Northern Indiana Conference History

History of the Northern Indiana High School Conference
From 1926

The following narrative was found in the materials that were handed down to Greg Humnicky by John Danaher in 1995.  It is thought that Norm Hubner, the conference secretary from LaPorte, from 1957 to 1974, put this history narrative together in the early 1970’s and passed it on to Ed Szucs, who in turn forwarded it to John Danaher. Hubner’s narrative ends in 1974. Greg Humnicky, by using conference minutes and records, wrote the history from 1975 onward.

The 1920’s

The year 1926 will be long remembered as a milestone in the history of Indiana high school athletics when the Northern Indiana High School Conference  (NIHSC) was established.

The NIHSC is one of the oldest, most prestigious high school athletic conferences in Indiana. Its continued growth and successes are the result of excellent leadership by individuals who attacked the various problems and differences of opinion and formulated a structure that would allow the conference to succeed, despite the local pressures that would attempt to influence that growth and structure. 

The NIHSC was primarily a one school, one town athletic conference when it was formed in the 1920s, with the exception of Gary, which had two schools in the charter membership group. By the 1930s the NIHSC represented eight counties across northern Indiana, extending from Hammond to Fort Wayne. There were as many as 22 schools in the conference at one time. In the late 1930s the NIHSC split into two divisions, an Eastern Division which comprised schools east from LaPorte and Michigan City. The Western Division represented many schools from Lake County, mainly Gary, Hammond and East Chicago.

The success and effectiveness of the NIHSC was established early as requests for the privilege of conference membership started early and has continued ever since. Local or individual city school board pressures to have all schools in a city as part of the same conference caused some of the problem. Many difficulties arose and relationships between schools were strained at times.

The conference was recognized by the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), as well as other high schools and other conferences in the state as a leader in the field of interscholastic athletics. Innovations and rule changes often came through the conference schools. Colleges throughout the country recognized the NIHSC for the quality athlete and competition.

In the 1920’s the idea for a conference was the brain child of four coaches, mainly Sewell Leitzman of LaPorte, Chelse Boone of Elkhart, Frank Cash of East Chicago Washington and Elmer Burnham of South Bend. Others that gave input were E.A. Spaulding of Gary Emerson, Homer T. Osborn of Gary Froebel, Jack Gilroy who was the Gary City Athletic Director, Andy Gill of Michigan City, Frank Steele of Mishawaka, L.B. Hart of Whiting, Forrest Wood of Plymouth and a Mr. Brown of Valparaiso.

In the late 1920’s basketball held the interest of the public and was, in most cases throughout the state of Indiana, the # 1 sport. The growth of the state basketball tournament in the 1920’s led the way. The coaches listed above were mainly football oriented, coaching football in the fall and coached basketball, track and baseball as time allowed. Football and basketball were the main producers of athletic revenue for the high school sports programs.

The coaches discussed the problems of scheduling, improving their various sports programs and trying to encourage greater student interest and public support decided that an athletic league or conference formed of schools across Northern Indiana would supply the needed help for promotion and structure. Athletic facilities were very limited with very little standardization of rules and regulations, which led to various interpretations that sometimes aided an individual school.

A look back at the facilities that were used showed use of local YMCA facilities (gyms and pools for example), open fields for baseball and football, playgrounds of hard clay surfaces, county fairgrounds for track. Oftentimes school facilities were limited to the top floor of the school building. Local armories were also used for athletic purposes. 

In the spring of 1926 an early informative meeting was held in LaPorte regarding a possible high school athletic conference. In December 1926 in LaPorte the following schools and athletic personnel met and a general Northern Indiana Athletic Conference was organized.
The name used was Northern Indiana High School Conference (NIHSC).

The following individuals were involved and elected the following leaders:
L.B. Hart of Whiting, President Elmer Burnham of South Bend, Secretary

Others attending:
Frank Steele of Mishawaka Mr. Cauble
Forrest Wood of Plymouth Jack Gilroy of Gary
E.A. Spaulding of Gary Emerson Homer T. Osborn of Gary Froebel
Chelse Boone of Elkhart Mr. Brown of Valparaiso
Swell Leitzman of LaPorte Mr. Ludlow
Elmer Burnham of South Bend Frank Cash of East Chicago Washington

Hammond, Michigan City and Goshen did not attend the first meeting, but attended  a second meeting and are considered original charter members of the NIHSC.

Action recorded in the first meeting minutes: (1) all schools must play each other at least once in basketball and results will count in final standings  (2) Five dollar conference membership fee  (3) Schedule policy to be presented at the January 10, 1927 meeting from a committee of C. Boone of Elkhart, chairman, with Spaulding, Leitzman and Cash on the committee.

The January 10, 1927 LaPorte meeting reported that a copy of the NIHSC constitution was sent to the IHSAA. Arthur L. Tester, the IHSAA Commissioner, who wrote back to the NIHSC expressing a supporting opinion that the NIHSC was in harmony with the aims of the IHSAA. As time moved forward the NIHSC was a leader in assisting the IHSAA in the formation of many IHSAA rules and regulations regarding high school athletics.

Nappanee applied for conference membership but action was delayed.

NIHSC determined that it would hold conference championships in the following eight sports:
Football, basketball, baseball, track, swimming, tennis, golf and wrestling.

Championships would be decided by tournament EXCEPT football, basketball and baseball

A committee was appointed to determine a method or system of deciding the football championship. The football scheduling and championship determination would cause future problems as many schools were just starting or renewing football programs while other had more established programs, which added to the complications in scheduling.

On January 28, 1927 another meeting was convened to determine policies for the NIHSC.
(1) Football championship to be decided by point system, which was believed to be the won-loss record.
(2) One major basketball official was to be assigned by the conference which was what schools desired. A second official had to be agreeable to both schools.
(3) Football officials were to be assigned for the 1928 season.
(4) First conference meets were assigned: Track-South Bend, Golf & Tennis – Gary, Swimming-East Chicago Washington, Wrestling-Michigan City

On March 23, 1927, Gary Horace Mann and Nappanee were approved for membership.
Conference baseball games were to be 7 innings, except the championship game which would go 9 innings. The site of championship games had to be agreed to by both coaches or the President of NIHSC would determine the site if coaches could not agree.

The NIHSC secretary was allowed to “scratch” officials from the official list of persons who cancel contracts. No home school officials could be used.

Championships for 1926-27 were as follows:  Gary Froebel in tennis, basketball, wrestling & track; South Bend in swimming, baseball & golf

On September 17, 1927 it was decided that membership would be limited to 15 schools, but within several years that did not work out as many more schools became interested. Member schools had to participate in at least three sports and one minor sport. Football, basketball, track and baseball were considered major sports. A committee was established to study the practice of high school football camps.

January 19, 1928 meeting minutes dealt with basketball officials. The use of two officials was voted down. In case of protest regarding an official’s assignment, the dispute had to be determined by a conference committee.

A committee was appointed to determine the structure of track meets to determine championship. Schools would be allowed to purchase their own baseballs from local dealers if they so desired. Football rankings were used and cancellations were factored in.

The NIHSC champions for 1927-28 school year: Gary Froebel in football and track; East Chicago Washington in basketball & baseball; South Bend in swimming, tennis and golf; Elkhart in wrestling making a total of eight sports that the NIHSC offered  competition although as listed earlier each school had to offer at least 3 “major” sports and at least one “minor” sport.

In December 27, 1928 the NIHSC voted to divide into an eastern and western divisions Two-thirds majority vote necessary for action and 10 schools/votes needed to serve as quorum. 

In case of tie in the standings for divisional championship in football, a play-off is to be played on the third Saturday in November to decide representative for that division for the final play-off. Because of differences of opinions on conference expansion a motion to disband the NIHSC failed to pass at the June 15, 1929 meeting. East Chicago Roosevelt applied for membership which forced a constitutional change since by-laws stated only 15 school limits. Special votes were taken, officials pay and mileage stipend. If schools played a member school a second time in the season, schools had to determine the conference game date. The NIHSC also decides to get a principal to become a member of the IHSAA Athletic Council.

