The Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10) is a high school athletic conference

Athletic conference

An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other at the professional, collegiate, or high school level. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller and smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels...

 consisting of nine high public schools and one Catholic school

Catholic school

Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...

 in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

' Boone, Stephenson

Stephenson County, Illinois

As of the census of 2000, there were 48,979 people, 19,785 households, and 13,473 families residing in the county. The population density was 87 people per square mile . There were 21,713 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...

, and Winnebago

Winnebago County, Illinois

Winnebago County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 295,266, which is an increase of 6.1% from 278,418 in 2000...

 Counties. Member schools are also full members of the Illinois High School Association

Illinois High School Association

The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...

 (IHSA), and are among the larger schools in that area, all competing in Class AA (in the two class system) of IHSA competitions.

Members

School	Town	Team Name	Colors	IHSA Classes (2/3/4)	Reference
Auburn High School Rockford Auburn High School Auburn High School is a public high school located in Rockford, Illinois, USA. The school is divided into two campuses: one a campus for freshmen and the other for upperclassmen....	Rockford Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...	Knight Knight A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior.... s		AA/3A/4A
Belvidere High School Belvidere High School (Belvidere, Illinois) Belvidere High School is located in at 1500 East Ave., Belvidere, Illinois, 61008 in Boone County.The school is perhaps most notable for the deaths of 13 students and staff on the afternoon of April 21, 1967 when an F4 tornado struck the school as part of a massive tornado outbreak in the Midwest...	Belvidere Belvidere, Illinois Belvidere is a city in Boone County, Illinois, United States. The population was 25,585 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Boone County. Belvidere is part of the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...	Bucs Buccaneer The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...		AA/2A/3A
Belvidere North High School Belvidere North High School Belvidere North High School is the second high school in Belvidere, Illinois and part of the Belvidere Community Unit School District 100. It is right next to Seth Whitman Elementary School and Belvidere Central Middle School.-Athletics:...	Belvidere	Blue Thunder Thunder Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within...		AA/2A/3A
Boylan Catholic High School Boylan Catholic High School Boylan Catholic High School is a private Catholic school located in the city of Rockford, Illinois. Founded in 1960, Boylan is the only Catholic high school in Rockford, and has 1187 students at the start of the 2010-2011 school year...	Rockford	Titans Titan (mythology) In Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia and Uranus, that ruled during the legendary Golden Age....		AA/3A/4A
East High School	Rockford	E-Rabs		AA/2A/3A
Freeport High School Freeport High School (Illinois) Freeport High School is a public secondary school located in Freeport, Illinois. Their sport teams are named the Pretzels.-Academics:In 2009, Freeport had an average composite ACT score of 19.7, and graduated 85.8% of its senior class...	Freeport Freeport, Illinois Freeport is a city in and the county seat of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 26,443 at the 2000 census. The mayor of Freeport is George W...	Pretzel Pretzel A pretzel is a type of baked food made from dough in soft and hard varieties and savory or sweet flavors in a unique knot-like shape, originating in Europe... s		AA/2A/3A
Guilford High School	Rockford	Viking Viking The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to... s		AA/3A/4A
Harlem High School Harlem High School (Illinois) Harlem High School is a public secondary school and part of the Harlem School District 122. With approximately 2,600 students it is located on two campuses in Machesney Park, Illinois. Their sport teams are named the Harlem Huskies. The current principal is Joe Hazen.-External links:...	Machesney Park Machesney Park, Illinois Machesney Park is a village located in Winnebago County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,499 at the 2010 census, up from 20,759 at the 2000 census...	Huskies Husky Husky is a general name for a type of dog originally used to pull sleds in northern regions, differentiated from other sled dog types by their fast hard pulling style...		AA/3A/4A
Hononegah High School Hononegah High School Hononegah Community High School is a public high school in Rockton, Illinois and is the only high school comprising Hononegah Community High School District 207. Located between Rockford and the southern border of Wisconsin, the school serves students from the towns of Rockton, Roscoe, Shirland,...	Rockton Rockton, Illinois Rockton is a village in Winnebago County, Illinois, United States located on the banks of the Rock River. It is part of the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area...	Indians Indigenous peoples of the Americas The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...		AA/3A/4A
Jefferson High School	Rockford	J-Hawks		AA/3A/4A

* Depending on the sport/activity, schools compete in a two class, three class, or four class system. The classes are listed in that order in this table.

