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Post by warriorpride on Sept 20, 2008 0:40:25 GMT -5
Who can spot the small mistake in this story.... www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/chi-080919-upstate-eight-conference-ihsa-illinois,0,1820187.story Upstate Eight Conference to expand, split Tribune report 6:04 PM CDT, September 19, 2008 The Upstate Eight Conference, made up of a cumbersome total of 11 far west suburban schools, will add a 12th in the fall of 2010 and split into two divisions, the league announced Friday. The new school is Metea Valley, located in south Naperville, and its teams will be assigned to the Upstate Eight South along with East Aurora, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley and the two St. Charles schools—East and North. The North division will consist of Barlett, Elgin, Lake Park, Larkin, South Elgin and Streamwood. The realignment, said St. Charles North athletic director John Rutter, will give the league competitive balance "and allows all schools that are members of common school districts to maintain their traditional rivalries." WP note: if this means less games for 204 against schools like Lake Park, Barlett and Streamwood, I'd say that's a good thing, as those can be painful drives. I understand tradition, but these HS conferences make no sense - they should geographically group the conferences. It'd save a lot of time and gas $.
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Arwen
Master Member
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Post by Arwen on Sept 20, 2008 4:09:56 GMT -5
I guess I'd better call the post office and tell them my address is wrong. All this time, I thought I was living on the northeast side of Aurora when I'm really in south Naperville!
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Post by gatordog on Sept 20, 2008 14:06:34 GMT -5
Who can spot the small mistake in this story.... . A twelve team conference called the Upstate 8? ;D seriously, thanks for posting that. I was wondering how it was going to work.
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 20, 2008 17:19:02 GMT -5
Who can spot the small mistake in this story.... www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/chi-080919-upstate-eight-conference-ihsa-illinois,0,1820187.story Upstate Eight Conference to expand, split Tribune report 6:04 PM CDT, September 19, 2008 The Upstate Eight Conference, made up of a cumbersome total of 11 far west suburban schools, will add a 12th in the fall of 2010 and split into two divisions, the league announced Friday. The new school is Metea Valley, located in south Naperville, and its teams will be assigned to the Upstate Eight South along with East Aurora, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley and the two St. Charles schools—East and North. The North division will consist of Barlett, Elgin, Lake Park, Larkin, South Elgin and Streamwood. The realignment, said St. Charles North athletic director John Rutter, will give the league competitive balance "and allows all schools that are members of common school districts to maintain their traditional rivalries." WP note: if this means less games for 204 against schools like Lake Park, Barlett and Streamwood, I'd say that's a good thing, as those can be painful drives. I understand tradition, but these HS conferences make no sense - they should geographically group the conferences. It'd save a lot of time and gas $. " if this means less games for 204 against schools like Lake Park, Barlett and Streamwood, I'd say that's a good thing, as those can be painful drives. I understand tradition, but these HS conferences make no sense - they should geographically group the conferences. It'd save a lot of time and gas $ " sorry, I find this statement ironic beyond all belief. Things should be geographic so as to save gas money and painful trips. If only people believed this when it affected others and not just themselves On this note I will leave you all - nothing more needs to be said here.