The 1930’s

In 1930 the NIHSC decided after current contracts ran out, no non-public high schools in the state of Indiana could be scheduled by a NIHSC school. This ruling was reversed in 1931 when non-public schools were recognized by the IHSAA and could become members of the IHSAA when they agreed to the rules and regulations of the IHSAA.  In 1930 cross-country was added as a NIHSC sport program. The cross-country championship would be determined at the site of the football play-off game in November. A committee of three NIHSC principals and two coaches representing the NIHSC were selected to meet with a committee being formed by Principal Hinshaw of Kokomo High School to discuss proper representation of larger schools in the IHSAA. NIHSC committee consisted of Mr. Jesse Valparaiso Principal) Mr. McGowan (SB Central Principal), Jack Gilroy (Gary Athletic Director) and Max Bullock (SB Riley Athletic Director). The IHSAA in 1930 did institute an Athletic Council with representation based on school enrollment.

In 1930-31 cross-country was added to the conference menu of sports offered, now total at 9 sports.

In May 1931 Plymouth requested permission to leave the NIHSC, while Gary Lew Wallace  applied for conference membership. The Western Division had only four games counted for the west championship, while the eastern Division used 6 games. Starting in 1930 the Western & Eastern champions played each other for NIHSC championship in a one game play-off in November at the end of the football season. The NIHSC had a play-off between divisions for 32 years  ending in 1962, although after that date there was still a Northern play-off game played until the early 1970’s.

In 1933 Mr. Cabell of Nappanee was successful for the smaller schools in the conference to keep the number of sports offered for NIHSC schools at four. Some of the larger schools wanted to expand the required number of sports programs. In April of 1933 NIHSC officials’ fees were raised to $ 6 with a 4 cent mileage stipend. Since the country was in the middle of the Great Depression there was some talk of delaying the start of school to later in September. Because of the popularity of the state basketball tourney, basketball ticket distribution for the IHSAA Regional round was a topic of much discussion.

In 1933 Division football champion was to be determined by won-loss percentage since everybody did not play to the same number of games in division conference play and role of tie games in the standings. Playing tennis in the fall season was suggested by Nappanee. Gary Lew Wallace accepted for membership. Football standings with tie games resolved with a By-Law entry specifically stating how to determine the champion.

In 1935 reserve team basketball results began to be kept by schools and a East-West reserve “B” team championship was played as a preliminary to the varsity championship.

Also in 1935 a joint committee on Western & Eastern schools developed some ideas on Conference championships structure:
(1) NIHSC would continue with regular fall and spring meetings to promote itself:
(a) More prestige statewide in present form
(b) Easier for a large conference to formulate broad policies regarding scheduling,
officials and other problems
(c) Large conferences had been instrumental in building up the minor sports.
(2) Conference play-offs
The football play-off between the eastern & western division was becoming popular,
Public pressure wanting additional games was causing administrative problems.
In the 1930’s and 1940’s , the winner of the NIHSC play-off game was usually declared the mythical state champion by the news wire services.
(3) Conference football play-off was continued after the 1935-36 season, but the NIHSC awarded two divisional trophies and in addition to the play-off winner trophy. 
Baseball followed the same process along with golf and tennis.
(4) Football scheduling became a big issue as the Eastern Division debated the number of “conference’ football games to be played 5 vs. 7. Various suggestions were discussed.
Some schools (SB Washington, Mishawaka, Michigan City, SB Central) favored a 5 game schedule with Riley opposing. Goshen and LaPorte suggested that their schools would withdraw from the conference if they had to play 7 conference games. Andy Gill of Michigan City and Max Bullock of Riley presented a 6 game schedule where schools would be natural rivals each year and 3 of the 4 remaining schools on a rotating on-off schedule.

Grouping listed
# 1 SB Central, Mishawaka, SB Riley, SB Washington
# 2 Elkhart, Goshen, LaPorte, Michigan City
Everybody would play each other within their grouping and then play 3 of the other 4

The 5 game schedule was rejected 4-2, Elkhart not voting. LaPorte and Goshen favored a 5 game schedule but would support a 6 game schedule, but not a 7 game schedule.

The Eastern Division met again in October discussing the football schedule for 3 hours. Finally Mr. Bechtol of Goshen presented a 5 game schedule in which each school played the same 5 schools each year. Elkhart supported the motion and the motion carried with a 7-1 vote.
Five game NIHSC football schedule
Mishawaka Central     Riley Washington Goshen Elkhart LaPorte Mich. City

Central Mish       Mish Mish Elkhart Goshen Goshen Goshen
Riley Riley       Cent. Central LaPorte LaPorte Elkhart Elkhart
Wash Wash       Wash Riley M.C. M.C. M.C. LaPorte
Elkhart M.C.       Elk. LaPorte Mish Mish Wash Central
Goshen Goshen     LaP M.C. Central Riley Riley Wash

A key move in securing passage of this schedule was when LaPorte gave up its game with
with long time rival SB Central to pick-up SB Washington, a new member of the conference. Conference schools not included in the above schedule could play one another in a non-conference game.

In September 1935, the conference declared LaPorte the baseball champion after an original tie between LaPorte, South Bend Central and Nappanee.  In 1936 Hammond Tech gained admission into the conference. 

In 1937 the Eastern Division held a special meeting concerning continuation of the play-offs. J.M. French of LaPorte indicated that keeping the play-off championship was good. Andy Gill of Michigan City indicated that conference games and the play-offs draw the best crowds, which helped financially. Claron Veller and John Longfellow (Elkhart) thought that the basketball play-offs did not help teams preparing for the IHSAA tournament. Many thought that each division should declare a champion only, no play-offs between division. Mr. Schoeppel of Washington suggested a divisional play-off in case of a tie, but no east-west play-off.
The Eastern Division unanimously favored:
1. Retaining division championships
2. No play-offs unless champions want to
3. Continuation of the NIHSC
4. Continuation of the Western & Eastern Divisions

In 1936 mid-week basketball games were approved if necessary but preferred not playing on school nights. Washington High School expressed dissatisfaction with Regional basketball tickets and requested the IHSAA make use of official timers at basketball games and place them in a visible area.

In 1938 the IHSAA President was invited to discuss mutual problems, such as Regional sites and ticket distribution. Issue of 9^th grade students participating against 12^th  graders, since most high schools were three year high schools. The NIHSC asked that the IHSAA help finance swimming, wrestling and golf by paying mileage and meal money to participating schools in the state tournament.

On September 11, 1938 it was announced that Gary Emerson would have to forfeit its play-off championship football game to Elkhart from 1937. The NIHSC declared Elkhart the play-off champion.  Also coaches requested a voice in schedule making. They asked that the committees include coaches, athletic directors and principals. Motion failed to pass. Principals maintained control over scheduling.

Baseball rules include postponed games be played the next day or on Saturday and that there be a round-robin schedule for baseball where all schools would play each other in the division.

A motion was made to make bowling a conference sport. It passed. No further action on bowling in the conference minutes. A wrestling resolution for better control of weight of contestants be finalized and enforced. Principals were to certify weight classifications of contestants and keep records during the season of wrestlers weight classes.

The 1940’s


For the 1941-42 school year it was decided to make the Secretary/Treasurer position a more permanent position by adding a provision in the Constitution to make it an indeterminate tenure subject to an annual vote by the Board of Control. Mr. Frank Steele of Mishawaka was elected to the post and served the post for 12 years until 1953.

In 1942 the NIHSC made some changes in track. Each division was to have a divisional track meet prior to the conference meet to determine qualifiers for the conference meet. The number of qualifiers was to be determined by a special track committee. Recommended 4 qualifiers in each event, plus top two relay teams advancing to the conference meet. Ties in High Jump and Pole Vault were allowed to advance.

