Changes seem to always be taking place in area sports conferences and the WCC is no exception.  Benson High School recently applied to join the Camden Conference beginning in 2023-24, hoping to leave the West Central Conference due to declining enrollment.

However, BHS was denied entry into the Camden Conference by a 7-5 vote in favor (a 75 percent vote, or 9-3, was required), meaning the WCC will remain at eight schools for the foreseeable future.

West Central Area was the most-recent addition to the WCC this past spring, replacing ACGC, which moved to the Central Minnesota Conference at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

The current makeup of the WCC is Minnewaska Area, Morris Area-CA, Montevideo, Melrose Area (or the four M’s as I like to call them), Sauk Centre, BOLD, West Central Area and Benson.

•  A look at some of the other area conferences — The Camden North Conference consisted of Lac qui Parle Valley, KMS, Dawson-Boyd, Prinsburg CMCS, Renville County West and MACCRAY last school year, while the Camden South consisted of Lakeview, Minneota, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton, Tracy Area, Yellow Medicine East and Canby.

According to Camden League Secretary Mike Dammann, RTR is leaving the Camden Conference for the Red Rock Conference in 2023-24, and that move was approved by the league officials.

Tracy Area had also thought about moving from the Camden, but decided against it.  Ortonville meanwhile, also applied to the Camden Conference and was placed into the conference by the Minnesota State High School League.

Ortonville was placed into the Camden North Conference, although there could be some changes to the alignment of the Camden Conference in the future if any other schools decide to move.

Benson meanwhile, was left out in the cold after being turned down membership to the Camden. If Tracy Area had opted to leave the Camden, Benson most likely would have been accepted.

•  Other area conferences include the Pheasant Conference, Central Minnesota Conference and Little Eight Conference.

The Pheasant Conference consisted of Hancock, Clinton-GB, Wheaton/H-N, Ortonville and West Central Area last school year, but WCA officially became a member of the WCC during the spring sports season last year. With WCA and Ortonville leaving the Pheasant Conference, some of the other schools opted to play in the Little Eight Conference for most sports starting in 2022-23.

The Little Eight Conference was comprised of Ashby, Hillcrest, Brandon-Evansville, Parkers Prairie, Battle Lake, Rothsay and Underwood last year, but sometimes the Little Eight and Pheasant Conferences are combined for certain sports.

In addition to WCA moving over to the WCC from the Pheasant, CGB and W/H-N are moving over to the Little Eight for volleyball, girls basketball, boys basketball and spring sports beginning in 2022-23.

That leaves Hancock to go it alone for most sports so the Owls also decided to request admission to join the Little Eight.

The Central Minnesota Conference, meanwhile, includes Paynesville Area, Kimball Area, Eden Valley-Watkins, ACGC, BBE, Royalton, Holdingford, and Maple Lake.

•  A little history — The WCC was first formed in 1935-36 with Litchfield, Benson, Appleton, Glenwood, Montevideo and Morris among the original charter schools.

Since that time, the league has had a number of schools come and go, including Milaca, Mora, NLS, Paynesville, Long Prairie, Willmar, YME, St. Cloud Cathedral and Alexandria, among others.

The WCC has gone through many changes over the years.  Less than 15 years ago, there were 18 schools in the WCC in 2008-09, but when Mora, Milaca, NLS, LPGE, St. Cloud Cathedral, Albany, Foley and Lac qui Parle left over the next three years, there were only 10 schools remaining in 2012-13.

Overall, there have been 26 schools that have played in the West Central Conference.  That number includes some very large schools (Alexandria and Willmar), along with some schools that don’t exist by themselves any more (Appleton, Glenwood and Long Prairie).

Some of the schools didn’t stay very long in the WCC, like Foley (2008-2011), Milaca (2009-2011) and Mora (2009-2011), while others left but returned years later, like WCA, which was part of the WCC in 1995-96 before returning this past spring; Litchfield, which was a charter member from 1936-1980, left, and then returned from 1990-2002; and St. Cloud Cathedral, which joined the conference from 1976-80, left, and then returned from 1990-2011.

One big change for the WCC occurred in 1989-90 when Albany, BBE, Melrose and Sartell joined the eight existing schools, and Litchfield and St. Cloud Cathedral also rejoined the WCC the same year.

After having eight teams in 1988-89, the WCC suddenly had 14 teams and the conference was split into a North and South division.

The following year, in 1990-91, Lac qui Parle Valley joined the conference; in 1991-92, Glenwood and Starbuck combined to form Minnewaska Area; and in 1994-95, WCA joined the WCC, giving the conference the most teams it had ever had . . . until 2008-09 when Milaca and Mora joined for 18 total schools.

The makeup of the WCC South in 2008-09 was Morris Area, Montevideo, Benson, Paynesville, ACGC, Minnewaska Area, BOLD, LQP Valley and YME, while the makeup of the WCC North was NLS, Albany, Foley, St. Cloud Cathedral, Sauk Centre, Melrose, Mora, LPGE and Milaca.

In 2014-15, YME and Paynesville left the WCC for the Camden and Central Minnesota Conferences, respectively, leaving eight schools, and ACGC left the WCC last school year, leaving only seven schools, although the addition of West Central Area gives the conference eight schools again.

However, people that have been around the WCC long enough know that number won’t probably stay the same for long.  

You could even make a case that the WCC should no longer stand for the West Central Conference, but instead, “We’re Constantly Changing.”