Four Rivers Conference (Illinois)

Four Rivers ConferenceConference| IHSA

|

Founded| 2001
Ceased| 2005
No. of teams| 6
Region| North-central Illinois (Boone, DeKalb, Lee and Winnebago counties)
Locations
The Four Rivers Conference within Illinois

10km
6miles

South Beloit

Pecatonica

North Boone

Kirkland-Hiawatha

Durand

Ashton

Locations of Four Rivers Schools

The Four Rivers Conference was a high school conference in north central Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference included small public high schools with enrollments between 150-550 students in Boone, DeKalb, Lee and Winnebago counties. The conference was named for the 4 rivers that ran through its geographic area, the Rock River, Pecatonica River, Kishwaukee River and Sugar River.

## History[edit]

Founded in 2001, the Four Rivers Conference was based primarily on the teams within the East Division of the Upstate Illini Conference. Those teams included: Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Pecatonica, Rockford Christian Life, Rockford Lutheran and South Beloit. By 2000, the Upstate Illini had grown to be the second largest conference in the state of Illinois and included 24 teams and 3 divisions, the East as well as the West \- Dakota, East Dubuque, Galena, Lena-Winslow, Orangeville, River Ridge, Stockton and Warren and the South \- Forreston, Freeport Aquin, Lanark (Eastland), Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Pearl City, Polo and Savanna. These divisions were based on geography and not enrollment with the hope of keeping rivalries alive and travel time minimized. Unfortunately, due to football coops as well as enrollment discrepancies, the conference began to have issues regarding football scheduling and opened talks about reorganizing the divisions based on enrollment. During the spring of the 1999-2000 school year, at the annual conference meeting, the issues of realignment created a sticking point that found the administrators of the East Division at odds with the majority of the league. It was at this meeting that 6 of the 8 teams in the East withdrew from the Upstate Illini, establishing the Four Rivers Conference. The remaining 2 schools, Rockford Christian Life and Rockford Lutheran, joined the Private School League in order compete with other non-public schools with similar enrollments. The conference ceased in 2005 with North Boone joining the Big Northern to effectively disband the Four Rivers. The remaining teams joined the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference, while Kirkland-Hiawatha went to the Little Ten Conference.

### Scheduling[edit]

Based on the fact that football schedules are set several years in advance, The Four Rivers Conference played a "home-and-home" football schedule with the first meeting being considered non-conference and the second being counted as the conference game. In a 9 game schedule, and only 6 opponents in the league, a team could become conference champions with only 5 wins. All other sports within the conference played traditional schedules with a championship based on the total wins within the league.

## All-Time Membership[edit]

The list of Four Rivers Conference schools.

School | Location | Mascot | Colors | Year Joined | Year Left | IHSA Classes A/AA[1] | IHSA Music Class[2] | IHSA Football Class[3] | Current NUIC Member

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Ashton-Franklin Center
High School | Ashton, IL | Raiders  |
Black, Gold, White  | 2001  | 2005  | A  | \-  | 1A  | Yes
Durand
High School | Durand, IL | Bulldogs  |
Royal Blue, White  | 2001  | 2005  | A  | C  | 1A  | Yes
Kirkland-Hiawatha
High School | Kirkland, IL | Hawks  |
Navy Blue, Gold  | 2001  | 2005  | A  | D  | 1A  | No
North Boone
High School | Poplar Grove, IL | Vikings  |
Green, White  | 2001  | 2005  | A  | C  | 2A  | No
Pecatonica
High School | Pecatonica, IL | Indians  |
Purple, Vegas Gold  | 2001  | 2005  | A  | C  | 1A  | Yes
South Beloit
High School | South Beloit, IL | Sobos  |
Scarlet Red, White  | 2001  | 2005  | A  | C  | 1A  | Yes

### Membership timeline[edit]

Full members Full members (non-football)

