 | |
| Conference | IHSA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1965 |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Region | North Shore suburbs of Chicago, Illinois |
| Official website | Official website |
The Central Suburban League is an IHSA-recognized high school extracurricular conference comprising 12 public schools located in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. Comprising 12 relatively large high schools, it is among the larger high school conferences (by student population) in Illinois. [1]
| School | Town | Team name | Colors | IHSA Classes 2/3/4 | Reference | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deerfield High School | Deerfield | Warriors | AA/3A/4A | [2] | Lake | |
| Evanston Township High School | Evanston | Wildkits | AA/3A/4A | [3] | Cook | |
| Glenbrook North High School | Northbrook | Spartans | AA/3A/4A | [4] | Cook | |
| Glenbrook South High School | Glenview | Titans | AA/3A/4A | [5] | Cook | |
| Highland Park High School | Highland Park | Giants | AA/3A/4A | [6] | Lake | |
| Maine East High School | Park Ridge | Demons | AA/3A/4A | [7] | Cook | |
| Maine South High School | Park Ridge | Hawks | AA/3A/4A | [8] | Cook | |
| Maine West High School | Des Plaines | Warriors | AA/3A/4A | [9] | Cook | |
| New Trier High School | Winnetka | Trevians | AA/3A/4A | [10] | Cook | |
| Niles North High School | Skokie | Vikings | AA/3A/4A | [11] | Cook | |
| Niles West High School | Skokie | Wolves | AA/3A/4A | [12] | Cook | |
| Vernon Hills High School | Vernon Hills | Cougars | AA/2A/3A | [13] | Lake | |
While the divisions' names are geographic, their makeup is not based on a school's location. The North Division originally included the schools with the smaller enrollments while the South Division includes the schools with the larger enrollments. Every two years the member school's official enrollment was used to determine division alignment. Beginning during the 2016-17 realignment, the conference changed its policy to reassess division alignment every three years. Realignments are now determined based off athletic success in their division, with the most athletically successful team in the North switching with the least successful team in the South.
| North Division | South Division |
|---|---|
| Niles North | Evanston |
| Maine West | Glenbrook South |
| Highland Park | Maine South |
| Maine East | New Trier |
| Niles West | Deerfield |
| Vernon Hills | Glenbrook North |
Not all activities and sports make use of the division alignment. In chess, teams compete as a part of the North Suburban Chess League which comprises schools from many conferences. Scholastic Bowl plays as a single twelve team league.
Niles North moved to the CSL South for the 2016-'17 season after former South Division school Waukegan was replaced with Vernon Hills. Vernon Hills, which had the smallest enrollment in the conference at that point, was placed in the North Division.
In the 2019-2020 season, Glenbrook North and Niles North swapped divisions because of a division realignment.
In the 2023-2024 season, Deerfield and Niles West swapped divisions because of a division realignment.
The CSL traces its history back to the founding of the Suburban League in 1913, of which Evanston and New Trier were both founding members. The league had somewhat fluid membership over several decades. As the population of suburban Chicago grew (and the number of high schools with it) schools began leaving to join newer conferences such as the West Suburban Conference (started 1922), the Northwest Suburban (started in 1925, which later became the North Suburban Conference and Mid-Suburban League), and the South Suburban League (started in 1950). With more schools leaving (and newer suburban schools joining more geographically logical conferences), the Central Suburban League was founded in 1965, the last major conference to be carved from the old Suburban League. The last remaining bastion of the Suburban League started joining these other leagues, and finally folded after the 1974–1975 school year.
As of the end of the 2007–08 school year, the past and present schools of the CSL have won 233 state titles in various IHSA sports and activities. They have finished in second place 261 times. Nearly half of these (105 state titles and 113 state runners-up) have been won by New Trier (or the two schools it was split into for a time, New Trier East and New Trier West). Evanston adds 47 state titles and 49 runner-up prizes. The league has remained stable (except for divisional realignment) since Niles North returned to the league in 1991. [15]
During Winter 2016, the CSL Athletic Directors voted 7-5 for a division realignment system. The system incorporates enrollment and athletic success in determining division placement. Every three years, points are tallied and the top six teams are placed in the South Division, while the other six are in the North Division. Before 2016, divisions were determined only by enrollment. Glenbrook North and Niles North were the first schools to swap divisions in the 2019-2020 season. [16]
Lindeman, a shortstop-third baseman, was in Dewey Kalmer's second recruiting class at Bradley in 1980, plucked from Maine West in suburban Chicago.