During World War II, due to gasoline rationing, all conference teams were in the LaPorte Golf Invitational and the winner was declared the NIHSC golf champion. In 1943 the track committee revised track meet qualifiers advancing to conference meet to be three in all running events, four in the field events.

Gary Roosevelt applied for conference membership but no action was taken during the war, since there were many problems including transportation and a possible third division of the conference. War-time conditions suspended the distribution of trophies, but certificates were presented. Trophies were made available, however.

In 1945-46 the NIHSC All-Sports trophy was instituted where schools received points for conference finishes and a trophy was presented to the school for the best combined conference record.  South Bend Central won the first All-Sports trophy in1946.

In September 1946 Cross-country meet procedures were developed and standardized. The finish chute was developed. Competent impartial officials were requested to judge the meet.
In April 1947, it was asked that all schools have their school names on the front of shirts in track.

In September 1947, a teachers’ strike in Gary and disturbances at Gary Emerson, the NIHSC went on record as being in sympathy with the School Board and school officials in the Gary school system in their stand against interference and improper behavior of those students and those citizens who were responsible for the school strike at Emerson and disturbances at other high schools. In a letter sent to all members it said: “Also be it resolved that we pledge our (NIHSC) support in every attempt made by school officials to better relations and understandings among school pupils.”  A copy of the NIHSC letter was sent to all Gary school officials.

In September 1948, a NIHSC Principal, Mr. French recommended that golf be played in the spring, the same time as the state tournament. Mr. King Telle of Valparaiso High School indicated that he could work Valparaiso back into the football Western Division schedule as they now have added some assistant coaches.

In 1947-48, LaPorte won the Eastern Division All-Sports trophy, while Hammond won the Western Division

In April 1949 South Bend Central received permission by the IHSAA to play a postseason basketball game between its seniors and underclassmen.


The 1950’s

In March 1950, Mr. P.D. Pointer, Principal of SB Central made a motion for the NIHSC to consider. “The NIHSC favors participation of any boy regardless of their color in any sport sponsored by the NIHSC.” Motion was tabled after discussion but was passed 16-3 in the Fall of 1950.

In the fall of 1950, Mr. Kelly of SB Riley asked for expansion of the number of games played in football to allow younger players the opportunity to play.

April 1951 allowed coaches of the baseball team to coach from the 1^st or 3^rd base coaches box providing that they were in uniform. Conference discussion on the effect on radio broadcasting of games was to be studied. Also decided that if schools filmed football games, only the two schools could see the game film.

In 1951 the issue of a state-wide baseball tournament was discussed as the IHSAA said that much more study was needed.

In March 1952, Gary Roosevelt and Hammond Bishop Noll applied for conference membership. The NIHSC constitution stated that membership was closed. Dr.Lee Gilbert of Gary moved that the constitution be amended to read 2/3 majority of the board of control or 16 votes. Motion passed and rule (Closed membership) Article 3 Section 2 be deleted, passed.

Mr. Rothermel of SB Adams moved that the NIHSC amend the constitution (Article 3, Section 3) to read: an application for membership be received at a regular meeting and enacted upon at the next regular meeting. That motion failed by 4 votes. Dr. Gilbert moved that the application of Gary Roosevelt be accepted to membership by a 2/3 vote. Motion had the support of other member schools from Gary. That motion lost by one vote.

Dr. Gilbert then moved that action be taken on Rothermel’s motion of presentation of the applicant at one meeting be acted upon at the next meeting. Gary Lew Wallace supported the motion with a second. Motion passed.  Then Rothermel moved that the Constitution be amended to reflect his motion. That passed, 16 votes supporting.  The NIHSC schools from Gary had sent letters of support for Gary Roosevelt’s admission to membership. 

The NIHSC in September 1952 voted not to accept Gary Roosevelt and Hammond Bishop Noll High Schools citing the size of the NIHSC as being too large (22 schools) and that it was necessary to resolve those accompanying problems as the conference embarked upon a  study committee to examine those problems. 

In 1953 a revised version of the NIHSC Constitution was approved by the membership. P.D. Pointer of SB Central gave a report on the status of the conference, favoring its continuity and developing a standing committee to make recommendations for overall improvement. The football play-off language in the by-laws was clarified. Tennis conference policies also had to be clarified as each division had different rules regarding singles and doubles play.

In 1953 Gary Roosevelt again requested conference membership. In 1954 the NIHSC raised officials’ pay to  $17.50 and increased track medals to 5 places and provided medals for individual sport championships. 1955 saw South Bend hosting the conference swim meet with a new set of meet procedures. Goshen requested a two year leave of absence from the conference, but saw their request tabled. Hammond Clark recommended wrestling tourney changes due to the large size of tourney, as it was recommended that there be a divisional tourney first, then a conference championship. In 1956 the advisory board rejected a proposal to reestablish a basketball play-off series.

In 1957, changes were made in conference swimming as it was decided that the conference championship meet determined the individual event champions. The divisional team champion would be determined by dual meets within each division. The conference meet was to be held the Saturday prior to the state championship meet.

The 1957 football play-off was moved one week to help with scheduling problems caused by an epidemic of influenza.

1958 saw changes in the tennis format since each division had different rules regarding singles and doubles play. Goshen again requested a two year leave of absence, but motion was denied due to scheduling problems.

Principal Dan Simon of East Chicago made a motion to the by-laws to clarify conference sport participation. “Every NIHSC  school shall participate in Football and Basketball and have to compete in at least three other sports (Track, Tennis, Swimming, Wrestling, Baseball, Golf  and Cross-Country.” Motion passed 18 – yes, Goshen abstaining.

Ross Stephenson of SB Central proposed a change in the conference wrestling meet with the top two divisional wrestlers advancing to the NIHSC championship meet. Motion passed 19-2.
 
There was a conference discussion on the upper age limit which asked that the age limit drop from 20 to 19. A study committee was established to make a recommendation. This issue eventually became a part of the IHSAA by-laws regarding athlete age and birth dates.





The 1960’s

In 1960 each division was given authority to set up their schedules for determining divisional championships in swimming, track and wrestling. Each sport developed qualifying standards for advancement to the NIHSC championships.

The early 1960’s brought many additional problems to the NIHSC. As football scheduling had been the major time consuming problem, new issues arose in the 1960’s that came to the table of the conference representatives handling athletics. The 1959 Indiana School Consolidation law saw school reorganization come to the forefront along with increasing high school enrollments due to the baby boom generation following World War II reaching high school age. The movement to the suburbs and increasing school enrollments saw new school buildings and facilities being added in many communities. With improved facilities came greater student and public interest. Larger coaching staffs with more coaching specialists in the so called minor sports, namely, tennis, golf, cross-country, swimming and wrestling. As the IHSAA increased participation levels in state tournaments, the NIHSC followed the same pattern.

With increasing school populations, many of the growing and larger cities opened additional high schools to meet the increasing school population. Hammond, Gary, Michigan City, South Bend, Mishawaka and Elkhart saw additional schools opening in the middle 1960’s and early 1970’s.  Since the NIHSC constitution limited total school membership, each division was interested in protecting the existing membership and was not interested in voting to expand the conference. A study committee was formed to explore the future of the NIHSC as all schools were to present to the committee information regarding new schools in their communities.

In 1962, as the conference debated possible expansion, Fort Wayne North requested permission to withdraw as the Fort Wayne school community was reorganizing its schools. Fort Wayne North would finally withdraw by the 1965-66 school year.

Some discussion involved a third division as a solution to the conference problem. Washington-Clay, a suburban South Bend school (soon to be consolidated into the South Bend reorganized school district) and Gary Roosevelt applied for NIHSC membership. The third division did not get much support. Division differences began to reappear as Eastern Division swim coaches wanted changes, while Western Division track coaches wanted changes that others did not want.

