Upstate Eight set to enter new era with divisional setup

"It's a new era".

We hear that phrase more and more today throughout society, and the Upstate Eight Conference is not immune to it.

On Thursday, the UEC announced that beginning in the fall of 2010, the league will expand to 12 schools in varsity sports and create a North Division and a South Division.

"We've been slowly waiting for the 12th school to arrive," said Elgin High athletic director Art Rohlman, the dean of UEC ADs. "It's been a long hard process but you knew it was going to come at some point."

That point is here and with the addition of Metea Valley - the new school in Naperville scheduled to open next fall with freshmen and sophomores - that time is now here. The Upstate Eight, which will retain that name, will finally be 12 schools and all the craziness of scheduling an 11-team league will finally leave the plates of the conference's athletic directors.

"This should keep everybody happy," said Bartlett AD Dan Kallenbach of the new setup. "There are so many rumors out there about who is going here and there. Now we have our 12 and I think we're all happy."

The divisional setup was done geographically, and everyone in the UEC will admit that rising transportation costs were as much a factor in that decision as anything. For that, the UEC should be applauded.

Just for history's sake, the UEC was formed in 1963. The answer to the trivia question of the eight original members? Well, Rohlman and I both showed our age when we talked Thursday because we thought St. Charles was an original. It wasn't. The original eight were Elgin, Larkin, DeKalb, East Aurora, Glenbard East, West Aurora, Naperville, and the one we forgot - Wheaton. St. Charles joined in 1965 when Glenbard East left and over the years, the league added Lake Park, Streamwood, Waubonsie Valley, Bartlett, South Elgin and now Metea Valley, and lost West Aurora, DeKalb, Wheaton and Naperville. Of course, there was also the St. Charles split, creating St. Charles East and St. Charles North.

Now, beginning in the fall of 2010, the North Division will include Elgin, Larkin, Bartlett, Streamwood, South Elgin and Lake Park. The South will consist of St. Charles North, St. Charles East, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Metea Valley and East Aurora. Metea Valley actually opens in the fall of 2009 and will compete at the varsity level in some individual sports with its initial freshman and sophomore classes.

There is still much to be hammered out about how schedules will play out in the various sports. Some sports, like cross country and tennis among others, may not have divisions. Sports with divisions may have different scheduling setups.

One thing is for sure - the UEC will send two schools to the football playoffs every year no matter what, reducing the Class 8A at-large number statewide by one. The possible scheduling scenario in football will have two crossover games, with those opponents rotating on a two-year basis. That will allow for two nonconference games as well.

And while Rohlman said basketball isn't finalized yet, the possible scenario will have everyone playing everyone else in their division twice, with three crossovers that would not count in the conference standings. Again, the crossover opponents would rotate every two years.

"Each sport will have its own little tweaking to be done and we can't have blanket policies for every sport be the same," Kallenbach said. "We'll have to figure out how to keep everybody happy."

The UEC did toy with divisions in basketball back when there were 10 schools in the league in the mid-1990s, but as Kallenbach said, "the coaches really didn't like it a whole lot."

Odds are everyone will like this setup much better because it is for 12 schools and it is geographic. I can't see a lot of parents in Elgin complaining about fewer trips to Aurora and Naperville on school nights. It will be competitive, too, and I like the thought of Larkin playing South Elgin, or Bartlett taking on Streamwood, for a divisional championship. These divisions keep traditional rivalries alive and in today's world, that's more important than it might seem to the naked eye.

One thing I don't like is that the UEC decided not to have crossover championship games for an overall conference title. This is just one opinion, but I think having an overall UEC champion in the sports with divisions would peak fan interest. The Mid-Suburban League has a long-standing record of great crowds at its overall championship contests.

"At this stage there doesn't seem to be a lot of desire to do that," Kallenbach said.

Here's one voice that hopes there is - real soon.

jradtke@dailyherald.com