## References[edit]

1. ^ http://www.ihsa.org/school/enrolla.htm [bare URL]
2. ^ http://www.ihsa.org/school/enrollments.htm [bare URL]
3. ^ http://www.ihsa.org/activity/fb/2009-10/playoffs.htm [bare URL]

## External links[edit]

* v
* t
* e

Illinois High School Association

Boys' sports|

* Baseball
* Basketball (championship)
* Bowling
* Cross Country
* Football
* Golf
* Gymnastics
* Soccer
* Swimming and Diving
* Tennis
* Track and Field
* Volleyball
* Water Polo
* Wrestling

Girls' sports|

* Badminton
* Basketball
* Bowling
* Competitive Cheerleading
* Cross Country
* Golf
* Gymnastics
* Soccer
* Softball
* Swimming and Diving
* Tennis
* Track and Field
* Volleyball
* Water Polo

Activities|

* Bass Fishing
* Chess
* Debate
* Drama and Group Interpretation
* Journalism
* Music
* Scholastic Bowl
* Individual Events

Special co-ed activities|

* Wheelchair basketball
* Three-Point Showdown
* Spirit

Emerging sports|

* Boys' and Girls' Lacrosse
* Dance Team

Athletic conferences|

* Apollo
* Big Northern
* Big Twelve
* Black Diamond
* Cahokia
* Central Illinois
* Central State Eight
* Central Suburban
* Chicago Catholic
* Chicago Prairie
* Chicago Prep
* Chicago Public
* DuKane
* DuPage Valley
* East Central Illinois
* East Suburban Catholic
* Egyptian Illini
* Fox Valley
* Gateway Metro
* Girls Catholic
* Greater Egyptian
* Heart of Illinois
* Illini Prairie
* Illinois Central Eight
* Independent School
* Inter County
* Interstate Eight
* Kishwaukee River
* Lake Shore
* Lincoln Prairie
* Lincoln Trail
* Little Illini
* Little Okaw Valley
* Little Ten
* Metro Suburban
* Metropolitan Prep
* Mid-Illini
* Mid-Suburban
* Midland Trail
* Mississippi Valley
* MSM
* National Trail
* Noble League
* North Suburban
* Northeastern
* Northern Illinois
* Northern Lake County
* Northwest Upstate Illini
* Pike County
* Prairieland
* River Valley
* Sangamo
* South Central
* South Egyptian
* South Seven
* South Suburban
* Southern Illinois River-to-River
* Southland
* Southwestern
* Southwest Prairie
* Southwest Suburban
* Three Rivers
* Tomahawk
* Tri-County
* Upstate Eight
* Vermilion Valley
* West Central
* West Suburban
* Western Big 6
* Western Illinois Valley

Former conferences|

* Ambraw Valley
* Big 8
* Big Rivers
* Bi-County
* Blackhawk
* Bureau Valley
* Capitol
* Cenois
* Central Egyptian Conference
* Coal Belt
* Corn Belt
* Cook County
* Des Plaines
* East Okaw
* Eastern Illinois
* Four Rivers
* Heart of Illinois (1970s)
* Illini 8
* Illini Central
* Illini Valley
* Indian Valley
* Kankakee Valley
* La Moine Valley
* Little 6
* Little 7
* Little 8
* Mid-Northern
* Mid State
* Mid-State Six
* Midwest
* Midwestern
* New Salem
* North Central Illinois
* North Egypt
* Northern Illinois Big 12
* Northwest 8
* Northwestern Illinois
* Northwest Suburban
* Okaw Valley
* Olympic
* Quad Cities Metro
* Private School League
* Rock River Valley
* Route 72
* Sangamon Valley
* SHARK
* South Inter-Athletic
* Southern Illini
* Southwest Egyptian
* Spoon River
* Stephenson County
* Suburban
* Suburban Christian
* Suburban Prairie
* Tollway
* Upstate Illini
* US Grant
* Wauseca
* West Prairie Trail
* Western Area
* Western Sun
* Wilco

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