With the departure of two schools now official, remaining members of the Mississippi Valley Conference are exploring other options for its sports programs.

Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron spoke about the MVC’s dissolving at the district’s school board meeting Monday night, noting Mascoutah had decided to leave the conference. Similarly, Triad made the same decision Monday night.

Both schools will join the Southwestern Conference starting with the 2026-27 school year. Other schools in this conference are Alton, Belleville East, Belleville West, East St. Louis, Edwardsville and O’Fallon, with Collinsville and Granite City also considering a return to the SWC.

Remaining schools in the MVC – which has committed to stay together as a league through the 2025-26 school year – are Waterloo, Highland, Civic Memorial and Jerseyville. 

Charron explained that Waterloo and Highland had been invited to join the South Seven Conference – which includes Cahokia, Mt. Vernon, Marion, Carbondale and Centralia – speaking positively about the offer given the schools in that conference have athletic programs that match Waterloo’s.

Amid this offer, Charron continued that Waterloo had also received an invite to the Cahokia Conference. He described a personal conflict on the decision, noting how both conferences have their pros and cons for Waterloo – mainly regarding distance and competition.

“I think the furthest drive would be about an hour and 15 minutes away,” Charron said. “The downside, in my opinion, with the Cahokia Conference is they don’t all compete in all the sports that we have here. My bet is that this is something that’s evolving throughout the Metro East and Southern Illinois, and there’s probably going to be some teaming up with some larger schools.”

Also as part of the discussion among Charron, board members and Waterloo School District Athletic Director Tim Gould, it was noted Waterloo would still be playing games with schools outside of their conference, and there are no concerns about any sports in the district not being able to continue.

While the school board didn’t make a decision Monday, as Charron was simply discussing the matter as part of his monthly report, the action is set to be presented to the school board next month, with members of the district apparently interested in keeping things closer to the St. Louis area.

“The majority of our coaches, with the support of high school administration, are leaning toward joining the Cahokia Conference,” Charron said. “We’d be part of that large division. Our understanding is that Civic Memorial and Jersey are also making that recommendation, but I can’t confirm that for them. We would be in that division with Columbia, Freeburg and Breese Central.”

In addition to those three, the Mississippi Division of the Cahokia Conference also includes Salem, Roxana and Wood River. 

The MVC was formed in 1971 and has been one of the most stable conferences in Illinois high school athletics. It was formed by Civic Memorial, Highland, Jerseyville, Mascoutah, O’Fallon, Roxana, Triad, and Wood River.

Waterloo, previously a member of the Cahokia Conference, joined the MVC in 1998 to take the place of Roxana and Wood River, who left the MVC due to declining enrollment.