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Post by eb204 on Sept 20, 2008 17:43:47 GMT -5
Who can spot the small mistake in this story.... www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/chi-080919-upstate-eight-conference-ihsa-illinois,0,1820187.story Upstate Eight Conference to expand, split Tribune report 6:04 PM CDT, September 19, 2008 The Upstate Eight Conference, made up of a cumbersome total of 11 far west suburban schools, will add a 12th in the fall of 2010 and split into two divisions, the league announced Friday. The new school is Metea Valley, located in south Naperville, and its teams will be assigned to the Upstate Eight South along with East Aurora, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley and the two St. Charles schools—East and North. The North division will consist of Barlett, Elgin, Lake Park, Larkin, South Elgin and Streamwood. The realignment, said St. Charles North athletic director John Rutter, will give the league competitive balance "and allows all schools that are members of common school districts to maintain their traditional rivalries." WP note: if this means less games for 204 against schools like Lake Park, Barlett and Streamwood, I'd say that's a good thing, as those can be painful drives. I understand tradition, but these HS conferences make no sense - they should geographically group the conferences. It'd save a lot of time and gas $. " if this means less games for 204 against schools like Lake Park, Barlett and Streamwood, I'd say that's a good thing, as those can be painful drives. I understand tradition, but these HS conferences make no sense - they should geographically group the conferences. It'd save a lot of time and gas $ " sorry, I find this statement ironic beyond all belief. Things should be geographic so as to save gas money and painful trips. If only people believed this when it affected others and not just themselves On this note I will leave you all - nothing more needs to be said here. I think what WP was trying to say was that there are enough schools in this area to play against without driving an hour or more to get there. For people who are already disappointed with the drive to their school for sporting events, a drive to another school as far away as the ones mentioned would seem to make them even more upset. I don't have kids in sports yet, so I don't really know how people feel about the drives or bus rides to sporting events. I do hear of friends who complain that their child got home late because of a game outside of this area. By including more area schools in this conference and eliminating the further schools, I would think it is a move that makes sense and obviously the league officials did too. I'm guessing that the parents and students in Bartlett and those areas are pleased as well not to have to make the drive this direction, too. To come from Bartlett and drive down Rt. 59 to a game at NVHS must be a real hassle with the traffic on Rt. 59! Not a whole lot of ways to get there other than that, is there?
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Post by majorianthrax on Sept 20, 2008 19:00:10 GMT -5
Who can spot the small mistake in this story.... www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/chi-080919-upstate-eight-conference-ihsa-illinois,0,1820187.story Upstate Eight Conference to expand, split Tribune report 6:04 PM CDT, September 19, 2008 The Upstate Eight Conference, made up of a cumbersome total of 11 far west suburban schools, will add a 12th in the fall of 2010 and split into two divisions, the league announced Friday. The new school is Metea Valley, located in south Naperville, and its teams will be assigned to the Upstate Eight South along with East Aurora, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley and the two St. Charles schools—East and North. The North division will consist of Barlett, Elgin, Lake Park, Larkin, South Elgin and Streamwood. The realignment, said St. Charles North athletic director John Rutter, will give the league competitive balance "and allows all schools that are members of common school districts to maintain their traditional rivalries." WP note: if this means less games for 204 against schools like Lake Park, Barlett and Streamwood, I'd say that's a good thing, as those can be painful drives. I understand tradition, but these HS conferences make no sense - they should geographically group the conferences. It'd save a lot of time and gas $. " if this means less games for 204 against schools like Lake Park, Barlett and Streamwood, I'd say that's a good thing, as those can be painful drives. I understand tradition, but these HS conferences make no sense - they should geographically group the conferences. It'd save a lot of time and gas $ " sorry, I find this statement ironic beyond all belief. Things should be geographic so as to save gas money and painful trips. If only people believed this when it affected others and not just themselves On this note I will leave you all - nothing more needs to be said here. Sorry Doc you are leaving. I always enjoy reading what you have to say. I do feel your bitterness at leaving WV when other schools are so much closer to MV. However I don't think you will find much comfort in the other place where bitterness and anger is the overall mood. Good luck Doc.
