Vermilion Valley Conference Explained

Vermilion Valley Conference
Founded:	2003
Conference:	IHSA
Teams:	13
Region:	East-central Illinois (Edgar, Iroquois and Vermilion counties)
Website:	Vermilion Valley Conference
Map:	Map of Vermilion Valley Conference.png
Map Size:	250px

The Vermilion Valley Conference is a high school conference in east-central Illinois, in the United States. The conference participates in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference comprises 13 small public high schools and one small private school, with enrollments between 100 and 400 students in Edgar, Iroquois and Vermilion counties.

History

The original Vermilion Valley Conference was founded in 1933 with schools from Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Livingston, and Kankakee counties in east-central Illinois. The five charter members included: Chatsworth, Cullom, Forrest Township, Herscher, and Saunemin.^{[1] [2]} This version of the Vermilion Valley disbanded in 1989.

The Vermilion Valley Conference was resurrected in 2003 with a new group of high schools. The charter members of the "new" Vermilion Valley included: Armstrong, Bismarck Henning, Chrisman, Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Hoopeston Area, Oakwood, Rossville-Alvin, Salt Fork, Schlarman and Westville High Schools. In 2005, Rossville-Alvin High School closed and with the students attending Bismarck Henning, however, Milford joined the league the following year. ^{[3] [4]}

In 2020, the conference expanded its football presence by adding several schools from other conferences into a "football only", two division league. Schools from the Tri-County Conference; including Dwight and Seneca, as well as Clifton Central, Iroquois West and Watseka from the Sangamon Valley Conference united under the Vermilion Valley moniker.^[5] The two divisions included a North Division of Seneca, Momence, Dwight, Clifton Central, Watseka and Iroquois West and a South Division of Hoopeston Area, Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Westville, Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin, Salt Fork and Oakwood.^[6] This unusual mix of three conferences only lasted two years with the development of the Chicago Prairie Football League. ^{[7] [8]}

In 2021, the Sangamon Valley Conference disbanded,^[9] therefore, Cissna Park, Iroquois West, and Watseka Community High Schools joined as full members of the Vermilion Valley, taking the total number of teams up to 13.^[10]

Currently, the league consists of the following teams: Armstrong, Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin, Catlin-Salt Fork, Chrisman, Cissna Park, Danville-Schlarman, Fithian-Oakwood, Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Gilman-Iroquois West, Hoopeston Area, Milford, Watseka and Westville^[11]

Member schools

School	Location	County	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Enrollment^[12]	IHSA Classes 1/2/3/4	IHSA Football Class	IHSA Football Type^[13]	Coop/Team
Armstrong Township^[14]	Armstrong, IL	Vermilion	Trojans	Purple, Gold	2003	136	A/1A/1A	3A	11-Man	Yes Hoopeston
Bismarck Henning Rossville-Alvin^[15]	Bismarck, IL	Vermilion	Blue Devils	Blue, Silver, White	2003	338	A/1A/1A	2A	11-Man	None
Salt Fork^[16]	Catlin, IL	Vermilion	Storm	Black, Silver, White	2003	254	A/1A/1A	1A	11-Man	None
Chrisman^[17]	Chrisman, IL	Edgar	Cardinals	Red, Black	2003	100	A/1A/1A	2A	11-Man	Yes Georgetown-Ridge Farm
Cissna Park^[18]	Cissna Park, IL	Iroquois	Timberwolves	Navy Blue, Silver, Columbia Blue	2021	99	A/1A/1A	1A	8-Man	Yes Milford
Schlarman^[19]	Danville, IL	Vermilion	Hilltoppers	Blue, Gold	2003	145	A/1A/1A	1A	8-Man	None
Oakwood^[20]	Fithian, IL	Vermilion	Comets	Purple, White	2003	305	A/1A/1A	1A/2A	11-man	None
Georgetown-Ridge Farm^[21]	Georgetown, IL	Vermilion	Buffaloes	Purple, Gold, White	2003	277	A/1A/1A	2A	11-Man	Yes Chrisman
Hoopeston Area^[22]	Hoopeston, IL	Vermilion	Cornjerkers	Blue, White	2003	320	A/1A/1A	3A	11-Man	Yes Armstrong
Iroquois West^[23]	Gilman, IL	Iroquois	Raiders	Blue, Red, White	2021	310	A/1A/1A	1A/2A	11-man	None
Milford^[24]	Milford, IL	Iroquois	Bearcats Lady Bearcats	Blue, White	2006	174	A/1A/1A	1A	8-Man	Yes Cissna Park
Watseka^[25]	Watseka, IL	Iroquois	Warriors	Maroon, White	2021	300	A/1A/1A	1A/2A	11-man	None
Westville^[26]	Westville, IL	Vermilion	Tigers Lady Tigers	Orange, Black	2003	370	A/1A/1A	2A	11-man	None

