Little Ten Conference


The Little Ten Conference is the oldest continuous high school athletic conference in the state of Illinois. Founded in 1919, it comprised the following small high schools in northern Illinois: Earlville, Hinckley, Leland, Paw Paw, Plano, Rollo, Sandwich, Shabbona, Somonauk, and Waterman. The conference is still in operation and currently consists of the following members: DePue, Earlville, Hinckley-Big Rock, Indian Creek, Kirkland Hiawatha, LaMoille, Leland, Newark, Serena, Somonauk, and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. Over the years, there have been a number of other area schools in the conference, including Malta.
Eight of the original ten schools are still members in some form. Charter members consist of Earlville, Leland, Somonauk, Hinckley, and Paw Paw, Shabbona, Waterman, & Rollo
The Little Ten conference gets reported in many sources with the biggest being the Little 10 Network, on Instagram.
In February 2019, the Little Ten Conference held its 100th league boys basketball tournament.
Schools in the conference compete in 8-Man Football, Competitive Cheer, Competitive Dance, Music, Boys Soccer, Girls Volleyball, Boys and Girls Basketball, Boys Baseball and Girls Softball.

Current Membership

♠ Earlville and Leland combined athletic programs in 2006 becoming Leland-Earlville but separated in 2018

♥ Shabbona and Waterman consolidated to form Indian Creek in 1993.

♦ Harding and Sheridan Schools consolidated with Serena creating the Serena CUSD in 1938.

♣ Harding and Sheridan merged with Serena, creating CUSD2 in 1938.

''Sources:IHSA Conferences, IHSA Coop Teams, and IHSA Member Schools Directory''

Junior High Conference

The Junior High schools of the respective communities have a conference, comprising
  • Earlville
  • Leland
  • Somonauk
  • Indian Creek
  • Hinckley Big Rock
  • Paw Paw
  • Newark
  • Lisbon
  • Serena

High School Conference Members, Past and Present

  • IMSA
  • DePue
  • Earlville *
  • Leland *
  • Paw Paw *
  • Malta
  • Kirkland Hiawatha
  • Plano *
  • Sandwich *
  • Serena
  • Hinckley *
  • Hinckley-Big Rock
  • Hinckley Big Rock
  • Shabbona *
  • Waterman *
  • Indian Creek
  • Newark
  • LaMoille-Ohio
  • Somonauk *
  • Sheridan
  • Rollo *
''* Original conference members''

Mascots and Colors

The schools are represented by the following team nicknames:
  • Big Rock - Bobcats - blue & gold
  • DePue - Little Giants - blue & orange
  • Earlville - Raiders - red, black, & white
  • Hinckley - Hawks - blue and gold
  • Hinckley-Big Rock - Royals - blue & white
  • IMSA - Titans - columbia blue & silver
  • Indian Creek - Timberwolves - red, black, & white
  • Kirkland Hiawatha - Hawks - navy & gold
  • LaMoille - Lions - red and white
  • Leland - Panthers - kelly green & black
  • Malta - Mustangs - red and white
  • Newark - Norsemen - Royal Blue & White
  • Paw Paw - Bulldogs - purple & yellow
  • Plano - Reapers - purple & white
  • Rollo - Eagles - blue and orange
  • Serena - Huskers - purple and gold
  • Shabbona - Indians - red & white
  • Sheridan - Cardinals - red & white
  • Somonauk - Bobcats - blue & yellow
  • Waterman - Wolverines - red & black

Membership timeline


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id:line value:green
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id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a full member in a football coop
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of the another Conference
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of another Conference
id:OtherC3 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of another Conference
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bar:1 color:Full from:1919 till:end text:Earlville
bar:2 color:Full from:1919 till:1957 text:Hinckley
bar:3 color:Full from:1919 till:end text:Leland
bar:4 color:Full from:1919 till:2020 text:Paw Paw
bar:5 color:Full from:1919 till:1967 text:Plano
bar:6 color:Full from:1919 till:1954 text:Rollo
bar:7 color:Full from:1919 till:1993 text:Shabbona
bar:8 color:Full from:1919 till:1967 text:Sandwich
bar:9 color:Full from:1919 till:end text:Somonauk
bar:10 color:Full from:1919 till:1993 text:Waterman
bar:11 color:Full from:1930 till:1939 text:Sheridan
bar:12 color:Full from:1939 till:end text:Serena
bar:13 color:Full from:1957 till:end text:Hinckley-Big Rock
bar:14 color:Full from:1967 till:2000 text:Malta
bar:15 color:Full from:1967 till:end text:Newark
bar:16 color:Full from:1993 till:end text:Indian Creek
bar:17 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:LaMoille
bar:18 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:Kirkland Hiawatha
bar:19 color:Full from:2020 till:end text:DePue
bar:20 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:IMSA
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text:"Little Ten Conference Membership History"

Boys Basketball Tournament and Regular Season Championships

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