Beginning with the 2019-20 school year, the Yorkville High School Foxes will be competing in the Southwest Prairie Conference.

Yorkville Community Unit School District 115 will be competing in a different conference for Illinois High School Association programs after this year.

Starting in the 2019-20 school year, Yorkville High School athletics and co-curricular competitions will be as a member of the Southwest Prairie Conference (SPC).

The SPC Board unanimously voted to accept both Yorkville and West Aurora High Schools as its 11th and 12th conference schools at its meeting on Monday, July 23.

Current SPC member high schools include Joliet Central, Joliet West, Minooka, Oswego, Oswego East, Plainfield Central, Plainfield North, Plainfield South, Plainfield East, and Romeoville.

“We feel the communities, level of competition, and the opportunities offered by the SPC fit both our immediate and long-term desires as a school,” said Yorkville High School Principal David Travis.

Yorkville and West Aurora high schools submitted a joint application to join the conference this past spring.

Each district will each seek approval from its respective Board of Education to end its current conference membership at the conclusion of the 2018-19 school year.

Yorkville High School is currently a member of the soon to be defunct Northern Illinois Big XII conference, which includes neighboring districts Morris and Kaneland.  West Aurora High School is currently in the Upstate 8 conference.

Earlier this year, seven of the 10 Northern Illinois Big XII conference schools informed the conference that they would be leaving after the 2018-19 school year.

“With the break-up of the Northern Big XII conference, we did not want to operate as an independent school for the 19-20 school year, so finding a home was our priority,” Travis said. “We immediately looked to the SPC as our optimal landing spot due to the long-standing relationships we have with SPC and West Aurora schools, and their commitment to excel in both the athletic and co-curricular realms.”

Over the course of the next year, the conference members will collaborate to finalize structures, alignments, and schedules for the 2019-20 school year.

“I can’t express my appreciation enough to the SPC superintendents, principals, and athletic directors for their professionalism and support throughout the entire process,” Travis said. “We were impressed with the care and thoughtfulness of the process—it truly showed to us that we are joining a first-class organization that will serve the Yorkville High School community well.”