East Suburban Catholic Conference


The East Suburban Catholic Conference is an athletic conference consisting of nine Catholic high schools in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. The conference became independent in 1974.
While originally only supporting competition in men's sports, the conference began supporting women's athletics in 1991. Today, there are eleven women's teams and ten men's teams.
Despite not being as old as other conferences, and not having any women's sports until relatively recent history, the teams in the conference have finished in the top four of sponsored state tournaments 76 times in nine different sports.

Membership timeline

Beginning in 1960 as a portion of the Suburban Catholic Conference, the East Suburban Catholic Conference became independent in 1974 with competition in 11 boys, 13 girls and 13 coed sports and activities within the IHSA.
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bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:1974 text:Carmel
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bar:2 color:white from:2004 till:end text:School Closed
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:1974 text:Marist
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bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:1974 text:Notre Dame
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bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:1974 text:St. Francis de Sales
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bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:1974 text:St. Joseph
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bar:6 color:Full from:1976 till:2010 text:
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:1974 text:St. Patrick
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bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:1974 text:St. Viator
bar:8 color:Full from:1974 till:2026 text:
bar:9 color:Full from:1982 till:end text:Joliet Catholic
bar:10 color:Full from:1990 till:end text:Benet Academy
bar:11 color:Full from:1990 till:end text:Marian Catholic
bar:12 color:Full from:2010 till:end text:Nazareth
bar:13 color:Full from:2013 till:2022 text:Marian Central Catholic
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Notre Dame and St. Patrick are all male institutions, and thus do not field women's teams. The rest of the schools are coed, and are represented in the ESCC by both their men's and women's teams. Marian Central Catholic High School joined at the end of 2013-2014 football season for all sports except football. Marian Central Catholic began competing in the ESCC for football in the 2014–2015 season.
Somewhat unusual by the standards of the metropolitan Chicago area, the conference is spread over a four county area. While most of the members are in Cook County. Joliet Catholic is in Will County to Chicago's southwest. Benet Academy is in DuPage County which is to the west of Chicago. Carmel is far to the north in Lake County. The distance between the furthest schools is approximately 66 miles.

History

The conference can trace its roots back to the founding of the Suburban Catholic Conference in 1960. Among the six founding members, only Joliet Catholic, Notre Dame, and Benet Academy are currently ESCC members. Carmel joined in 1966.
In 1970, Joliet Catholic temporarily left, with four new schools joining: Marist, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, and St. Viator. With the conference now at 14, the conference divided into two divisions. The East Division included the four new schools, Carmel, Notre Dame, and Holy Cross High School. In 1971 St. Francis de Sales High School joined the East Division.
In 1974, the two divisions split forming the West Suburban Catholic Conference and the ESCC. After one year, St. Joseph left to pursue one year as an independent school, and came back to replace St. Francis de Sales which left after the 1975–76 season. Joliet Catholic joined in 1982. The conference elected to expand in 1990 by adding Benet Academy and Marian Catholic.
As a result of the number of coed schools in the conference, the conference began sponsoring competition for women in 1991.
In 1996, for football only, the ESCC and Chicago Catholic League merged to form the Chicago Metro League. This relationship ended after the 2002 football season, with Holy Cross High School joining the Chicago Catholic League permanently for all sports, and Nazareth Academy joining the ESCC.
In 2010, St. Joseph High School withdrew from the conference.
In 2022, Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock IL, withdrew from the conference.
Starting in 2026-27, nine members of East Suburban Catholic Conference will merge with the Chicago Catholic League and the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference.

Sports sponsored

The conference sponsors competition for men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Men's competition is sponsored in baseball, football, and wrestling, while competition for women is sponsored in softball. With each sport, the conference recognizes "All-Conference" and "Scholar Athlete" performances. All of these sports have state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association.

Top finishes

The following teams, while members of the ESCC, finished in the top four of their respective state tournaments sponsored by the IHSA.
  • Baseball: Carmel • Joliet Catholic 3rd place ; 2nd place ; State Champions,, • Marist • Notre Dame • St. Patrick • St. Viator • Marian Catholic • Nazareth Academy
  • Basketball : St. Joseph • Benet, • Marian Catholic
  • Basketball : Bishop McNamara • Benet ; • Fenwick • Marian Catholic,, • Joliet Catholic • Marist • Nazareth Academy
  • Cheerleading: Marist,,, • Saint Viator
  • Cross Country : Benet • Marist
  • Cross Country : Benet
  • Football: Carmel • Joliet Catholic • Marian Catholic • Marist • Notre Dame • Nazareth Academy
  • Golf : Carmel • St. Viator • Nazareth Academy
  • Golf : Marian Catholic
  • Soccer : Benet • St. Joseph • St. Viator • St. Patrick
  • Soccer : Fenwick • St. Viator
  • Softball: Benet • Fenwick • Marist • Nazareth Academy
  • Volleyball : Marist
  • Volleyball : Joliet Catholic • Benet • Marian Catholic • Marian Central Catholic
  • Wrestling: '''Marist'''

Hall of Fame

Since 2006, the conference has recognized administrators, coaches, and former athletes for their excellence. Among the notable inductees: