important town in northern Illinois, and Sterling had long been associated with the steel industry. Three towns: Belvidere, Dixon and Mendota at one time had two public high schools.

Eventually, the competition caught up with Rochelle. The Hubs dropped out of the NCIC in 1937 and went back to the Rock River Valley. It took two years to find a replacement. Princeton, the oldest Township high school in Illinois, arrived in 1939 and expanded the NCIC to US Route 6, and close to the Illinois River Valley. That area would come into play within the next few years.

As Princeton found themselves comfortable in the NCIC, it allowed more teams from the Route 6 corridor to be interested in the conference. Geneseo, Ottawa and Spring Valley Hall all had either outgrown or outperformed their current conferences. These teams all joined the NCIC in 1942.

Another addition in 1942 was Rock Falls. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Rock Falls dominated in the Rock River Valley. They, as well as the other new schools, considered the NCIC a step up in competition. Rock Falls considered their northern border, Sterling, their athletic rival. Sterling, meanwhile, already had Dixon.

The NCIC had expanded their boundaries to the south of their original configuration. Belvidere wound up not being able to keep up with the travel. They departed the NCIC in time for the southern newcomers.

Now at nine schools, the NCIC decided to split into divisions for football. It was still common at that time for schools to play anywhere between seven and ten games in a football season. In order to accommodate this, a Northeast Division and Southwest Division was established. DeKalb, Dixon, Hall, Ottawa and Sterling formed the Northeast, while Geneseo, Mendota, Princeton and Rock Falls formed the Southwest. Other sports continued to play in a non-divisional format for another 60 years.

The NCIC: Post-World War II

Many small schools closed up after World War II. This was because of the Illinois State Legislature encouraged consolidation of school districts. The ripple effects of this movement caused smaller, first-generation conferences to become defunct, such as the Rock River Valley. Rochelle re-entered the NCIC in 1947 and competed in the Southwest division in football to balance out membership.

It would be another 11 years before any more changes would occur in the NCIC. Southern borders expanded once more in 1958. Streator came over from the Big 12, and Kewanee came over from the Northwestern in 1958. Both teams played in the Northeast Division in football, while Hall switched to the Southwest. Save one year, the NCIC continued to operate with 12 teams for 52 years.

Along with closure of rural schools being a result of post-War America, many people began to move away from the big cities (notably Chicago). Existing suburbs began to grow and newer suburbs began to develop. People in DeKalb expected the movement to reach their community closely. In anticipation of this, DeKalb left the NCIC in 1963 to join the newly-formed Upstate 8 Conference. For the 1963-64 school year, the NCIC was an 11-school loop.

The suburban movement also hit Rockford. Rockford built two new high schools and saw their suburbs expand. It was too much for LaSalle-Peru, who joined the NCIC from the Big 8 in 1964. It is interesting to note that LaSalle-Peru was DeKalb's replacement in the Big 7 (same conference) in 1929. For 42 years, the NCIC was a stable conference with these 12 teams: Dixon, Geneseo, Hall, Kewanee, LaSalle-Peru, Mendota, Ottawa, Princeton, Rochelle, Rock Falls, Sterling and Streator.

The two divisional format changed in 1982. Kewanee, who played in the Northeast division in football, saw their enrollment go down. Most of this was a result of the shutdown of many factories, notably Walworth's Works, and the decline of Kewanee Boiler. Meanwhile, Geneseo was growing in population, and their football team was becoming one of the state's dominant programs. The divisional switch of the two was made in 1982. Until 2006, it was the only structural change in the NCIC.

Many Changes in 21st Century

For the rest of the 20th century, the NCIC was still the competitive conference as it has always been. However, school enrollments and resources would slowly drift the conference apart in two directions. The IHSA's division into two classes for most sports beginning in 1972 solidified this. Although the NCIC has been split in football since the early 1940s, a split of other sports was becoming closer to a reality. The larger schools began to fill out the top of several lists of conference standings. The smaller schools sought relief, while the larger schools sought better competition.

Two great changes occurred in 2005. According to NCIC by-laws, enrollments are looked at every two years. Rochelle, the largest �small school� in the NCIC would surpass Geneseo, the smallest �large school� in enrollment. By-laws stated Rochelle would switch with Geneseo in football divisions. However, Geneseo's athletic programs, especially football, would be difficult for the small schools to handle. Meanwhile, a new conference to the east of the NCIC was forming: the Western Sun. Rochelle eventually became a part of that mix. It left Geneseo's fate up to the eventual new recruit of a school smaller than them. Chillicothe IVC, the smallest school in the rural Peoria-based Mid-Illini Conference, joined the NCIC.