The Special Study Committee on Reorganization met in October of 1962 and again in January of 1963. The various school communities reported on the potential new schools in their communities:
South Bend – 4 current members (Adams, Central, Riley, Washington)
New schools to be considered :
1. (Washington-Clay, soon to be a part of the new reorganized South Bend district)
2. New North-west school – to become LaSalle HS)
3. New South-east school – to become Jackson HS)
SB St. Joseph’s – local Catholic high school
LaPorte – one school, reorganization and consolidation to make it larger school
Michigan City -one school Elston HS with one to be built, which became Rogers HS
Mishawaka – one school plus a new township school – Penn HS
Goshen – one school
Elkhart – one school, with plans for the new school which would be known as Memorial HS
Along with Concord, a township school getting larger
East Chicago – two schools, no plans for any new schools
Hammond – existing schools, plus new schools (Morton & Gavit) being planned
Whiting – no new schools

There was a possibility of 30 schools in all, preferring NIHSC membership. In Lake County school reorganization was voted down, but the issue was to be discussed later. The NIHSC constitution called for a vote before conference membership could expand, since the by-laws said that membership was closed. Each division (west and east) had its own problems. A suggestion was made for each division to work out its own problems by adopting their own rules and regulations, but retain a football play-off between the west and east. The NIHSC could eliminate all other championships since the IHSAA provided a state championship in most other sports. (ie Track, swimming, wrestling, golf, tennis). Other suggestions presented included that the officers of the two separate divisions will form an official review board of the NIHSC.  Reviewing programs in each division, discussing mutual problems, setting policies for championships, including the football play-off. This review board would meet each spring after divisional spring meetings. The report recommended a rotating site for this meeting. Each division would be responsible for their own expenses. The funds in the NIHSC treasury would be pro-rated and distributed to all schools, once reorganization went into effect. Principal J.R. Miller of LaPorte presented the report in January of 1963. A press release was sent out to local media at that time.

In March 1963, special divisional meetings were set up to discuss the recommendations and recommend to the Advisory Committee which would make recommendations for the future conference direction. The Eastern & Western Divisions held meetings to discuss the report of the study committee and then make recommendations to the NIHSC membership at the annual spring meeting. 

At the Spring meeting, King Telle, Principal at Valparaiso, presided over the meeting of 22 schools and J.R. Miller of LaPorte gave the report of the study committee, whose recommendations were accepted and the Advisory Committee under Russel Rothermel, Principal at SB Adams, gave the Advisory Committee report accepting the study committee recommendations with two additional sections for constitutional changes. A roll call vote accepted the recommendations 22-0. 


The new changes includes the following items:
Northern Indiana High School Conference shall function as two separate divisions as of
      July 31, 1963.
Each division shall continue to function under the present constitution after July 31, 1963 and all constitutional provisions requiring relations and meetings between the two divisions shall be declared null and void.
The division chairmen and division secretaries shall act as administrative officers for their respective divisions.
The balance in the NIHSC treasury after expenses for 1962-63 were paid would be distributed proportionally.  The eastern division would receive 10/22 (for 10 schools) of the total and the western division would receive 12/22 (12 schools) of the total.
The football play-off game between the two divisions shall continue by mutual agreement of the two divisions.
The officers of the two divisions shall meet to discuss mutual concerns and problems at the invitation of the other division.
The Secretary (Norm Hubner of LaPorte) shall have all records of the Northern Indiana High School Conference bound.
Schedules of all sports prepared by the conference scheduling committee previously approved by the NIHSC or by either division shall remain binding on member schools until termination of those schedules or until each separate division unanimously agrees to reschedule any or all sports.
The Eastern division requested permission to continue the use of the original name, Northern Indiana High School Conference and all schools would remain as one unit.
  The feelings in the Western Division would result in several units or conferences. No definite plans were determined at that time.

A press release was sent to the news media.

The “new” Northern Indiana High School Conference

In the fall of 1963, the new Northern Indiana High School Conference (old Eastern Division) remained together as a single unit (athletic conference) and the former divisional officers continued to hold office in the new NIHSC. The first meeting of the “new” NIHSC was held in South Bend on October 2, 1963 with all ten schools present:
SB Adams, SB Central, SB Riley, SB Washington, Michigan City Elston, LaPorte,
Mishawaka, Elkhart, Goshen & Fort Wayne North
FW North’s request to withdraw from the conference was moved up one year due to school reorganization in Fort Wayne and was accepted by the conference.
Other measures that were considered that first year were to consider a conference meet for cross-country. Elkhart HS proposed the cross-country change but the motion failed. A motion was made to have all conference championships be determined by a dual meet schedule. Motion failed as wrestling and track championships were still decided by a conference meet.
   
The second meeting was held in the spring of 1964. A baseball schedule proposal to schedule a round and a half failed by a 5-4 vote, but swimming medal and tennis format changes were approved.

In the Fall of 1964 saw three schools apply for membership. They included South Bend Clay (Formerly known as Washington-Clay), Penn and SB St. Joseph’s. Penn met the requirement of seven sports, with tennis being added, no golf. Clay had 6 sports, to add tennis and golf. St. Joseph’s had only 4, with the school adding wrestling, tennis and golf to meet conference requirements. A motion was made to add one school to replace FW North, motion failed 5-4. A committee was appointed to study long range membership problems. The committee members included Mr. R.T. Ferrell, SB Central Principal, Mr. Updike of Elkhart, J.R. Miller of LaPorte with Norm Hubner of LaPorte acting as its secretary.

A second fall meeting was held one week later on October 13 as many other conference sport issues were discussed. The cross-country championship was to be determined by dual meet competition. Football play-off schedule with the old western division was discussed. Elkhart  was to add swimming, while Washington was adding a golf team. The baseball schedule included a round and half schedule. The football schedule that was accepted was a round robin schedule. The issue of conference expansion was discussed from a committee report on conference expansion. It was decided to close membership until 1968-69 (a 5 year period). Any new membership consideration was to be delayed until March of 1966. Conference schedules for the next five years were to be presented in the spring of 1965. The football schedule was complex due to Fort Wayne North’s withdrawal from the NIC. There would be informal meetings with schools interested in conference membership about NIC expansion or a formation of a separate conference. With FW North’s decision to leave, the football conference schedule had to be resolved as a result of some schools only having 5 conference games. Existing members agreed to call some non-conference games among member schools as conference contests thus equalizing the number of conference games.

As a result a new conference football schedule was accepted with a 6-3 vote deciding on a nine game schedule (8 conference games). Schools agreed to a blind draw for the new schedule.

At the Spring conference meeting, the St. Joseph Valley Officials proposal for a new pay scale was passed. Fort Wayne North was recognized for their membership in 1941 as they were withdrawing from conference membership later that year. They were also recognized as the state runner-up in the basketball state finals.

In 1965 Michigan City’s request to play JV games on Saturday was rejected. Washington’s motion to have the conference assignment of football officials was accepted. The conference voted 6-3 to continue the football play-off with the old western division champion. In the Spring of 1966 various cross-country proposals were considered but failed to be enacted. Washington announced that it would have a tennis program next school year. A special meeting with potential new schools interested in conference affiliation was to be arranged by Bob Jones, Athletic Director for the South Bend Community School Corporation. Those possible schools included Clay, Penn. LaSalle and Jackson. The NIHSC also favored a state baseball tourney in the spring and a tennis tourney in the fall.

In 1966 there was some discussion regarding tennis scoring rules, but it was decided to wait for the IHSAA to develop a state tournament format.  The Elkhart Truth requested that the conference select All-NIC teams, but the conference opted not to select them, but encouraged by giving permission for news-radio-television outlets to select all-conference teams if they so desired. The South Bend Tribune had been selecting all-conference teams in football for many years.

