At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, McCutcheon, Harrison and Logansport withdrew from the North Central Conference (NCC). Despite all of the changes that have occurred in recent years, KHS has been a proud member of the NCC for 99 years.
With the departure of three teams, different aspects of the conference will change throughout this year. Most of our athletic teams will continue to play the three teams this year.
“Initially it doesn’t affect a ton. It will more than likely have a bigger impact next year than now,” said KHS Athletic Director Nick Sale.
The biggest sport this change will impact is football. The football schedule is created based upon the conference and a lot of teams do not have to play outside of their conference if they have a bigger conference. Finding teams which are able to play outside of their actual conference after the first weeks can be difficult.
Though there were no teams which have been added to the conference, there is always that possibility.
“I think there are a lot of things that could happen. We probably will not be expanding soon, but if a school shows interest and they have similar values to the North Central Conference, we may, as a conference, consider seeing if they could be a good fit,” said Sale.
The addition of new schools could be possible in the future but for now, the NCC will be Anderson, Muncie Central, Richmond, Marion, Lafayette Jefferson and Kokomo. There may be more effects for the teams who left within the future but as for right now, there will not be much which actually changes. We will continue to see these schools compete with our athletic teams, just not on conference schedules or tournaments.
“We are excited for the future of the NCC. There is a lot of tradition and legacy within it,” Sale said. “We want to continue to look for what is best for our conference and school. We are really looking forward to the 2024-25 school year.”