Previous Members

School	Location	Mascot	Colors	Year Joined	Year Exited	School In Use	Consolidated Closed	Current District/Conference
Chatsworth^[27]	Chatsworth, IL	Bluebirds	Blue, Orange	1933	1985	No	Consolidated	Prairie Central
Cullom Community^[28]	Cullom, IL	Ramblers	Blue, White	1933	1968	Yes	Consolidated	Tri-Point
Forrest Township^[29]	Forrest, IL	Eskimos	Red, Black, White	1933	1949	No	Consolidated Forrest-Strawn-Wing	Prairie Central
Herscher	Herscher, IL	Tigers	Gold, Black	1933	1956	Yes	Left the Conference	Illinois Central Eight Conference
Saunemin^[30]	Saunemin, IL	Eagles	Purple, White	1933	1987	No	Closed	Pontiac Township
Kempton^[31]	Kempton, IL	Red Devils	Red, White	1939^[32]	1946	No	Consolidated Kempton-Cabery	Tri-Point
Piper City^[33]	Piper City, IL	Blue Streaks	Blue, White	1939	1974	Yes	Consolidated Ford Central	Tri-Point
Ford Central^[34]	Piper City, IL	Cougars	Columbia Blue, Gold	1939	1983	Yes	Consolidated	Tri-Point
Reddick^[35]	Piper City, IL	Bulldogs	Orange, Black, White	1939	1944	No	Left the Conference	Herscher
Onarga^[36]	Onarga, IL	Indians	Maroon, White	1941^[37]	1983	Yes	Consolidated	Iroquois West
Kempton-Cabery^[38]	Kempton, IL	Komanches	Red, Black, White	1946^[39]	1968	Yes	Consolidated	Tri-Point
Forrest-Strawn-Wing^[40]	Forrest, IL	Eskimos	Red, Black, White	1949^[41]	1985	No	Consolidated	Prairie Central
Roberts-Thawville^[42]	Roberts, IL	Leprechauns	Green, White	1953^[43]	1974	No	Consolidated Ford Central	Tri-Point
Melvin-Sibley^[44] ^[45]	Melvin, IL	Rams	Orange, Black	1956^[46]	1988	No	Consolidated	Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
Onarga Military^[47]	Onarga, IL	YellowJackets Spartans	Purple, Gold	1956	1970	No	Closed	Iroquois West
Reddick R.U.C.E.	Piper City, IL	Bulldogs	Orange, Black, White	1962^[48] ^[49]	1988	No	Consolidated	Herscher
Gilman^[50]	Gilman, IL	Owls	Red, Blue	1962	1983	Yes	Consolidated	Iroquois West
Tri-Point	Cullom, IL	Chargers	Scarlet, White, Royal	1968^[51]	1988	Yes	Conference Disbanded	River Valley Conference
Cornell^[52]	Cornell, IL	Cardinals	Maroon, White	1972^[53] ^[54] ^[55]	1987	No	Consolidated	Flanagan-Cornell
Milford	Milford, IL	Bearcats Lady Bearcats	Blue, White	1972	1982	Yes	Left the Conference	Vermilion Valley Conference
Gardner-South Wilmington	Gardner, IL	Panthers Lady Panthers	Orange, Black	1986	1988	Yes	Conference Disbanded	River Valley Conference
Mazon-Verona-Kinsman^[56]	Mazon, IL	Red Devils	Red, White	1986	1988	Yes	Consolidated	Seneca

Sources:IHSA Conferences,^[57] and IHSA Member Schools Directory^[58]

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:1250 height:auto barincrement:20Period = from:1933 till:2023TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member with 8-man football id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.78,0.391,0.654) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in a football coop id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has consolidated id:OtherC3 value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1933 till:1949 text:Forrest Township (1933-1949) bar:1 color:White from:1949 till:end text:Consolidated with Strawn and Wing to form Forrest-Strawn-Wing High School

bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1933 till:1956 text:Herscher (1933-1956) bar:2 color:White from:1956 till:end text:Left for the Kankakee Valley Conference

bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1933 till:1968 text:Cullom Community (1933-1968) bar:3 color:White from:1968 till:end text:Consolidated with Kempton-Cabery to form Tri-Point High School

bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1933 till:1985 text:Chatsworth (1933-1985) bar:4 color:White from:1985 till:end text:Consolidated with Forrest-Strawn-Wing to become Prairie Central High School

bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:1933 till:1987 text:Saunemin (1933-1987) bar:5 color:White from:1987 till:end text:School Closed - Students now attend Pontiac Township High School

bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:1939 till:1983 text:Ford Central (1939-1983) bar:6 color:White from:1983 till:end text:Annexed into Tri-Point High School

bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:1939 till:1944 text:Reddick (1939–1944) bar:7 color:White from:1947 till:end text:Left for the Northeast Conference bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:1988 text:Reddick R.U.S.E. (1962–1988) bar:7 color:White from:1988 till:end text:Annexed into Herscher High School

bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:1939 till:1946 text:Kempton (1939–1946) bar:8 color:White from:1947 till:end text:Consolidated with Cabery to form Kempton-Cabery High School

bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:1939 till:1974 text:Piper City (1939–1974) bar:9 color:White from:1974 till:end text:Annexed into Ford Central High School

bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:1941 till:1983 text:Onarga (1941–1983) bar:10 color:White from:1983 till:end text:Consolidated with Gilman to become Iroquois West High School

bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:1946 till:1968 text:Kempton-Cabery (1946–1968) bar:11 color:White from:1968 till:end text:Consolidated with Cullom Community to form Tri-Point High School

bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:1949 till:1985 text:Forrest-Strawn-Wing (1949–1985) bar:12 color:White from:1985 till:end text:Consolidated with Chatsworth to become Prairie Central High School

bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:1953 till:1974 text:Roberts-Thawville (1953–1974) bar:13 color:White from:1974 till:end text:Annexed into Tri-Point High School

bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1956 till:1988 text:Melvin-Sibley (1956–1988) bar:14 color:White from:1988 till:end text:Consolidated with Gibson City to become Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1956 till:1970 text:Onarga Military (1956–1970) bar:15 color:White from:1970 till:end text:School Closed

bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:1983 text:Gilman (1962–1983) bar:16 color:White from:1983 till:end text:Consolidated with Onarga to become Iroquois West High School

bar:17 color:OtherC2 from:1968 till:1988 text:Tri-Point (1968-1988) bar:17 color:White from:1988 till:end text:Conference Disbanded

bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:1972 till:1987 text:Cornell (1972–1987) bar:18 color:White from:1987 till:end text:Consolidated with Flanagan to become Flanagan-Cornell High School

bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:1972 till:1982 text:Milford (1972-1982) bar:19 color:White from:1982 till:end text:Left for the East Central Conference bar:19 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:(2006-Present)

bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1986 till:1988 text:Gardner-South Wilmington (1986–1988) bar:20 color:White from:2000 till:end text:Conference Disbanded

bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:1986 till:1988 text:Mazon-Verona-Kinsman (1986–1988) bar:21 color:White from:2000 till:end text:Annexed into Seneca High School

bar:22 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Armstrong Township (2003-Present)

bar:23 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Bismarck Henning Rossville-Alvin (2003-Present)

bar:24 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Salt Fork (2003-Present)

bar:25 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Chrisman (2003-Present)

bar:26 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Schlarman (2003-Present)

bar:27 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Oakwood (2003-Present)

bar:28 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Georgetown-Ridge Farm (2003-Present)

bar:29 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Hoopeston Area (2003-Present)

bar:30 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Westville (2003-Present)

bar:31 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:Cissna Park (2021-Present)

bar:32 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:Iroquois West (2021-Present)

bar:33 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:Watseka (2021-Present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1933TextData =

fontsize:L

textcolor:black

pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center)

text:^"Vermilion Valley Membership History"

