| Conference | IHSAA / IGHSAU |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | 2A and 3A |
| No. of teams | 11 |
| Region | Central Iowa |
| Official website | www |
The West Central Activities Conference is a high school athletic conference made up of 2A and 3A schools in Central Iowa.
| Institution | Location | Mascot | Colors | Affiliation | 2024-2025 BEDS [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC/GC | Guthrie Center | Chargers | Public | 147 | |
| Des Moines Christian | Urbandale | Lions | Private | 321 | |
| Earlham | Earlham | Cardinals | Public | 160 | |
| Interstate 35 | Truro | Roadrunners | Public | 206 | |
| Madrid | Madrid | Tigers | Public | 137 | |
| Ogden | Ogden | Bulldogs | Public | 177 | |
| Panorama | Panora | Panthers | Public | 171 | |
| Pleasantville | Pleasantville | Trojans | Public | 179 | |
| Van Meter | Van Meter | Bulldogs | Public | 225 | |
| West Central Valley | Stuart | Wildcats | Public | 190 | |
| Woodward-Granger | Woodward | Hawks | Public | 206 |
The current West Central Conference was formed in 1981 with eight members: Van Meter, Guthrie Center, Panora-Linden, Earlham, Martensdale-St. Mary's, Stuart-Menlo, Adair–Casey and Dexfield (Redfield). Prior to this time a different league known as the West Central Conference existed, but none of its members were founders of the new West Central Conference.
Throughout the 1980s, the league added Coon Rapids–Bayard and Nodaway Valley, and Panora-Linden began sharing with Y-J-B under the name Panorama. Dexfield and Stuart-Menlo also consolidated and left the league. In 1996, the league split in half as the four southernmost schools-along or south of Interstate 80-departed to conferences south and west: Martensdale-St. Mary's and Nodaway Valley to the Pride of Iowa and Earlham and Adair–Casey to the Rolling Hills Conference. The four remaining members brought in four new schools further north as replacements: Glidden–Ralston in Carroll County; East Greene (Grand Junction) and Paton-Churdan in Greene County; and Des Moines Christian in Urbandale in Polk County. In an interesting twist, two of the newcomers (East Greene and Paton-Churdan) and a forerunner school to Panorama (YJB) were members of the original West Central.
In 2000, West Central Valley (the consolidated district of former members Dexfield and Stuart-Menlo) joined the league from the Raccoon River Conference, a conference with much larger schools. In 2004, Earlham rejoined the league as its tenth team. By 2007, many of the schools in the conference were starting to grow close to 2A in size, leading to Paton-Churdan leaving the conference for the smaller Rolling Hills Conference. Madrid joined the league at this time from the Heart of Iowa Conference. In 2009, Glidden–Ralston left for the Rolling Hills Conference, being replaced by Woodward-Granger, another Heart of Iowa Conference team. East Greene then opted to also leave the conference and join the Rolling Hills Conference, for 2011 with Ogden, yet another former Heart of Iowa Conference member (and a member of the original West Central Conference) replacing them.
Coon Rapids–Bayard left West Central for the new Rolling Valley Conference in the 2013–14 school year.
In the 2018–19 school year, Interstate 35 and Pleasantville joined the West Central Conference. They made the move from the Pride of Iowa Conference, where I-35 was a founding member back in 1987.
Guthrie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,623. The county seat is Guthrie Center. The county was formed on January 15, 1851, and named after Captain Edwin B. Guthrie, who died in the Mexican–American War.
Adair County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,496. Its county seat is Greenfield.
Stuart is a city in Lincoln Township, Adair County, and in Stuart Township, Guthrie County, in the U.S. state of Iowa. That part of the city within Guthrie County is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,782 at the 2020 census.
Dexter is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 640 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Panora is a city in Guthrie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,091 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area.
The Des Moines metropolitan area, officially known as the Des Moines–West Des Moines, IA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is located at the confluence of the Des Moines River and the Raccoon River. Des Moines serves as the capital of the U.S. state of Iowa. The metro area consists of six counties in central Iowa: Polk, Dallas, Warren, Madison, Guthrie, and Jasper. The Des Moines–Ames–West Des Moines Combined Statistical Area (CSA) encompasses the separate metropolitan area of Ames, and the separate micropolitan areas of Pella, Boone and Oskaloosa. The Des Moines area is a fast-growing metro area.
Iowa Highway 25 (Iowa 25) is a north–south highway in the southwest and west-central portion of the state. It begins at Iowa 2 seven miles (11 km) south of Clearfield. It heads north along a two-lane road through Creston, Greenfield, and Guthrie Center on its way to its northern end at U.S. Route 30 (US 30) near Scranton.
The Paton-Churdan Community School District is a rural public school district headquartered in Churdan, Iowa. The district is in Greene County and serves Churdan and Paton.
The Western Valley Activities Conference is an athletic conference for small high schools in Western Iowa. Formed in 2008 from the merger of the longstanding Maple Valley Conference and Boyer Valley Conference, the league now consists of 9 schools from the old Maple Valley Conference and Siouxland Christian.
The Pride of Iowa Conference is a high school athletic conference made up of 10 small schools in southern Iowa, United States.
The Rolling Hills Conference was a small-school high school athletic conference in west central Iowa. All of the schools in the conference competed in Class 1A, the smallest in the state.
The Rolling Valley Conference is a high school athletic conference in west central Iowa. The league began play in the 2013–14 season. Members include five former members of the Western Valley Activities Conference, five former members of the Rolling Hills Conference, and one former member of the West Central Activities Conference.
West Central Valley Community School District is a rural public school district headquartered in Stuart, Iowa. The district is located in sections of Adair, Dallas, and Guthrie counties. It serves Stuart, Dexter, Menlo, and Redfield.
Panorama Community School District is a rural public school district headquartered in Panora, Iowa. It operates an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school in Panora.
Coon Rapids–Bayard Community School District is a rural public school district headquartered in Coon Rapids, Iowa.
The Glidden–Ralston Community School District is a rural public school district based in Glidden, Iowa. The district is mostly in Carroll County, with a smaller area in Greene County. The district serves the towns of Glidden and Ralston, and the surrounding rural areas. The district has shared a superintendent with Paton-Churdan Community School District since 2015. The school's mascot is the Wildcats. Their colors are blue and gold.