West Suburban Conference
Data
Established	1942
Members	14
Sports fielded	26 (13 boys', 13 girls')
Region	Chicagoland
Past names	West Suburban League
Headquarters	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,...
Division	Silver Division Gold Division

The West Suburban Conference is an athletic conference in DuPage County and Cook County

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

 in the state of 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,...

.
The conference was founded in 1924.

Member schools

All of the schools are also 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). The conference is divided into two divisions.

Gold Division

School	Town	Nickname	Enrollment
Addison Trail High School Addison Trail High School Addison Trail High School, or ATHS, is a public four-year high school in DuPage County, located approximately half a mile east of Interstate 355 at the intersection of Army Trail Road and Lombard Road in Addison, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of...	Addison, Illinois Addison, Illinois Addison is a village located west of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 35,914 at the 2000 census. The estimated population was 36,378 as of 2002.The Village of Addison lies on Salt Creek...	Blazers	1,874 (2008)
Downers Grove South High School	Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove is a village in Downers Grove and Lisle Townships, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 48,724 at the 2000 census, with an official estimated population of 49,250 in 2008.-History:...	Mustangs	3,183 (2008)
Hinsdale South High School Hinsdale South High School Hinsdale South High School, or HSHS, and locally referred to as "South," is a public four-year high school located at the corner of 75th Street and Clarendon Hills Road in Darien, Illinois, a southwestern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.The South campus draws its students from the...	Darien, Illinois Darien, Illinois Darien is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, USA. The population was 22,086 at the 2010 census.A suburb of Chicago, Darien was named after a town in Connecticut.-Popular culture:...	Hornets	1,882 (2008)
Leyden High Schools East Leyden High School East Leyden High School is a secondary school located in Franklin Park, Illinois which educates grades 9-12.Together with West Leyden High School in Northlake, Illinois, they serve the suburban communities in Franklin Park, Northlake, Rosemont, Schiller Park, River Grove, Melrose Park and... 1	Franklin Park, Illinois Franklin Park, Illinois Franklin Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,800 at the 2004 census.-Geography:Franklin Park is located at ....	Eagles	3,492 (2008)
Morton High Schools J. Sterling Morton High School East J. Sterling Morton High School East is a public secondary school located in Cicero, Illinois. Morton East is one of three schools in J. Sterling Morton High School District 201. Morton East is a sophomore through senior building, with future students attending the J. Sterling Morton Freshman... 2	Cicero, Illinois Cicero, Illinois Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....	Mustangs	7,945 (2008)
Proviso East High School Proviso East High School Proviso East High School is a public secondary school in Maywood, Illinois which serves the educational needs of Maywood and three other villages within Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois: Broadview, Forest Park and Melrose Park. It is the original campus of Proviso Township High Schools...	Maywood, Illinois Maywood, Illinois Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was founded on April 6, 1869 and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 26,987 at the 2000 census.-Overview:...	Pirates	1,872 (2008)
Willowbrook High School Willowbrook High School Willowbrook High School is a public four-year high school located approximately half a mile North of Illinois Route 38 on Ardmore Ave in Villa Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is part of School District 88, which also includes Addison Trail High School...	Villa Park, Illinois Villa Park, Illinois Villa Park is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County, Illinois. The population was 22,075 at the 2000 census. A special census in 2003 set the population at 22,517...	Warriors	2,145 (2008)

