Plans to start a new athletic conference in western Illinois will be delayed by at least a year.
Organizers hoped to start the conference next fall with Macomb, Illini West, West Hancock, Monmouth-Roseville, and Quincy Notre Dame.
“QND decided that they really only wanted to play each of the schools in this conference one time because QND is a 3-A school,” said Macomb School District Superintendent Patrick Twomey. “They wanted to spend the majority of their (schedule) playing other 3-A schools.”
Twomey said that did not work for the other four schools, which wanted all partners to fully commit with all sports and other activities.
The other districts play in 2-A or 1-A, depending on the sport.
The new conference is not dead. Twomey said the four remaining districts will work to recruit at least one or two other districts from the region. Twomey said one of the goals of the new conference is to cut down on travel time and expenses for the schools.
The earliest the new conference would begin play is the fall of 2015.
