Vermilion Valley Conference
The Vermilion Valley Conference was a high school athletic conference with member schools in Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Livingston, and Kankakee counties in east-central Illinois.
The VVC was founded in 1933 with six charter members: Chatsworth, Cullom, Forrest, Herscher, and Saunemin. The name was a consensus choice since the schools were in the watershed of the Vermilion River (which flows into the Illinois River near Oglesby and the Starved Rock State Park). Communities in the conference had populations from about 200 to 1500 people and were primarily agricultural with some light industry.
School consolidations in the 1980s took their toll on the VVC and the final conference basketball tournament was played in 1989. Participants in the final campaign were Gardner-South Wilmington, Ford Central, Mazon-Verona-Kinsman, Melvin-Sibley, and Tri-Point. [1] Tri-Point defeated Ford Central 43-41 to take home the final VVC basketball title.
Participating schools[edit]
| School | Team Name [2] | Year Joined | Year Resigned | Successor School | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatsworth | Bluebirds | 1933 [3] | 1985 | Prairie Central (Fairbury) | consolidated (PC currently in Illini Prairie) |
| Cornell | Cardinals | 1972 [4] | 1987 | Flanagan | consolidated |
| Cullom | Ramblers | 1933 [3] | 1968 | Tri-Point (Cullom) | consolidated |
| Ford Central | Cougars | 1974 (1939) | 1992 | see note 1 | disbanded |
| Forrest | Eskimos | 1933 [3] | 1949 | FSW (Forrest) | consolidated |
| FSW | Eskimos | 1949 | 1985 | Prairie Central (Fairbury) | consolidated |
| Gardner - South Wilmington | Panthers [5] | 1986 [6] | -- | still active now in River Valley Conference | |
| Gilman | Owls | 1962[7] | 1983 | Iroquois West (Gilman) | now playing in Sangamon Valley Conference [8] |
| Herscher | Tigers | 1933 [3] | 1956 | still active now plays in Illinois Central Eight [8] | |
| Kempton | Red Devils | 1939 [9] | 1946 | Kempton-Cabery | consolidated |
| Kempton - Cabery | Comanches | 1946 | 1968 | Tri-Point (Cullom) | consolidated |
| Mazon - Verona - Kinsman | Red Devils | 1986 [6] | 1990 | Seneca | consolidated |
| Melvin - Sibley | Rams | 1956 [10] | 1993 | Gibson City | consolidated |
| Milford | Bearcats | 1972 [4] | -- | still active now plays in (new) Vermilion Valley [8] | |
| Odell | Rams [11] | 1982 | 1987 | Pontiac | consolidated |
| Onarga | Indians | 1941 [12] | 1983 | Iroquois West (Gilman) | Consolidated |
| Piper City | Blue Streaks | 1939 [9] | 1974 | Ford Central (Piper City) | disbanded |
| Reddick | Bulldogs | 1939 [9] | 1944 [2] | -- | rejoined later |
| Reddick-R.U.C.E. (rejoined) | Bulldogs | 1962 [13] | 1988 | Herscher | Consolidated |
| Roberts - Thawville | Leprechauns | 1953 [14] | 1974 | Ford Central (Piper City) | Consolidated |
| Saunemin | Eagles | 1933 [3] | 1987 | Pontiac | Consolidated |
| Tri-Point | Raider | 1968 | -- | still active now in River Valley Conference |
Note 1: Ford Central disbanded in 1985; Piper City students now attend Tri-Point, Thawville attends Iroquois West, and Roberts attends Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Note 2: in 1950, Union Hill, Campus, and Essex schools consolidated with Reddick to form the R.U.C.E. school district.
Other Illinois conferences using the VVC name[edit]
A few months later a second conference of schools in the same area was initially also named Vermilion Valley Conference, however it was renamed Big Vermilion in deference to the earlier claimants to the name.
After the conference disbanded in 1989, a new conference adopted the VVC name (this time named for a different Vermilion River with flows south through Iroquois and Vermilion counties into the Wabash River).
References[edit]
- ↑ "Wide open battle expected for final Vermilion Valley Tournament". The Times (Streator, IL). 1989-01-30.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Closed High Schools by County". Illinois HS Glory Days.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Form new prep conference including C.I. schools". Bloomington Pantagraph. 1933-01-15.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Board Approved Straw Vote". Chatsworth Plaindealer. 1971-11-11.
- ↑ "home page". Gardner-South Wilmington High School. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Red Devils beat the Panthers". The Times (Streator, IL). 1986-11-26.
- ↑ "VV Tournament". Chatsworth Plaindealer. 1963-01-17.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "IHSA School Directory". Illinois High School Association. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "V.V. Conference takes new members". Bloomington Pantagraph. 1939-10-14.
- ↑ "of Sibley". Gibson City Courier. 1955-09-29.
- ↑ "VV tourney continues". Chatsworth Plaindealer. 1983-02-03.
- ↑ "Onarga withdrawing from Wauseca League". Paxton Record. 1941-02-27.
- ↑ "Reddick Domination Near End?". Bloomington Pantagraph. 1964-11-28.
- ↑ "Basketball Slate". Bloomington Pantagraph. 1953-10-15.
This article "Vermilion Valley Conference" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Vermilion Valley Conference. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
|
This page exists already on Wikipedia. |
