South Inter-Conference Association

Defunct high school sports league in Illinois

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South Inter-Athletic Association Conference

Data
Established | 1972
Disbanded | 2006
Members | 36
Region | Chicagoland
Divisions | Central, East, North, South, West

The South Inter-Conference Association is a former high school umbrella conference organizing extracurricular sporting activities in the southern portion of Cook, portions of Kendall and throughout Will and Kankakee Counties in Illinois. SICA is the predecessor competitive body of the current South Suburban Conference, Southwest Suburban Conference, and Southland Athletic Conference.[1] At one point it was the largest conference in Illinois.[2]

## History[edit]

Origins of the South-Inter Conference Association (SICA) date back to 1972 when 26 schools chartered one of the largest conferences in the state of Illinois. The 26 high schools included; Bloom, Bradley, Bremen, Crete-Monee, Eisenhower, Evergreen Park, Hillcrest, Homewood-Flossmoor, Kankakee Eastridge, Kankakee Westview, Lincoln-Way, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Reavis, Rich Central, Rich East, Rich South, Richards, Sandburg, Stagg, Thornridge, Thornton, Thornton Fractional North, Thornton Fractional South, Thornwood, and Tinley Park. The schools were sorted into five divisions and would continue to grow throughout the end of the 20th century. In 1976, Bloom Trail and Shepard opened their doors and were added to the league. Argo moved over from the Illini 8 in 1977 and the same year, Victor J. Andrew High School opened, taking the total number of teams to 30 to close out the 1970's.[3]

In 1982, Evergreen Park would leave the league, however, Bolingbrook, Lockport and Romeoville would join the conference. Joliet Central and Joliet West would migrate from the defunct Illini 8 Conference in 1983 and during that same year, Kankakee Eastridge and Kankakee Westview would consolidate into Kankakee High School, making the total number of schools 33, the largest total the conference would ever achieve.[4][5] For 10 years the conference maintained but in 1993, both Joliet schools would consolidate into Joliet Township, again dropping the total number of schools to 32.[5][6] Bloom Trail would leave the league in 1995, however, Lincoln-Way East would open their doors in 2001, joining the conference in the process.

For 33 years the SICA maintained a membership of 33 schools split into five divisions.[7] The conference covered a large geographic area and sociological spectrum "from the Indiana border to Joliet, from impoverished Ford Heights to affluent Frankfort, from virtually all-black Hillcrest to almost all-white Lincoln-Way Central and from Joliet, enrollment 4,993, to 1,066- student Rich South"[7] In 2004, the athletic directors voted 30–3, the principals' board of control voted 6–2, and the district superintendents voted 16–3 to approve a new conference realignment which was to take effect in 2006.[7] The realignment had been pushed because of long travel times and a reduction of sports offerings at some schools. The realignment split the association into three roughly equal and geographically contiguous conferences, one of which, the southeast, contained most of the predominantly African–American schools (compared to one school in the remaining two conferences).[7] It was from these schools that a majority of the votes against the realignment had come.[7] Leaders from these schools demanded an investigation from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, and petitioned the Illinois State Board of Education to investigate as to whether this action violated rules on equity.[7]

In March 2005, ten schools announced that they were unilaterally leaving SICA to form a new conference, the Southwest Suburban Conference.[8] Those schools included; Andrew, Bolingbrook, Bradley, Homewood-Flossmoor, Joliet Township, Lincoln-Way Central, Lincoln-Way East, Lockport, Sandburg and Stagg. These ten schools collectively were among the largest in student population.[8] Shortly after the announcement, a board member from Lincoln-Way Community High School District, a district representing two of the schools leaving to form a new conference, was forced to resign after racially insensitive statements were left on a reporter's voice mail.[9]

Shortly after this, twelve more schools split off to form the South Suburban Conference.[10] Those schools included; Argo, Bremen, Eisenhower, Evergreen Park, Hillcrest, Lemont, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Reavis, Richards, Shepard, and Tinley Park,.

In April 2006, a federal civil rights lawsuit was filed against the schools which had left claiming that "(an) apartheid-like realignment used public funds to regress to separate but equal".[11] The suit was settled out of court with the three schools of Thornton Township High Schools District 205 joining the Southwest Suburban Conference, and the two schools of Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 joining the South Suburban Conference.[12] The remaining six teams would be known as Southland Athletic Conference.[12] Those schools included; Bloom, Crete-Monee, Kankakee, Rich Central, Rich East and Rich South.

## Former Schools[edit]

Central  | East  | North

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Bremen High School | Bloom Township | Argo Community High School
Eisenhower High School | Homewood-Flossmoor High School | Bolingbrook High School
Hillcrest High School | Alan B. Shepard High School | Oak Lawn Community High School
Oak Forest High School | Thornridge High School | Reavis High School
T.F. North High School | Thornton High School | Richards High School
T.F. South High School | Thornwood High School | Romeoville High School
Tinley Park High School | Bloom Trail High School | Evergreen Park Community High School
South  | West
Bradley High School | Andrew High School
Crete-Monee High School | Carl Sandburg High School
Kankakee High School | Joliet High School
Rich Central High School | Lincoln-Way Central High School
Rich East High School | Lincoln-Way East High School
Rich South High School | Lockport Township High School
Stagg High School
Joliet West High School

## Membership timeline[edit]

This timeline represents the 35 schools that were a part of the SICA as well as the conferences they have moved to since the league disbanded.

South Inter-Conference Association (SICA) South Suburban Conference Southland Athletic Conference Southwest Suburban Conference Original Southwest Suburban Conference Southwest Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference Northeast Conference

## References[edit]

1. ^ http://www.athletics2000.com/sica/index.asp?nav=open[dead link]
2. ^ "HighBeam". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03.
3. ^ "THE GREAT CONFERENCES". leopardfan.tripod.com.
4. ^ "Kankakee Eastridge High School "Raiders"". Illinois High School Glory Days. March 3, 2022.
5. ^ a b "Kankakee Westview High School "Kayhawks"". Illinois High School Glory Days. March 3, 2022.
6. ^ "Joliet West High School "Tigers"". Illinois High School Glory Days. March 3, 2022.
7. ^ a b c d e f Temkin, Barry (6 February 2005). "SICA struggling for perfect balance". Chicago Tribune. p. 17.
8. ^ a b Sakomato, Bob (1 March 2005). "10 bail on SICA, form new league". Chicago Tribune. p. 6.
9. ^ Ziemba, Stanley; Greco Jr, Carmen (4 March 2005). "School board member resigns ; Derogatory remarks attributed to official". Chicago Tribune. p. 1.
10. ^ Ziemba, Stanley (16 November 2006). "Districts likely to settle SICA divisions ; New athletic groupings address diversity issue". Chicago Tribune. p. 1.
11. ^ Napolitano, Jo (11 April 2006). "Schools allege discrimination ; Suit sees race as key to prep conference split". Chicago Tribune. p. 1.
12. ^ a b Napolitano, Jo (30 December 2006). "Dispute ends over athletic league split". Chicago Tribune. p. 24.

## External links[edit]

* Former Official Website

* v
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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|

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Former conferences|

* Ambraw Valley
* Big 8
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* Bi-County
* Blackhawk
* Bureau Valley
* Capitol
* Cenois
* Central Egyptian Conference
* Coal Belt
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* Cook County
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* Heart of Illinois (1970s)
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* Little 6
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* Little 8
* Mid-Northern
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* Midwest
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* North Egypt
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* 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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