Silver Division

School	Town	Nickname	Enrollment
Downers Grove North High School	Downers Grove, Illinois	Trojans	2,266 (2008)
Glenbard West High School Glenbard West High School Glenbard West High School, or GWHS , and locally referred to as "West," is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Ellyn Avenue and Crescent Boulevard in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Glenbard Township High School...	Glen Ellyn, Illinois Glen Ellyn, Illinois Glen Ellyn is an affluent village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the village population was 26,999.-Geography:...	Hilltoppers	2,127 (2008)
Hinsdale Central High School Hinsdale Central High School Hinsdale Central High School, or HCHS is a public four-year high school located at the corner of W. 55th St. and S. Grant St. in Hinsdale, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Founded in 1879, the school is well known for its large spending per student, academic...	Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois; it is located partly in Cook County and mainly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 17,349 at the 2000 census. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town has a rolling, wooded topography, with a quaint downtown and is a 30-minute...	Red Devils	2,624 (2008)
Lyons Township High School Lyons Township High School Lyons Township High School is a public high school located in La Grange, Illinois. Freshmen and sophomores attend class at South campus, located at 4900 S. Willow Springs Rd. in Western Springs, while juniors and seniors attend class at North campus, located at 100 S. Brainard Ave. in La Grange,...	La Grange, Illinois La Grange, Illinois La Grange, a suburb of Chicago, is a village in Cook County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 15,608 at the 2000 census.-History:...	Lions	3,840 (2008)
Oak Park and River Forest High School Oak Park and River Forest High School Oak Park and River Forest High School, or OPRF, is a public four-year high school located in Oak Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Oak Park and River Forest District 200....	Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...	Huskies	3,098 (2008)
Proviso West High School Proviso West High School Proviso West High School is a public high school located in Hillside, Illinois, United States. Proviso West is a part of Proviso Township High Schools District 209, and was opened in 1958. Its sister school is Proviso East High School....	Hillside, Illinois Hillside, Illinois Hillside is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,155 at the 2000 census.One notable landmark in Hillside is the Mount Carmel Cemetery. On the grounds of the cemetery are the graves of a number of organized crime figures, such as Al Capone and Dion O'Bannion...	Panthers	2,711 (2008)
York Community High School York Community High School York Community High School is a public secondary school in Elmhurst, Illinois, United States. Most of the students reside in Elmhurst, however the district also draws a small number of students from Addison, Bensenville, and Oak Brook...	Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage and Cook Counties, Illinois. The population is 46,013 as of the 2008 US Census population estimate.-History:...	Dukes	2,582 (2008)

History

The West Suburban Conference is the fourth oldest Illinois League that is in existence today. It was formed in the winter of 1924 and was the direct successor league of the DuPage County Conference that expired the previous year. Old DuPage County members Hinsdale, Glenbard, York, Downers Grove, and West Chicago, joined with Maine to form a new league. In 1928, Riverside (now Riverside-Brookfield) left the disintegrating old Suburban League

Suburban League (Chicago area)

The Suburban League, located in the Chicago metropolitan area, was formed in the fall of 1913 following the dissolution of the Cook County High School League the previous June. The original members were Evanston, LaGrange, Morgan Park, Morton, New Trier, Oak Park, Proviso, Thornton, and University...

and joined the West Suburban League.

As the western suburbs grew during the 1920s the schools grew in size. In 1935, Lyons Township (LaGrange) joined the league, and the following year West Chicago dropped out.

The league membership stayed stable until 1951, when Arlington joined the league. When it withdrew from the conference in 1966, Proviso West took its place. In 1972, charter member Maine East (which began as Maine) left the league. When the Suburban League broke up in the spring of 1975, two of those league members, Oak Park River Forest and Proviso East (which began as Proviso), joined the West Suburban League the following fall. In 1982, Riverside-Brookfield, with a declining enrollment that made the school increasingly noncompetitive, left the league.

The biggest change in the history of WSC occurred in the spring of 1986 with a major re-alignment. This took place between the conference and the Des Plaines Valley League with a vote of the Superintendents from the Inter-Suburban Association. This action combined the two leagues under one umbrella conference. The old West Suburban Conference became the Silver Division, and the DesPlaines Valley League became the Gold Division. Together the two divisions form the West Suburban Conference. In this reorganization Proviso East moved into the Gold Division. Each Division had seven teams. According to WSC folklore, the division names were finalized after many hours of deliberation, arguing and negotiation. Their final names were not arrived at with the intention of ranking one ahead of the other, but came from the color of hair of the athletic directors in each division. The Silver Division's athletic directors were primarily distinguished gray-haired professionals who all happened to have "silver hair locks", thus securing the name. Competition in the reorganized league began in the fall of 1986.

External links

• West Suburban Conference website