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Post by WeNeed3 on Sept 24, 2008 10:28:51 GMT -5
Upstate Eight split creates heavyweight division in footballNaperville Sun article 9/24/08 www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/sports/highschools/1181568,6_2_NA24_FOCUS_S1.article Although his school hasn't opened yet, Jim Schmid's work voice-mail greeting ends with the words "Go Mustangs," even if he doesn't exactly know what that looks like. The Metea Valley principal thought he was close to finalizing a black and gold logo at the board meeting Monday night, but soon realized the decision's still a few weeks away. "You got to find the right kind of horse," Schmid said. "Everybody's got an idea." That's one small piece of what Schmid calls the enormous jigsaw puzzle. A major one fell into place last week when the Upstate Eight Conference announced it will add Metea as the 12th member and realign into two six-school divisions in 2010. Metea, which opens for freshmen and sophomores next fall, will join fellow District 204 schools Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley in the UEC South. The division will also include East Aurora, St. Charles East and St. Charles North. The realignment was designed to reduce travel times and fuel expenses. "We wanted to try to keep our schools together. One, for proximity, but also for (the) rivalry," Neuqua athletic director Barb Barrows said. Lake Park will join District U-46 schools Bartlett, Elgin, Larkin, South Elgin and Streamwood in the UEC North. Everything is cyclical, from the population growth that helped build some of these UEC schools, to the gas prices that in part justified realignment, to the fortunes of any football program. But this morning the UEC South looks like a much more competitive division. Start with the fact that no UEC team has won a state title. According to IHSA records, the all-time winning percentage of South programs is slightly higher than that of the North (.523 to .514). But the five teams of the South have accounted for 43 playoff appearances in 168 total seasons, a total skewed by an East Aurora program that has made the postseason only three times in its 94-year history. The future North can claim 49 playoff appearances in 244 total seasons. Sharper distinctions can be drawn along recent trend lines. Between 2004 and 2007 - the time it took an entire class to cycle through - the South qualified for the playoffs 14 times, while the North made six postseason appearances, four by Bartlett. By 2010, teams will schedule two nonconference games, two UEC crossovers and five divisional matchups. "Right now we got some pretty good teams on our side of the division," Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy said. "(Except for East Aurora) the other five schools are gonna have six levels of football (and) I think that was an important factor for our division anyway. Because when you have (almost) 300 kids in your program - now we'll drop a little bit with Metea opening - but if we got 250 kids in our program, we want them all to be able to play on the weekend. We don't want to, you know, just have a varsity game, and a sophomore game and a freshman A and B and that's it. We want to have a JV and a sophomore B as well." Metea is building toward that level. Tom Schweer, who helped open St. Charles North as its athletic director and later served in the same role at Hinsdale Central, is working in two capacities for District 204. Schweer is dividing his time as a Waubonsie varsity swimming coach and physical-education teacher and Metea's athletic administrator. Schmid expects to post openings for certified staff positions at the beginning of October - that includes looking for what he calls "lead coaches." They will run a program only on a freshman and sophomore level at first, and then, if everything works out, become varsity head coaches the following year. Schmid, the former Waubonsie principal, anticipates that roughly 80 percent of the entire Metea staff would be moving from current positions within District 204. "That's what I'm thinking based on my preliminary numbers. It might be 70 to 90 (percent but) I'm landing on 80 because I think that's about where it will be," Schmid said. "I've tried to let everyone know that the majority of the people need to be internal. Because what's happening (is) from an outside standpoint, most people think you're opening up a brand-new school, so there's gonna be a hundred open slots for teaching, (which) is accurate. But the kids (are) already in place being taught by someone at one of the former schools, so you need to take those kids, but you (also) need to take those teachers with them." Through the redistricting, Schmid estimates about 600 current Waubonsie students will move to Metea, and a smaller number of Neuqua students will be transferred to Waubonsie. Eventually - though he emphasized nothing has been agreed upon or discussed in depth - Schmid thinks there could be three crosstown games a year at North Central College between the district's schools. The Waubonsie coach says he's not yet concerned how all this will impact his talent pool. "I'm not even worried about it until after the season. Right now, they're all Warriors and I got too many other things to worry about," Murphy said. "When we put all the equipment away and we start thinking about next year, I'll start worrying about that."
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Post by JWH on Sept 24, 2008 11:44:05 GMT -5
This realignment really makes sense. Twelve schools would be too many.
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Post by gatordog on Sept 24, 2008 12:39:43 GMT -5
This realignment really makes sense. Twelve schools would be too many. I agree. Actually, I think there maybe be wiggle room to add a team or two in future. A seven team subconfernce wouldnt be too unreasonable. I wonder if any suitable schools to south, west, or north would in the future be candidates to join? Or are they pretty much saying, we like this grouping, end of story?