A conference expansion report was given by Russell Rothermel, Principal at Adams, which developed into a long and seriously debated issue. The proposal called for a new division to be included into the NIHSC. All necessary constitutional changes would be made to allow this to happen. There would be one conference governing body similar to what was done earlier. The main question arising from the proposal involved the possible domination of the conference by the South Bend schools due to additional voting power. Also would any conference realignment eliminate any current school rivalries.  The NIHSC expansion committee met with the various schools interested in becoming a part of the NIHSC in January 1966 in South Bend. Many issues were discussed such as: geographical limits of the conference, naming the division, private school boundaries between St. Joseph’s and Mishawaka Marian (Catholic schools), scheduling issues, inter-division play-offs, Goshen status in NIHSC and the size of the conference. 

In September 1966, Clay, Jackson, LaSalle, Penn, St. Joseph’s & Marian High Schools made a formal request to be admitted to the NIHSC as another division with equal status within the existing conference. Their request asked that the NIHSC Constitution be amended to reflect the new arrangement, that included one set of officers to govern both divisions and that the new division have full rights and privileges, but that each division would create their own schedules.

The original expansion committee report failed to be adopted by a 6-3 vote as the current conference membership preferred remaining with the most recent conference arrangement of nine schools. The formal request by the new schools was voted on at the Spring of 1967, when the proposal failed by a 5-4 vote.

Special meritorious service awards were presented to the following individuals associated with the NIHSC: (1) R.R. Myers, former Mishawaka Principal, 1940-1966 & East Chicago Roosevelt Principal, 1932-1940  (2) Ralph Powell, coach & athletic director – Valparaiso 1929-1943, John Adams 1943-1966 (3) Russell Rothermel, Principal, coach and athletic director John Adams High School 1940-1967.

Many sport procedures were agreed to so that many procedures were in line with IHSAA tournament rules and procedures. A six game football conference schedule passed 6-3. Baseball rules state that conference games have preference over non-conference games for make-up games being re-scheduled.

In 1967 there was discussion of JV football programs being cancelled. Norm Hubner of LaPorte discussed the possibility of a IHSAA football championship  series being started.
In November of 1967, Goshen High School indicated that they would withdraw from the NIHSC effective June 1, 1969, as this came about as a result of the action taken by the Goshen School Board. There was some opposition to the decision to withdraw from the NIHSC in Goshen.

Mr. Lawrence McKinney, Principal of Central High School reported on the status of Central High School remaining open. Many schools did not field reserve teams (JV) in some sports.

Special meritorious service awards were given to: (1) Walter Thurston of Mishawaka – Coach 1931-1946, Principal 1965-1969, coach at Plymouth 1928-1931  (2) Gene Dykstra of Mishawaka – 1958-1968 Athletic Director, 1949-1958 coach.  (3) Gerald Wagner – LaPorte coach 1940-1968  (4) Don Yoder of Goshen – coach 1942-1968.

In 1968 football play-off possibilities with the Northern Indiana Valley Conference was discussed. The NIVC was created when those six schools were rejected for NIHSC membership. Conference patches for letter jackets were approved for conference championships with the conference covering the cost.  In the Spring of 1969 a football play-off was approved with the Lake Shore Conference from Lake County. The new Elkhart school, which became Elkhart Memorial, was approved for membership, effective for 1971-72 school year.

In 1969, cross-country by-laws were updated to clarify the rules for tie meets. Motion failed to include conference meet in determining conference championship. NIHSC Tennis included individual champions to be determined in a conference tourney. Baseball coaches decided to include an all-conference team that was to be selected at the end of the season. The basketball all-conference team was to be selected for the 1971-72 season. Elkhart Memorial was to replace SB Central in the basketball schedule for 1971-72 as South Bend Central was to close in June 1970. Memorial’s opening was delayed one year to the 1972-73 school year. The old Elkhart High School took the name Elkhart Central High School.

The 1970’s 

In 1970, individual sports continued to refine conference policies and rules. Different time zones created some problems with starting times for contests. The reserve team swimming schedule was discussed. Wrestling conference tournament was proposed to determine individual weight class champions while dual meet schedule determined team championship. Motion for tournament failed. South Bend Tribune provided certificates for all-conference team members in football, basketball, and baseball.

In 1971, the wrestling proposal was defeated; the previous year passed where the conference tournament was to determine individual weight class champions while the dual meet schedule determined the conference team champion. A new official pay schedule was approved. The track coaches submitted a proposal to determine individual event champions at the conference meet while the team championship was determined by dual meet results. In 1972, the football schedule for 1975-76 was approved with a playoff with the Lake Shore Conference set for Nov. 10, 1972. Cross-Country coaches decided that a team could run as many runners as they wanted, but only the first five were scored for the varsity meet. NIC Baseball season starting date change was discussed. Track meet medals for six places were approved. The JV football schedule was to correspond to the varsity schedule at the opposite site on Monday at 4:00 pm.

Special retirement awards were presented to Glenn Silcott of Elkhart (Central-Athletic Director) and Howard Crouse of Riley (Principal)

In 1973, cross-country rules were clarified further as it was determined that a school could run 7 runners in a varsity meet, scoring the first five. Reserve meets were to be run separately, and coaches had to provide a map of the course before the meet. In October, a committee report on conference expansion met to discuss letters of conference interest from LaSalle, Penn and St. Joseph’s. The committee recommended that the present membership of eight schools remain as it is. The vote was 7-1 to not expand membership. The NIC recognized the passing of Glenn Silcott, the longtime Elkhart Athletic Director.

At the spring meeting on April 24, 1974, LaPorte Principal Jack Hyde made a sudden announcement that LaPorte High School would withdraw from the NIC and accept membership in the new Duneland Athletic Conference. This announcement came as a shock to many in the conference, as LaPorte had been an original charter member of the NIHSC. Immediately, the NIC expansion committee chairman, Warren Jones of Michigan City, reported that the committee recommended increasing membership to nine schools and the vote on admission would be determined by the date of the letter of application. Three schools had letters on file – Penn, LaSalle and St. Joseph’s.  A secret ballot would be conducted with a two-thirds vote required (5 votes with LaPorte not voting). Penn and LaSalle received seven votes to be admitted, filling the membership quota of nine schools. No vote was taken on St. Joseph’s letter of application as a result of reaching the nine school limit. The Northern Indiana Valley Conference had voted to disband after it was announced that Jackson HS would be closing in a merger with Riley High School in South Bend and Penn, along with LaSalle joining the NIHSC, now being called the NIC.

Wrestling coaches recommended a traveling trophy to conference meet team champions. Referred to the wrestling committee to resolve. JV football games could be played at night and on the field with lights or on Saturday morning by mutual agreement. A new track event was introduced – discus.  Ed Szucs of Adams High School was elected Secretary/Treasurer of the Conference, replacing Norm Hubner of LaPorte, who had held the position since the 1956-57 school year. With Penn and LaSalle joining the NIC, making a nine-school conference, the two new schools were not eligible for the NIC All-Sports trophy until the 1977-78 school year.

In the spring of 1977, Clay High School’s letter of membership application was accepted, making the NIC a ten-school conference. Clay would achieve full membership status by the 1979-80 school year.

In 1980, Washington’s athletic director Joseph Redling would retire after 27 years and was replaced by Steve Herczeg.

The 1980’s

Bill Schlundt became athletic director at Clay High School, replacing the retiring Tom Saunders. Ed Szucs of Adams would resign as the NIC Secretary/Treasurer in 1982 and then would retire as Athletic Director from Adams in 1985. John Danaher of Mishawaka assumed the NIC Secretary/Treasurer position in the 1982-83 school year.

In addition to tackling the membership issue in the 1970’s the conference also addressed the advent of girls’ sports at the high school level thanks in part to the federal government’s Title IX legislation. By the 1978-79 school year, the NIC began to include girls’ sports in the All-Sports Trophy competition. In the 1978-79 school year – five sports: volleyball, girls’ swimming, girls’ basketball, girls’ track & field and girls’ tennis standings are included in the All-Sports totals. As the IHSAA started state tournaments in those girls’ sports in the 1970’s, NIC member schools added those programs. In 1983, softball was added to the NIC menu and by 1984 girls’ cross-country was separated from the boys program. 

