Big East Conference (Iowa)
Encyclopedia
The Big East Conference is a high school athletic conference in Eastern Iowa
. The conference is made up of primarily 1A schools (the smallest classification of schools in Iowa). Currently, there are nine teams in the conference.
Many of the conference's schools have football
programs; however, they are assigned to a district schedule in lieu of a round-robin conference schedule. Additionally, some schools have 8-man
programs and others 11-man.
Although the member schools field freshman-sophomore — and in some cases, junior varsity — teams in many of the above-mentioned sports, conference championships are determined at varsity
levels only. In some cases, a school might particiapte in a cooperative program with neighboring schools for a given sport while other schools may offer the sport as a stand-alone program (such as wrestling
). Additionally, several of the schools offer other sports programs, such as bowling
and tennis
, but not on a conference basis.
) merged with Clarence-Lowden (to eventually become the North Cedar Community School District
), the Mid-East decided to pursue a merger. Additionally, the Iowa High School Athletic Association implemented district football for sub-Class 4A schools, eliminating one of the major advantages of the Mid-East. The Wapsie, which had struggled for years, approved the merger and the new conference was formed.
At the turn of the century, the Big East had 13 members. In 2000, Clinton Mater Dei changed its name to Prince of Peace Preparatory. When the Big Bend Conference folded in 2003, Camanche applied for membership into the Big East. Although originally denied, Camanche ended up becoming the 14th member of the conference. Following the 2004–05 school year, Bennett entered into a whole-grade sharing agreement with Durant, an agreement that would eventually see Bennett sharing all high school activities with Durant.
The closure of Bennett High School left the conference with 13 schools. The number dropped to 12 in 2008, when North Cedar—one of the conference's largest schools—agreed to join the newly formed Cedar Valley Conference
with seven former members of the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference.
For the 2011–12 school year, only nine of the current 12 members returned. Andrew and East Central each closed their schools, with Andrew entering into a sharing agreement with Bellevue and Maquoketa high schools and East Central sending their students to Northeast of Goose Lake or Preston. Olin discontinued its entire athletic program, with the district entering into shared programs with nearby schools including Midland and Monticello. Also during the summer of 2011, Camanche and Northeast began petitioning to leave the Big East for a new conference, with the Cedar Valley Conference
the schools' first choice; no action has been taken to date.
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. The conference is made up of primarily 1A schools (the smallest classification of schools in Iowa). Currently, there are nine teams in the conference.
Members
| Institution | Location | Founded | Mascot | Colors | Affiliation | 9-12 Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellevue | Bellevue Bellevue, Iowa Bellevue is a city in Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,350 at the 2000 census. The city lies along the Mississippi River , next to Bellevue State Park.... |
Comets | Public | |||
| Calamus-Wheatland | Wheatland Wheatland, Iowa Wheatland is a city in Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 772 at the 2000 census.-History:Wheatland was platted in 1858 under the leadership of John Bennett. The town was named for President James Buchanan's estate 'Wheatlands' in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Bennett being an... |
1986 | Warriors | Public | ||
| Camanche | Camanche Camanche, Iowa Camanche is a city in Clinton County, Iowa, United States on the Mississippi River. The population was 4,215 at the 2000 census.-History:Camanche was founded by Dr. George Peck in the late 1830s, who is buried in the Rosehill Cemetery in Camanche.... |
1961 | Indians | Public | ||
| Lisbon | Lisbon Lisbon, Iowa Lisbon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Mount Vernon. The population was 2,152 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Lisbon is located at .... |
Lions | ||||
| Marquette Catholic Marquette High School (Bellevue, Iowa) Marquette High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Bellevue, Iowa. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque.-Background:... |
Bellevue | 1957 | Mohawks | Private | ||
| Midland | Wyoming Wyoming, Iowa Wyoming is a city in Jones County, Iowa, United States. The population was 626 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Wyoming is located at .... |
Eagles | Public | |||
| Northeast | Goose Lake Goose Lake, Iowa Goose Lake is a city in Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 232 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Goose Lake is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.... |
1962 | Rebels | Public | ||
| Preston | Preston Preston, Iowa Preston is a city in Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 949 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Preston is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.... |
Trojans | Public | |||
| Prince of Peace Preparatory Prince of Peace Preparatory The Prince of Peace Preparatory School is a Catholic high school in Clinton, Iowa, USA. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport.... |
Clinton Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26231as of 2010. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa , was named in honor of the seventh governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton. Clinton is the principal city of the Clinton Micropolitan Statistical... |
Irish | Private | |||
Sports
The Big East Conference offers the following 11 sports:- Fall — VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, boys' cross-country and girls' cross-country. - Winter — Boys' basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and girls' basketball. - Spring — Boys' track and fieldTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, girls' track and field, boys' golfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and girls' golf. - Summer — BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and softballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
.