History

The conference was originally founded as the Big 7 in 1919 and included Freeport, Rockford Central High School

Rockford Central High School

Rockford Central High School is a defunct school in the city of Rockford, Illinois. Rockford, the second largest city in the Land of Lincoln, established a central location for all students to attend high school in 1885...

, Joliet High School

Joliet Central High School

Joliet Central High School is a public secondary school located in Joliet, Illinois. Central is part of Joliet Township High Schools, along with Joliet West and Joliet East . Prior to the opening of Joliet East and West, the school was called Joliet Township High School...

, Elgin, DeKalb High School, Aurora East High School

East Aurora High School

East Aurora High School, or EAHS, is a public four-year high school located in Kane County, at the corner of Smith Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the sole high school in East Aurora Public School District 131...

, and Aurora West

West Aurora High School

West Aurora High School, or WAHS, is a public four-year high school located in Aurora, Illinois. It is part of West Aurora Public School District 129. The school is also referred to as "West," and "West High,".- History :...

. DeKalb left in 1929, and was replaced by LaSalle-Peru High School

LaSalle-Peru High School

LaSalle-Peru Township High School, also known as LaSalle-Peru High School, LPHS, or simply LP, is a public four-year high school located at 541 Chartres Street in LaSalle, Illinois, a small city in LaSalle County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. LPHS serves the communities and...

. In 1940, Rockford High School became Rockford West High School, with the opening of Rockford East High School (and the conference naturally became the Big 8). In 1960, Joliet High School left and newly constructed Auburn High School replaced them. In 1963, Aurora East, Aurora West, and Elgin High School departed, and were immediately replaced by Harlem High School, Belvidere High School, and the newly opened Guilford High School. 1964 saw LaSalle-Peru leave and Boylan Catholic High School join. The addition of Jefferson High School in 1971 forced the conference to change their name to the Big 9.

In 1982, Hononegah High School joined the conference, and the conference was renamed the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10). When Rockford West High School was closed after the 1988–89 school year, the conference became the NIC-9, returning to the NIC-10 when Belvidere North opened in 2007.

State championships

49 IHSA State Championships have been earned by the conference membership:

• Basketball (boys): Joliet Township (1936–37); Elgin (1923–24, 24–25); Rockford High School (1938–39); Rockford West (1954–55, 55–56); Freeport (1925–26, 50–51)
• Bowling (boys): Jefferson (2002–03); Freeport (2007–08); Guilford (2010-11)
• Bowling (girls): Harlem (1999–2000, 00–01, 01–02, 04–05, 10-11); Rockford East (1996–97); Jefferson (2007–08)
• Chess: Auburn (1991–92, 92–93); Jefferson (1990–91)
• Cross Country (boys): Belvidere North (2009–10, 10-11)
• Cross Country (girls): Guilford (1981–82)
• Field Hockey (girls): Rockford West (1975–76)
• Football: Belvidere (1993–94, 94–95); Rockford East (1974–75, 85–86); Guilford (1982–83); Boylan (2010-11)
• Golf (boys): Rockford East (1941–42, 42–43, 43–44, 44–45, 46–47, 56–57); Rockford West (1940–41); Guilford (1974–75, 75–76, 83–84, 85–86); Boylan (2002-03)
• Golf (girls): Guilford (1994–95)
• Journalism: Jefferson (2006-07)
• Scholastic Bowl: Auburn (2007–08)
• Soccer (boys): Boylan (2010-11)
• Softball: Harlem (1979–80, 98–99)
• Swimming & Diving (boys): Rockford High School (1932–33)
• Track & Field (boys): Rockford High School (1926–27, 32–33, 34–35)