In 1984 Palmer Mart retired as Principal at Memorial after serving 12 years. He served as Principal at Elkhart High School before the split with Memorial opening in 1972.

In 1986 Jim Powers retired as the athletic director at Elkhart Memorial after serving 10 years in that position and was recognized at the Spring Dinner. He was Memorial’s first basketball coach (1972-1976) then became the school’s athletic director. He spent 11 years as South Bend Central’s head basketball coach from 1958 to 1969. He also spent three years at Rochester as head coach before returning to the NIC at Memorial. He won 9 sectionals in his 18 years as a head basketball coach, and in his 11 years at SB Central, he won four NIC championships.

In 1987, Harry Lewandowski retired from LaSalle as athletic director and was presented with a retirement plaque from the NIC for his years of service (21 years). In 1988 Robert Smith of Mishawaka was presented with a NIC retirement plaque for his 18 years of service as Mishawaka’s Principal. In 1988 Greg Humnicky replaced Bill Schlundt as the athletic director at Clay HS.

The 1990’s 

In 1991 Fred Menchinger retired from Penn High School after serving 13 years as its athletic director. In 1992 Bill Przybysz, Principal at Adams, retired after 20 years as Principal and was honored with a retirement plaque from the NIC. He served two terms as NIC President. Also in 1992, Dave Hadaway retired as the Adams basketball coach after 23 years, winning 315 games, 5 sectionals, and 8 NIC championships. In 1993 Steve Herczeg retired after 13 years of service as Washington’s athletic director.

In the school year 1991-92, the conference expanded its all-conference teams by adding a third unit, called Honorable Mention.

In 1994, when soccer was added to the IHSAA state tournament list as a fall sport, the NIC added soccer to its program. Soccer had existed as a club sport in many schools since the late 1970’s. When South Bend made it a varsity-level sport in the 1980’s, only the girls played in the fall, while the boys played soccer in the spring in the Northern part of the state of Indiana. An organization called the Northern Indiana Soccer League (NISL) was created by the South Bend Community School Corporation to codify playing rules and guidelines for the schools playing high school soccer. There were as many as 16 schools that joined the NISL. The South Bend Community School Corporation sponsored the Northern Indiana Cup series, a postseason “state” tournament for the Northern part of the state playing spring boys’ soccer, which included Lake County schools and schools in the Fort Wayne area. In the early 1990s, when the schools in the northern part of the state agreed to play fall boys’ soccer, the IHSAA then sanctioned soccer as a fall sport for both the boys and girls at the high school level, taking over a fall state tournament that had been run by a group of schools under the banner of High School Soccer of Indiana, Inc. In 1994, soccer was made part of the IHSAA and the NIC fall sports season.

During the 1992-93 school year, the South Bend Tribune announced that it would sponsor the All-NIC teams in all sports. Since then, the Tribune has awarded the MVP of each NIC sport with a trophy and the Coach of the Year in each sport with a plaque at the Spring NIC Board of Control dinner meeting. By the school 1993-94 all NIC sports selected an MVP and a Coach of the Year. Previous to 1992-93, the NIC released All-Conference lists to the local media, which were then published by the local newspapers in Michigan City, South Bend, and Elkhart.

In 1995 Riley’s Dave Dunlap retired as the boys’ swimming coach after 20 years as head coach, winning 16 NIC championships (14 consecutive undefeated NIC titles), 3 state titles and 4 state runner-ups between 1975 and 1995 at Riley.

In 1997, Robert Million retired as Principal at Elkhart Central after 12 years. Previously, he had served as Principal at Clay High School from 1980-1985 and at Washington High School from 1974-80. He also served three terms as President of the NIC.

In the fall of 2000, the NIC added girls’ golf as a conference sport as the conference schools finally added it as a fall girls’ sport, although the IHSAA had been playing a state tournament in girls’ golf since the late 1970’s and some conference schools had already added it as a varsity school sport despite lacking NIC status. When the South Bend schools and Mishawaka added girls’ golf in 2000, the NIC adopted it as a conference sport. 

As of 2000, the boys’ sports offering conference championships numbered ten, while the girls had nine. In the 1994-95 school year, the NIC split the All-Sports Trophy competition into a boys’ competition and a girls’ competition.

Also in the 1994-95 school year marked the end of Michigan City Elston’s tenure in the conference as the School Board in Michigan City announced the closing of both Elston High School, an original charter member of the NIC and Rogers High School, a second school that opened in the 1970’s in Michigan City and merged the two schools into a “new” Michigan City High School and the new school would maintain the Duneland Conference membership that the “old” Rogers school was affiliated with. With Michigan City leaving the NIC, conference membership dropped to nine schools. Since Clay joined in 1977, conference membership was maintained at ten schools for eighteen years until 1995. 

Also in the spring of 1995, Greg Humnicky replaced John Danaher as the NIC Secretary/Treasurer, as John became involved with the IIAAA (State Athletic Directors organization) and would become their President during the 1997-98 school year.

In 1998, Washington Principal David Kaser retired after serving 18 years as Principal, including two terms as the NIC President.

2000’s

In the spring of 2000, Elkhart Memorial announced that they would withdraw from the NIC and join the Northern Lakes Conference. With Memorial’s departure, the NIC membership now stood at eight schools. However, in 2001 the South Bend school board announced that they would close LaSalle High School as a high school. When that announcement came about, NIC President George McCullough of Riley High School encouraged conference expansion since NIC membership would be dropping to seven schools. St. Joseph’s, Marian, Huntington North and Lake Central made appearances before the NIC Board of Control and discussed conference membership. Because of travel considerations, Lake Central and Huntington North were discouraged from seeking membership. As it turned out, Huntington North later joined the North Central Conference, replacing Lafayette Jefferson, and Lake Central later joined the Duneland Athletic Conference when Hobart withdrew from the Duneland. In the spring of 2002, St. Joseph’s and Marian were admitted to the NIC with full membership being gained by the 2005-06 school year.

At the Spring Board of Control Dinner in May of 2002, the NIC honored Elkhart Central’s Football coach Tom Kurth as he retired from that position after 36 years.  Also honored by the conference was Mishawaka’s John Danaher, who retired as athletic director after 27 years (1976 to 2002). Kirby Whitacre became the new Athletic Director at Mishawaka, replacing John Danaher. The following Spring in 2003, Penn’s Chris Geesman retired as their all-time winning football coach after 30 years as he was presented with a NIC retirement plaque. Geesman coached Penn to 5 state championships, 3 runner-ups, and 22 NIC titles (including 17 straight).

Since St. Joseph’s and Marian entered the conference, the NIC has been quietly looking for a tenth member. With only nine schools, the NIC has to schedule with a bye date built into any schedule. This is a minor problem in most sports schedules, but it is a major problem in football scheduling as it is difficult for NIC schools to schedule a non-conference opponent in football during the regular season when almost all other schools are in conference play.

In the 2007-08 school year, Bob Shriner became the Athletic Director at Mishawaka after Kirby Whitacre resigned to become the Director of Athletics in South Bend. In 2007, Mishawaka’s Jim Aldrich resigned as their football coach and became the assistant athletic director at Mishawaka. He resigned as Mishawaka’s coach with 92 wins in 14 years.

In 2008 at the Spring Board of Control dinner, the NIC honored Steve Jones of Mishawaka for his 25 years of track coaching service.

In 2008, Greg Humnicky and John Berta retired as athletic directors at their respective schools (Clay and Riley). Greg served for 20 years at Clay while John had a 26-year career at Riley. Greg Humnicky stayed on as the NIC Secretary/Treasurer and Historian after his retirement from Clay. Since the 2004/05 school year, the NIC Historian has published an annual yearbook for the conference highlighting the NIC standings, All-NIC teams and All-Sports point totals along with other conference news in addition to tracking conference teams through the IHSAA tournaments in all sports.