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Post by sardines on Sept 24, 2008 13:04:50 GMT -5
History
Southwest Prairie Conference
" The Southwest Prairie Conference was established in 2005 and began as a conference in the 2006 - 2007 school year. Six schools from The Suburban Prairie Conference ( Minooka, Morris, Oswego, Oswego East, Plainfield Central, and Plainfield South ) were joined by SICA member Romeoville and Plainfield North, a new school which only fielded frosh/soph teams in 2005-2006. A ninth school will join the conference in the fall of 2009 when Plainfield East joins the conference. The Bengals will only field freshmen and sophomores teams in 2008-2009."
I just thought this was interesting...Plainfield Central had 2,700 students in 2007. We usually play tournaments and occasional season games against Oswego and Plainfield. Plainfield will have opened two new high schools within 3-4 years...
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sushi
Master Member
Posts: 767
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Post by sushi on Sept 24, 2008 18:01:27 GMT -5
This is a great move by UEC - long overdue! We discussed splitting off from the far-away schools every time we had to drive to them.
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Post by majorianthrax on Sept 24, 2008 21:57:11 GMT -5
I also like the new realignment. One problem with the Upstate 8 I have always felt is there is a group of strong schools, (NV, WV, the two St Charles), and a group of really weak schools. (East Aurora, Streamwood, Elgin, S. Elgin, Larkin) with Lake Park and Bartlett in the middle. In this new realignment the weaker schools will have a better shot at winning records. It is just two bad East Aurora isn't with the North. They will continue to get killed in most everything. Incidently I always wondered if NV ever considered going into the DuPage Valley? They are certainly more then able to compete with Naperville Cent and North and the Wheatons and would be a good fit.
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Post by gatordog on Sept 25, 2008 10:12:58 GMT -5
FYI, from Wikipedia....here is the Dupage Valley Confernce
Current Members, as of December 2005 (in alphabetical order):
* Glenbard East High School, Lombard, Illinois * Glenbard North High School, Carol Stream, Illinois * Naperville Central High School, Naperville, Illinois * Naperville North High School, Naperville, Illinois * West Aurora High School, Aurora, Illinois * West Chicago High School, West Chicago, Illinois * Wheaton North High School, Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton Warrenville South High School, Wheaton, Illinois
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Post by gatordog on Sept 25, 2008 10:15:38 GMT -5
History Southwest Prairie Conference " The Southwest Prairie Conference was established in 2005 and began as a conference in the 2006 - 2007 school year. Six schools from The Suburban Prairie Conference ( Minooka, Morris, Oswego, Oswego East, Plainfield Central, and Plainfield South ) were joined by SICA member Romeoville and Plainfield North, a new school which only fielded frosh/soph teams in 2005-2006. A ninth school will join the conference in the fall of 2009 when Plainfield East joins the conference. The Bengals will only field freshmen and sophomores teams in 2008-2009." I just thought this was interesting...Plainfield Central had 2,700 students in 2007. We usually play tournaments and occasional season games against Oswego and Plainfield. Plainfield will have opened two new high schools within 3-4 years... thanks for this info, sardines. So, Southwest Prairie Conference has 9 members. A very good size. Looks to me as if they are set. Not looking to add, nor looking to reduce numbers.
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Post by chicoryowl on Sept 26, 2008 12:33:07 GMT -5
I also like the new realignment. One problem with the Upstate 8 I have always felt is there is a group of strong schools, (NV, WV, the two St Charles), and a group of really weak schools. (East Aurora, Streamwood, Elgin, S. Elgin, Larkin) with Lake Park and Bartlett in the middle. In this new realignment the weaker schools will have a better shot at winning records. It is just two bad East Aurora isn't with the North. They will continue to get killed in most everything. Incidently I always wondered if NV ever considered going into the DuPage Valley? They are certainly more then able to compete with Naperville Cent and North and the Wheatons and would be a good fit. I just couldn't see one school in the district in a conference without the other (soon to be two) school(s).
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