South Seven Conference

The South Seven Conference is a high school athletic conference comprising six schools in the southern Illinois.

South Seven Conference
ConferenceIHSA
Founded1939
No. of teams6
RegionSouthern Illinois and Metro East

History

edit

The South Seven was formed in 1939 when Centralia and Mt. Vernon departed the North Egyptian Conference and joined Marion, Benton, Harrisburg, Herrin and West Frankfort (hence, the name of the conference since it only had 7 members). Carbondale joined the conference in 1965, but the name of the conference was not changed.[1]

In 1993, the four smallest schools (Benton, Harrisburg, Herrin and West Frankfort) departed for the River-to-River Conference. Edwardsville and O'Fallon were added, with the former being a short-term replacement while a permanent member was sought. In 1995, Edwardsville left for the Southwestern Conference and was replaced by Cahokia. Over the next couple of years, O'Fallon would continue to grow to the point that it was much larger than the rest of the schools, and in 2000 the Panthers also left for the Southwestern Conference, replaced by Belleville Althoff. Throughout the changes, the "South Seven" moniker has remained even though the conference never had exactly 7 member schools in almost 50 years. That was to change for the 2018-19 season, when Granite City was due to leave the Southwestern Conference and join the South Seven, but a vote in March 2018 (a 3-3 tie) denied Granite City's entry into the conference until at least 2020. This vote was based heavily on scheduling issues and the amount of traveling for most of the teams in the conference.[2] [3]

In 2023, Althoff Catholic High School left the conference to join the Gateway Metro Conference.

Member Schools

edit
 
 
Cahokia
 
Carbondale
 
Centralia
 
Marion
 
Mount Vernon
South Seven Conference Members (clickable map)
School Location
(Population)
Enrollment
(2017-18)
Nickname Colors Years Member Previous Conference
Cahokia High School Cahokia, Illinois
(15,241)
928 Comanches   Blue
  White
1995–Present Independent
Carbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois
(26,241)
988 Terriers   Black
  White
1965–Present Southwest Egyptian Conference
Centralia High School Centralia, Illinois
(13,034)
911 Orphans/Orphan Annies   Red
  White
1939–Present North Egypt Conference
Marion High School Marion, Illinois
(17,193)
1,083 Wildcats   Navy
  Gold
1939–Present Greater Egyptian Conference
Mount Vernon Township High School Mount Vernon, Illinois
(15,277)
1,190 Rams/Lady Rams   Orange
  Black
1939–Present North Egypt Conference

Former members of the South Seven Conference

edit
School Nickname Colors Location Years Member Current Conference
Benton Consolidated High School Rangers     Benton, IL 1939–1993 Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
Edwardsville High School Tigers     Edwardsville, IL 1993–1995 Southwestern Conference
Frankfort Community High School Redbirds     West Frankfort, IL 1939–1993 Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
Harrisburg High School Bulldogs     Harrisburg, IL 1939–1993 Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
Herrin High School Tigers     Herrin, IL 1939–1993 Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
O'Fallon High School Panthers     O'Fallon, IL 1993–2000 Southwestern Conference
Althoff Catholic High School Crusaders     Belleville, Illinois 2000–2023 Gateway Metro Conference

Membership timeline

edit

Full members Southwestern Conference Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ The Great Conferences/Illinois High School Glory Days
  2. ^ Winston, Curtis (2018-03-27). "Granite City denied spot in South Seven Conference". The Daily Republican. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  3. ^ Belleville News-Democrat