In the spring of 2009, the NIC honored Elkhart Central’s Tom Kurth as their retiring boys’ track coach and Ted Foland as their retiring athletic director. Ted Foland served as Central’s athletic director for 26 years (1983-2009) while also coaching and teaching in Elkhart for 40 years. Tom Kurth retired as Central’s boys’ track coach after 23 years. Previously, he was honored for coaching football at Central from 1966 to 2001 (36 years). Clay’s football coach Mike Kuntz announced his resignation as head football coach and was also honored by the NIC as he completed 22 years as Clay’s head football coach.

Mishawaka’s George Marzotto, who served as the NIC President in 2008-09, retired as Mishawaka’s principal and was succeeded by Jerome Calderone in the Spring of 2009. 

The NIC welcomed new Athletic Directors at several schools. Marilyn Coddens succeeded Pat Mackowiak at Washington High School in the Spring of 2008. Also, Bill Groves took over from Teri Woodruff at Adams High School in June of 2008. Jay Dow was appointed to follow John Berta at Riley High School, but stayed only one year when Walter Ballard was appointed in the summer of 2009 to be Riley’s athletic director. Brian Buckley was appointed to succeed Ted Foland, who retired, at Elkhart Central in the Summer of 2009. Also, Gary Demski was appointed to succeed Greg Humnicky at Clay in the Spring of 2008, but left in February 2009 for a university administrative position. Clay’s Rebecca Stafford finished the year at Clay as interim athletic director as she retired from teaching in June 2009. Joe Toth was appointed as Clay’s athletic director in May 2009.

At the Spring Board of Control meeting in May 2010, Dr. Ruth Warren of Clay High School was presented with a retirement plaque honoring her eight years as Principal at Clay High School, as she served as Conference President for the 2003/04 school year. George Lund was presented with a coaching service plaque as he resigned as Clay HS Boys’ Soccer coach after thirty years as varsity head coach. He has been the only Clay Boys’ Soccer coach in the school’s history. Although the NIC and the IHSAA have only recognized soccer as a sport since 1994, soccer has been a varsity sport for many of the NIC schools since the early 1980s.

2010 to 2020

The school year 2010/2011 will mark the 84^th year of the conference. Mishawaka High School remains as the sole original charter member school from the 1926/27 school year, along with Elkhart, which was renamed Central High School after Memorial opened up in the 1970’s in Elkhart.

The conference in 2010-11 welcomed a new Athletic Director at Washington as Chris Matthys replaced Marilyn Coddens, who returned to the classroom. Mansour Eid was named the new Principal at Clay High School, replacing Ruth Warren, who retired. At the Fall Dinner of the NIC, the conference invited Blake Ress, the retiring IHSAA Commissioner, to the dinner to speak. Assistant Commissioner Bobby Cox was elected to succeed Blake Ress as Commissioner, while South Bend native and LaSalle graduate Robert Faulkens was selected to the assistant commissioner position, replacing Cox. Faulkens had been a member of the IHSAA Board of Directors from Indianapolis.

At the Spring Board of Control Meeting, Teachers Credit Union sponsored the NIC MVP and NIC COY awards for the first time. Retiring TCU President Richard Rice assisted with the presentation of the awards. Bob Shriner of Mishawaka High School was presented with a retirement plaque after completing 31 years of service to Mishawaka HS athletics, the last 4 years serving as Athletic Director. The NIC administrators were presented with a new set of NIC By-Laws, Constitution, Policy Book, and All-NIC selection procedures.

In the Fall of 2011, the NIC welcomed Jim Aldrich as the new Mishawaka Athletic Director, succeeding the retiring Bob Shriner.  At the Fall Dinner of the NIC, the conference invited Assistant Commissioner of the IHSAA, Robert Faulkens to speak at the dinner. In addition, retired Principals and Athletic Directors from member schools were invited to dinner.
At the 2012 Spring Dinner of NIC, the NIC recognized Andre Scruggs of Adams for 34 years of service to the conference, serving at LaSalle and Adams as cross-country and wrestling coach in both head coach and assistant coach positions in those sports.  At the Spring Board of Control meeting, the NIC voted to have a NIC Swimming championship meet to determine all-conference selections, effective the next school year. The NIC also decided to freeze basketball schedules for the next four-year block.

In September 2011, Francois Bayingana was appointed Interim Principal at Riley HS, replacing Edward Bradford, who was placed on administrative leave and later retired from the SBCSC. Mansour Eid of Clay HS became President for 2011-12, with Bayingana being President for the 2012-13 school year. Walt Ballard was replaced as the Riley HS Athletic Director in June 2013. Joseph Droski became the Riley HS AD for the 2013-14 school year.

In the Fall of 2012, NIC Board of Control Sandra Walter was the after-dinner speaker.

In the Fall of 2013 Chris Matthys resigned as the Washington HS Athletic Director. Bob Shriner, retired Mishawaka HS AD, was hired on an interim basis through March of 2014, when Stacy Adams was hired from East Chicago Central to become Washington HS AD.
At the 2013 NIC Fall Dinner, Commissioner Bobby Cox was invited to speak at the annual fall dinner.

June 2014 saw the retirement of two South Bend Principals, Otha Reese of Adams after five years as Principal while George McCullough, Jr retired from Washington HS as Principal after 12 years at Washington and 13 years at Riley HS for a total of 25 years. He was a three-time NIC President (at Riley 1991-92, at Riley 2001-02, and at Washington 2009-10).

Penn’s long-time golf coach Jim Garrett also retired at the end of the school year. He won three IHSAA titles in girls’ golf (2002, 2004 & 2005), thirteen NIC championships, 11 sectional titles, ten regionals, and finished in the top ten at the State Finals 9 times.

In the Spring of 2014, the NIC considered the issue of conference expansion. The NIC considered applications from Jimtown, Bremen, John Glenn and New Prairie as the NSC (Northern State Conference) broke up as LaVille, Culver, Triton and Knox left to form a new small school conference.

At the NIC Board of Control Meeting on April 23, 2014, at Elkhart Central HS, the NIC admitted four new schools to the NIC. Bremen, Jimtown, John Glenn and New Prairie HS were admitted by a 9-0 vote.  The new conference alignment will become effective for the 2015-16 school year. In the 2014- 15 school year, the four new schools will complete their final year in their old conference, the Northern State Conference. The NSC will end as their smaller four schools reorganize into another conference.

At the Fall of 2014 NIC Fall Dinner, Bill Beck, Sports Editor of the Elkhart Truth, was the after-dinner speaker. At the Fall Dinner, the NIC principals affirmed the round-robin conference schedule in the 5 team sports of volleyball, G & B basketball, softball, and baseball. The NIC welcomed Jim Seitz as the new Principal at John Adams High School and Marie Doan, the new Riley High School Athletic Director, who replaced Joe Droski after one year.

At the Spring NIC Dinner, Garland Hudson was introduced as the new Washington HS Athletic Director, replacing interim Bob Shriner, who had replaced Stacy Adams, who left to go to Griffith High School during the school year. The NIC also recognized 25 years/retirement of the following individuals: From Saint Joseph HS, Jerry Hoffman, Cross-country; Tony Kowals, Boys’ Swimming; Johan Kuitse, Girls’ Soccer. Al Hartman, Clay HS Wrestling; Brad Robertson of Penn HS Boys’ Track & Field; John Woodruff of SB Adams HS Softball. Penn Athletic Director Ben Karasiak retired after 20 years at Penn HS and Aaron Leniski will assume the Penn HS AD position for the 2015-16 school year.