The membership change did not prevent the two sides from becoming two separate divisions. After IVC joined, the NCIC split into two divisions in all sports that have all schools participating, as well as wrestling. The division split the NCIC into two sixes: The Reagan Division consisted of Dixon, Geneseo, LaSalle-Peru, Ottawa, Sterling and Streator. The Lincoln Division consisted of Hall, IVC, Kewanee, Mendota, Princeton and Rock Falls.

Once the divisions were formed, each looked forward to expanding. In essence, the two divisions acted as their own conference. Each division had their own champion, their own all-conference teams, and their own end-of-the-year NCIC meets.

The Reagan Division was the first to expand it's membership. Morris, the smallest school by far in the in Southwest Prairie, sought to exit that conference on account of the growth of the other schools. Morris joined the NCIC, competing in the Reagan Division, in time for the 2009-10 school year.

Meanwhile the Lincoln Division struggled to find any addition to their side. Expansion was further necessary after Kewanee expressed interest in leaving the NCIC. For the past few years Kewanee had been struggling to compete athletically, and was toward the bottom of the standings, even in the two-divisional setup. After declining an invitation to the Olympic, Kewanee left the NCIC and joined the Three Rivers (Big Rivers in football) in time for the 2010-11 school year.

Kewanee's departure left the Lincoln at five schools, and Morris's addition gave the Reagan seven schools. A realigning of the divisions to make it six-six brought problems once again with Geneseo, who refused to move to the Lincoln division.

The biggest change to the NCIC came in 2009, the 80th anniversary of the conference. The change came as a result of the breakup of the Western Sun. It left five schools: Kaneland, Sycamore, Yorkville, and former NCIC schools DeKalb and Rochelle on one side. Talks between this group of schools and the NCIC Reagan schools began that spring. The Reagan Division schools decided to leave the NCIC (pending school board approvals at this time) as a whole to form a conference with the defecting Western Sun schools. This would take place in time for the 2010-11 school year.

The exodus of the Reagan schools effectively ended the charter memberships of Dixon and Sterling, as well as Ottawa and Geneseo (1942) and Streator (1958). It also meant Morris's debut season in the NCIC was also their last. Mendota remains the only charter school left in the NCIC. The divisional names also ceased to be as a result.

While the Reagan schools were voting to leave, the Lincoln Division finally got their expansion school. Peru St. Bede � the only private school in NCIC history � joined the conference in time for the 2010-11 school year (pending school board approval at this time). St. Bede will compete (as of 2009) in all sports, except for football.

The NCIC Today

The NCIC's geographical beginnings were along the Overland railroad Route, back when rail travel was still a popular form of transportation. The general area of the conference has moved about 30 miles south of that point, to the Interstate 80 corridor. Four schools: Hall, Mendota, Princeton and St. Bede are no more than 30 miles apart from one another.

After 82 school years, the North Central Illinois Conference has come full circle as far as the number of member schools goes. Today's NCIC consists of six schools which all compete in Class 2A in a four-class system and Class 1A in a three-class system. In football, teams compete in either Class 3A or 4A in an eight-class system. It has been a long while since the NCIC had all member schools evenly connected in one way or another.

Besides Mendota's charter membership, Princeton has been with the NCIC for over 70 years, Hall and Rock Falls over 65, and IVC and St. Bede (pending school board approval at this time) less than a decade. Mendota and Princeton have the longest NCIC rivalry, dating back to 1939. Sterling and Dixon had the oldest conference rivalry prior to their 2010 departures.

There have been 13 NCIC athletic teams that have won IHSA State Championships:

Dixon Girls Bowling � 1982 (whole state champion)
Dixon Boys Cross Country � 2008 (Class 2A)
Geneseo Football � 1977, 1978, 1979 (Class 3A), 1982 (Class 4A)
Hall Football � 1995, 2001 (Class 3A)
Kewanee Boys Cross Country � 1996 (Class A)
Princeton Volleyball � 1990 (Class A)
Rock Falls Boys Basketball � 1999 (Class A)
Sterling Girls Basketball � 1977 (whole state champion)
Streator Softball � 1983 (whole state champion)