Many of the conference's schools have football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
programs; however, they are assigned to a district schedule in lieu of a round-robin conference schedule. Additionally, some schools have 8-man
Eight-man football
Eight-man football is a type of American football, generally played by small high schools. Rules and formations vary greatly among states and even among different organizations, but the one constant is eight players from each team on the field at one time, as opposed to eleven-man football, which...
programs and others 11-man.
Although the member schools field freshman-sophomore — and in some cases, junior varsity — teams in many of the above-mentioned sports, conference championships are determined at varsity
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
levels only. In some cases, a school might particiapte in a cooperative program with neighboring schools for a given sport while other schools may offer the sport as a stand-alone program (such as wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
). Additionally, several of the schools offer other sports programs, such as bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, but not on a conference basis.
History
The Big East was founded in the mid-1990s from the merger of the Waspie Conference and the Mid-East Conference. Many of the Mid-East Conference schools had split from the Wapsie Conference around 1980 to form a conference that sponsored all sports, including football. Prior to that point, the Mid-East had served as a conference for football only for eight schools. After Guttenberg left the conference and Lincoln (based in StanwoodStanwood, Iowa
Stanwood is a city in Cedar County, Iowa, United States. The population was 680 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Stanwood is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
) merged with Clarence-Lowden (to eventually become the North Cedar Community School District
North Cedar Community School District
The North Cedar School District is a public school district in Cedar County, Iowa. Based in Stanwood, the district spans northern Cedar County, and serves the communities of Stanwood, Mechanicsville, Clarence and Lowden, and the surrounding rural areas...
), the Mid-East decided to pursue a merger. Additionally, the Iowa High School Athletic Association implemented district football for sub-Class 4A schools, eliminating one of the major advantages of the Mid-East. The Wapsie, which had struggled for years, approved the merger and the new conference was formed.
At the turn of the century, the Big East had 13 members. In 2000, Clinton Mater Dei changed its name to Prince of Peace Preparatory. When the Big Bend Conference folded in 2003, Camanche applied for membership into the Big East. Although originally denied, Camanche ended up becoming the 14th member of the conference. Following the 2004–05 school year, Bennett entered into a whole-grade sharing agreement with Durant, an agreement that would eventually see Bennett sharing all high school activities with Durant.
The closure of Bennett High School left the conference with 13 schools. The number dropped to 12 in 2008, when North Cedar—one of the conference's largest schools—agreed to join the newly formed Cedar Valley Conference
Cedar Valley Conference
The Cedar Valley Conference is a high school athletic conference whose members are located in smaller communities in eastern Iowa. The conference roughly spans from the Iowa City metropolitan area area to the west, to Durant in southeastern Cedar County on the east.-Member schools:There are eight...
with seven former members of the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference.
For the 2011–12 school year, only nine of the current 12 members returned. Andrew and East Central each closed their schools, with Andrew entering into a sharing agreement with Bellevue and Maquoketa high schools and East Central sending their students to Northeast of Goose Lake or Preston. Olin discontinued its entire athletic program, with the district entering into shared programs with nearby schools including Midland and Monticello. Also during the summer of 2011, Camanche and Northeast began petitioning to leave the Big East for a new conference, with the Cedar Valley Conference
Cedar Valley Conference
The Cedar Valley Conference is a high school athletic conference whose members are located in smaller communities in eastern Iowa. The conference roughly spans from the Iowa City metropolitan area area to the west, to Durant in southeastern Cedar County on the east.-Member schools:There are eight...
the schools' first choice; no action has been taken to date.