1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Notes and References

1. News: . Jan 15, 1933 . Form new prep conference including C.I. schools . . page 10 .
2. https://leopardfan.tripod.com/id349.html The Great Conferences
3. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G59w61j_SdeoYqhrPNYIBZx2q1N6CW4JAHWHPq49TjE/edit?usp=sharing Vermilion Valley Conference Bylaws
4. https://www.ihsa.org/archive/fb/2004-05w/conf132.htm IHSA Archives Vermilion Valley Football Conference Standings 2004
5. Web site: Vermilion Valley, Sangamon Valley Conferences Forming Football Alliance. March 22, 2023. Aug 4, 2020. Mitchell, Michelle. vermilioncountyfirst.com.
6. Web site: New Vermilion Valley Conference unveiled. March 20, 2023. Aug 3, 2020. Beherns, Bret. WCIA.
7. Web site: Dwight football joins new Chicago Prairie Football League. March 20, 2023. Nov 2, 2022. Smith, Cody. Daily-Journal.
8. Web site: Seneca, Dwight among 8 teams forming Chicago Prairie Football League. March 20, 2023. Nov 2, 2022. Pedelty, J.T.. Soucie, Steve. Ellerbrock, Charlie . Shaw Local News Network.
9. Web site: LaChance, Brandon . June 1, 2021 . Dwight Trojans Find New Home in Tri-County Conference, Vermilion Valley Conference . March 20, 2023 . The Paper.
10. Web site: Paxton-Buckley-Loda among four schools leaving SVC. March 20, 2023. May 23, 2020. Wierda,Marlee. Choate, Craig. WCIA.
11. https://www.ihsa.org/Schools/Conferences-Affiliated-Schools IHSA Conferences
12. Web site: Numeric Enrollments | Enrollments & Classifications | Schools | IHSA .
13. Web site: Football Conference Schedules, Standings & Results.
14. http://www.armstrong.k12.il.us/ Armstrong High School
15. http://www.bismarck.k12.il.us/ Bismarck Henning Rossville-Alvin High School
16. http://www.saltfork.org/ Salt Fork High School
17. http://www.chrisman.k12.il.us/ Chrisman High School
18. http://www.cissnaparkschools.org/ Cissna Park High School
19. http://www.schlarman.com/ Danville Schlarman
20. http://www.oakwood76.org/o/highschool Fithian Oakwood High School
21. http://www.grf.k12.il.us/ Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School
22. http://www.hoopeston.k12.il.us/ Hoopeston Area High School
23. http://www.iwest.k12.il.us/ Iroquois West High School
24. http://www.mpsk12.org/ Milford High School
25. http://www.watsekaschools.org/ Watseka High School
26. http://www.westville.k12.il.us/hs/home.html Westville High School
27. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/01/chatsworth-high-school-bluebirds/ Chatsworth High School
28. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/02/cullom-community-high-school-ramblers/ Cullom Community High School
29. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/02/forrest-township-high-school-eskimos/ Forrest Township High School
30. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/04/saunemin-high-school-eagles/ Saunemin High School
31. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/03/kempton-high-school-red-devils/ Kempton High School
32. News: . Oct 14, 1939 . VV Conference Takes New Members. . page 8 .
33. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/03/piper-city-high-school/ Piper City High School
34. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/03/ford-central-high-school-cougars/ Ford Central High School
35. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/04/reddick-r-u-c-e-high-school-bulldogs/ Reddick High School
36. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/03/onarga-high-school-indians/ Onarga High School
37. News: . May 13, 1941 . Onarga New Vermilion Valley Loop Member. . page 8 .
38. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/03/kempton-cabery-high-school-komanches/ Kempton-Cabery High School
39. News: . Apr 23, 1946 . Voters Decide to Disband Cabery School. . page 5 .
40. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/02/forrest-strawn-wing-eskimos/ Forrest-Strawn-Wing High School
41. News: . Mar 24, 1949 . To Decide Unit Proposal at Strawn. . page 21 .
42. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/04/roberts-thawville-high-school-leprechauns/ Roberts-Thawville High School
43. News: . Oct 8, 1953 . Rob-Thaw Unit Joins Vermilion Valley League. The Paxton Record . page 5 .
44. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/03/melvin-sibley-high-school-rams/ Melvin-Sibley High School
45. News: . Jan 21, 1949 . Melvin-Sibley Unit Vote Set. . page 5 .
46. News: . Feb 20, 1955 . Melvin-Sibley Onarga Mil Join Vermilion Valley. . page 7 .
47. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/03/onarga-military-academy-high-school-yellowjackets-spartans/ Onarga Military Academy
48. News: . Nov 30, 1962 . Melvin-Sibley Seeks Title Repeat--Reddick a Threat. . page 13 .
49. News: . May 18, 1961 . Reddick, Gilman Added to VV Conference League. The Paxton Record . page 13 .
50. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/02/gilman-high-school-owls/ Gilman High School
51. News: . Sep 22, 1968 . Name Change Noted. . page 7 .
52. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/02/cornell-high-school-cardinals/ Cornell High School
53. News: . Nov 8, 1972 . Cornell cagers to make Vermilion Valley debut. . page 31 .
54. News: . Nov 24, 1972 . Cornell Cardinals. . page 20 .
55. News: . Nov 5, 1971 . Cornell, Milford added to Vermilion Valley loop. . page 19 .
56. https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com/2022/03/03/mazon-verona-kinsman-high-school-red-devils/ Mazon-Verona-Kinsman High School
57. Web site: IHSA.org Conferences. www.ihsa.org.
58. Web site: Schools - IHSA. www.ihsa.org.