O'Fallon High School Accepted Into
Southwestern Sports Conference
Starting In 2000-2001 School Year

T. L. Witt Photo ©O'Fallon Journal

O'Fallon's application for admittance into the conference was unanimously approved Tuesday, January 26, 1999 at a meeting of SWC principals and athletic directors at Porter's Steakhouse in Collinsville. "There were no problems at all," said Alton Principal Philip Robbins, president of the SWC.   "A unanimous decision, no dissenting votes at all." A member of the South Seven Conference since 1993, O'Fallon will go through a mandatory two year probationary period - beginning this year - as dictated by conference bylaws before joining the SWC on the varsity level for the 2000-2001 school year.

"We're very pleased," said O'Fallon Principal Dennis Grimmer, who made the presentation along with Athletic Director Steve Oliver.   "We have a time schedule that's going to allow us to gracefully withdraw and be fair with the people in the South Seven, and then get in the SWC in the fall of 2000.

"That's going to work out perfectly with our construction here for our new gymnasium and that type of thing.   We're looking forward to it."

The addition of O'Fallon brings the SWC back to eight teams.   The conference currently consists of seven teams - Belleville East, Belleville West, Edwardsville, Collinsville, East St. Louis, Granite City and Alton.

An opening for an eighth team was created when Lincoln, a SWC school in 1997, merged with East St. Louis last summer.   Having eight teams makes it easier for scheduling, and most of the SWC schools already play O'Fallon in most sports.

"It's not like they were foreigners to us," Robbins said.   "It's not like they were a perfect stranger.   We already knew them and have all been to their facilities.   I thought they made a very good presentation."

O'Fallon's main reason for leaving the South Seven is the growth in its enrollment.   With 1,902 students, O'Fallon has 442 more students than Mount Vernon, the next-biggest school in the South Seven with an enrollment of 1,460.

All seven of the current SWC schools have an enrollment of at least 2,000 except for Collinsville (1,871).   Grimmer said O'Fallon is averaging from 25 to 70 new kids a year.   By the year 2009, Grimmer expects O'Fallon to have an enrollment of 2,500.

"Growth is the real key here," Grimmer said.   "Where are we going to go with that size school? There's only one place to go to play the level of competition we have to have to support the student enrollment we have, and that's in the SWC."

There had been discussions of splitting O'Fallon into two smaller campuses much like Belleville East and West - and building a second campus on 42 acres of land the school had purchased.

But with money received from the state to add to existing structures, construction probably will start in the spring on a new 3,500-seat gymnasium to be built where the south parking lot is located.   Also, 30 more classrooms and a multipurpose cafeteria-intramural gym also are being built.   Construction is supposed to be completed in the fall of 2000.

Travel also will be much easier for O'Fallon in the SWC.   O'Fallon's longest trip is to Alton, which is 35 miles.   Besides Cahokia, O'Fallon's shortest trip in the South Seven is to Centralia (56 miles).   Carbondale is 91 miles one way and Marion is 101.

O'Fallon has been affiliated with a conference for the past 73 years.   From 1926 to 1971, it was a member of the Cahokia Conference.   From 1972 to 1993, it was a member of the Mississippi Valley Conference.

"We're a conference-oriented school," Grimmer said.   "We've always found playing for conference championships gives an extra incentive to your programs."

O'Fallon sports teams have won 41 South Seven Conference championships, including five in boys' tennis; four each in girls' tennis, girls' soccer and volleyball; and three each in football, wrestling, softball and girls' track.

In a poll taken by Grimmer of the 16 varsity head coaches at O'Fallon, 10 were in favor of going to the SWC, four wanted to stay in the South Seven and two were undecided.

Grimmer said the competition level will increase in the SWC.   "It's going to be interesting," Grimmer said.   "It's a very strong conference athletically.   Some of the sports, we're going to have to kick it up a notch if we want to be competitive.

"I know we'll be competitive, but if we want to have a program which we hope to win some conference championships, we're going to have to bear down.   There's no doubt about it."