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).
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.
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.
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.
After Grayslake and Marian Central left in 1997 to join the Fox Valley and Suburban Catholic Conferences, respectively, the NWSC officially folded. 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. 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.
All-Time Membership SchoolLocationCountyMascotColorsYear JoinedYear LeftTotal YearsStill openCurrent ConferenceAntioch Community High SchoolAntiochLakeSequoits 1925198358YesNorthern Lake County ConferenceArlington High SchoolArlington HeightsCookCardinals 1925193914NoClosed in 1984.Barrington High SchoolBarringtonLakeBroncos/Fillies 1925195227YesMid-Suburban LeagueCary-Grove High SchoolCaryMcHenryTrojans 197319785YesFox Valley ConferenceDundee Community High SchoolCarpentersvilleKaneCardunalsThe 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. 197619782NoConsolidated with Irving Crown High School in 1983 to become Dundee-Crown High School.Fenton High SchoolBensenvilleDuPageBison 1927195730YesUpstate Eight ConferenceGlenbrook High SchoolRenamed Glenbrook North High School in 1962.NorthbrookCookSpartans 195319574YesCentral Suburban LeagueGrant Community High SchoolFox LakeLakeBulldogs 1935199762YesNorthern Lake County ConferenceGrayslake Community High SchoolRenamed Grayslake Central High School in 2004.GrayslakeLakeRams 1952199745YesNorthern Lake County ConferenceJacobs High SchoolAlgonquinMcHenryGolden Eagles 197619782YesFox Valley ConferenceJohnsburg High SchoolJohnsburgMcHenrySkyhawks 1982199715YesKishwaukee River ConferenceLake Forest High SchoolLake ForestLakeScouts 1935193920YesNorth Suburban Conference19571973Lake Zurich High SchoolLake ZurichLakeBears 1928199163YesNorth Suburban ConferenceLeyden High SchoolRenamed East Leyden High School in 1958; East and West Leyden have a combined athletics program that operates under "Leyden High School".Franklin ParkCookEagles 1926193913YesWest Suburban ConferenceLibertyville High SchoolLibertyvilleLakeWildcats 1925193914YesNorth Suburban ConferenceMarengo Community High SchoolMarengoMcHenryIndians 198319918YesKishwaukee River ConferenceMarian Central Catholic High SchoolWoodstockMcHenryHurricanes 1983199714YesChicagoland Christian ConferenceNiles Township High SchoolRenamed Niles East High School in 1959.Niles CenterCookTrojans 193719392NoClosed in 1980.Northbrook High SchoolNorthbrookCookVikings1939195213NoClosed in 1952 and replaced with Glenbrook High School in 1953.Palatine High SchoolPalatineCookPirates 1925195732YesMid-Suburban LeagueRound Lake High SchoolRound LakeLakePanthers 1957199740YesNorthern Lake County ConferenceAdlai E. Stevenson High SchoolLincolnshireLakePatriots 197319829YesNorth Suburban ConferenceWarren Township High SchoolGurneeLakeBlue Devils 1925193940YesNorth Suburban Conference19571983Wauconda High SchoolWaucondaLakeBulldogs 1925199772YesNorthern Lake County ConferenceWoodstock High SchoolWoodstockMcHenryBlue Streaks 197319785YesKishwaukee River Conference
Membership Timeline
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