At the Fall of 2015 NIC  Dinner, Dean Huppert of Fox 28 Sports was the after-dinner speaker. The NIC, in addition to honoring 19 team championships, awarded divisional championships in volleyball, girls’ and boys’ basketball, baseball and softball. The Spring of 2016 saw the retirement of Saint Joseph’s AD, Eric Gohlke, after 11 years of service at Saint Joseph. Marian’s Reggie Glon resigned the AD position after 14 years in the NIC  but continues as the school’s football coach. Clay’s Joe Huppenthal resigned as their girls’ basketball coach after 1 year, after serving as the boys’ coach for 19 years, and went to Lake Central HS. Tom Adams of Elkhart was honored for 42 years of service to Central, Memorial and other NIC schools. Alberto Verteramo, Saint Joseph soccer coach, was recognized for 31 years of coaching soccer at Adams HS and Saint Joseph HS.

At the Fall of 2016 NIC dinner, Robert Faulkens, a SB LaSalle graduate, now an assistant commissioner with the IHSAA, spoke at the dinner. The NIC welcomed Debbie Brown as the new St. Joseph AD, and Al Hartman assumed the AD duties at Clay HS.  At the Spring dinner, the NIC honored retiring Mishawaka Athletic Director Jim Aldrich with a retirement plaque for 31 years of service to the NIC. Also, Riley Boys’ Basketball coach, Mark Johnson, was honored upon his retirement for his 30 years of service to the NIC at LaSalle and Riley. TCU presented the NIC MVP trophies and Coach of the Year plaques for the 7^th consecutive year.

In the Fall of 2017, the NIC welcomed new athletic directors at Riley (Dan Kyle), at Glenn (Eric Stephens). Brian Williamson, New Prairie AD retired in  October 2017, and Mark Yates served as Interim AD at New Prairie HS until the end of the school year At the Fall of 2017 NIC Dinner, Paul Neidig, IHSAA Assistant Commissioner, was our speaker. At the Spring 2018 Dinner, the NIC honored Susan Richter, Principal at Saint Joseph HS, as she is leaving that position after 13 years, including two terms as the NIC President. Aaron Leniski, Penn AD is leaving his position to become the Chief Operating Officer for the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp, Jeff Hart was introduced as his replacement as AD. Aaron was presented with a plaque noting his 18 years of service at Penn and the NIC. Dana DoBrodt was also honored for her 30 years of coaching at LaSalle and Mishawaka. TCU presented the NIC MVP and COY awards for the 8th consecutive year. It was also announced that Elkhart Central and Memorial were merging back into one school in Elkhart and that the new school would retain NIC membership. New Prairie HS announced that Ben Bachmann became the athletic director at New Prairie effective 2018-19.

At the 2018 Fall NIC dinner, the Conference invited Matt Wolfert, the IHSAA Foundation President, to be our speaker as he discussed the purpose of the Foundation statewide.

In the Spring of 2019. At the annual NIC Spring Dinner, TCU again sponsored the NIC MVP and COY awards. The NIC also honored Reggie Glon of Marian for service as Marian’s Football coach and Athletic Director for 33 years which included some time at Washington HS as a coach. Outgoing Jimtown Principal, Byron Sanders, was honored for ten years of service as Washington and Jimtown’s Principal as he became the Jimtown Superintendent. Also honored was Clay High School’s Dan Kasper for his 50 years of coaching baseball and football as an assistant coach upon his retirement from Clay High School.

In the Fall of 2019, the Conference invited Chris Kauffman, Assistant Commissioner of the IHSAA, to speak at the Fall NIC Dinner. The passing of long-time Mishawaka Athletic Director, John Danaher, was noted. Jimtown and New Prairie expanded their sports program with the addition of soccer, while Jimtown is adding swimming. The Elkhart Aquatic Center hosted the NIC Swimming meets this year. Bob Tull replaced Bill Groves as Athletic Director at Adams for the 20-21 school year.

In March 2020, the IHSAA cancelled the Boys’ Basketball tournament at the Regional level and later cancelled the entire spring sport season as schools were closed due to the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic.

In June, Mishawaka officially withdrew from the NIC and will join the NLC for 2020-21.

2020-21 and beyond

With the start of the 2020-21 school year, schools were operating within the state guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Strict health protocol procedures were used, and crowds were limited as some schools had to cancel contests due to the Covid-19 issue. Riley High School named Seabe Gavin as their Athletic Director after serving as interim for the past year. IHSAA did have Fall Sports state tournaments, but many schools statewide did not participate due to the pandemic in some sports. Chris Mannering became Principal at Glenn High School, replacing Will Morton, who retired. 

In May 2021, the NIC recognized Debbie Brown, who resigned as the Saint Joseph HS Athletic Director after 5 years. Also, the NIC recognized Frank Serge, who retired after 45 years of service to the Elkhart Community Schools while serving as Principal at Elkhart Central High School from 1999 to 2021, also serving two terms as NIC President in 2004-5 and in 2013-14. Also recognized was Mark Johnson, long-time Head Boys’ Basketball Coach at SB LaSalle, SB Riley and SB St. Joseph, accumulating 33 years of service to the NIC.

The NIC welcomed Steve Anthony as the new SB Saint Joseph Athletic Director in 2021-22. 
On Wednesday, Sep 29, Elkhart hosted a NIC Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.
Also, Kemilyn Schreiber was appointed Principal at Clay High School. At the Fall Dinner of the NIC, IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig and the new Assistant Commissioner Brian Lewis were NIC guests at dinner.
During the school year 2021-22, the NIC saw three schools achieve IHSAA State Championships: SB Washington 3A Girls’ Basketball, Saint Joseph in 3A Softball, and Penn in 4A Baseball.
Also, Mishawaka Marian was the 3A State Runner-Up in Boys’ Basketball while Marian’s Richard Brooks earned the IHSAA 3A Mental Attitude Award and Penn’s Ben Gregory was selected for the IHSAA 4A Baseball Mental Attitude Award.

For the school year 2022-23, Dawn Huff replaced Bob Tull as Athletic Director at Adams High School.  Two new Principals were welcomed, Kenard Robinson at Washington and JT Shelt at New Prairie. Bremen’s Bruce Jennings retired in the fall of 2022.

In 2023-24, John Glenn, Bremen, and Jimtown withdrew from the NIC after a nine-year stay in the NIC, citing a desire to affiliate with smaller schools. Clay High School was closed as a four year high school by the South Bend school board. This left the NIC with 8 schools on the membership roster. At the Fall Dinner at ZB Falcons, Assistant Commissioner Janie Ulmer spoke to the dinner gathering. At the Spring Dinner in addition to honoring the year’s MVP and COY selections, Penn’s Cory Yeoman was honored with a retirement plaque for his years of service to the NIC and Penn High School. 

In 2024-25, Carey Anderson of Elkhart became President of the NIC as Kenard Robinson resigned his position as Principal at Washington. Kevin Goralczyk was appointed Principal at Washington at the beginning of the school year. The school year 2024-25 saw the introduction of Girls’ Wrestling and Boys’ Volleyball as IHSAA-sponsored sport programs.
Marie Doan of Penn became the NIC schedule coordinator. Penn won the 1st NIC Girls’ Wrestling Tournament and the 1st Sectional in Girls’ Wrestling. Justin Heinold was appointed Principal at New Prairie High School for 2024-25. IHSAA Assistant Commissioner Jan Schott and Ed Gilliand, Associate Commissioner, were guests at our Fall Dinner.

During the 2025-26 school year, the NIC Fall Dinner moved to the MR Falcons Hall after 50 years at ZB Falcons, which closed its doors. Greg Rakestraw, who is the IHSAA media spokesperson, was our Fall Dinner speaker.  Girls’ Flag Football, sponsored by the Indianapolis Colts had its first state tourney, which was won by Penn HS with New Prairie’s team gaining a final four berth. Marian Girls’ Soccer won the Class 2A state championship, the school’s second state title.