Apollo Conference
Data
Established	1970
Members	8 Class 4A
State Titles	10
State	Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Counties	8 (Effingham, Marion, Coles Coles County, Illinois Coles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 53,873, which is an increase of 1.3% from 53,196 in 2000. Its county seat is Charleston, which is also the home of Eastern Illinois University.... , Jasper Jasper County, Illinois hjsdgcbi76dft... , Richland, Edgar Edgar County, Illinois Edgar County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 18,576, which is a decrease of 5.7% from 19,704 in 2000... , Crawford and Macon)

The Apollo Conference is a high school athletic conference

Athletic conference

An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other at the professional, collegiate, or high school level. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller and smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels...

 represented by 8 schools in the south-central portion of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. It is a member of the Illinois High School Association

Illinois High School Association

The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...

.

The conference offers championships for girls in basketball, cross country, golf, softball, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. In boys' sports, the Apollo offers championships in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, track & field, and wrestling

Scholastic wrestling

Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...

.

Current members

School	Nickname	Colors	Location
Charleston High School	Trojans		Charleston, IL
East Richland High School	Tigers		Olney, IL
Effingham High School	Flaming Hearts		Effingham, IL
Mt. Zion High School	Braves		Mount Zion, IL
Newton Community High School	Eagles		Newton, IL
Paris High School	Tigers		Paris, IL
Robinson High School	Maroons		Robinson, IL
Salem Community High School	Wildcats		Salem, IL

The conference was formed in 1970 by charter members Charleston, Newton, Paris and Robinson. In 1972 Decatur Lakeview and Mt. Zion joined the conference after departing the Cenois Conference. Effingham and Taylorville joined in 1981, leaving the Mid-State Conference. Lakeview closed in 1982, bringing the conference back to seven members. In 1993 Taylorville left to join the newly-formed Central State 8 Conference. Olney and Salem joined from the North Egypt Conference

North Egypt Conference

The North Egypt Conference was an Illinois high school athletic conference in existence from 1929 to 2003-Members:-State Titles:...

, which was dissolved in 2003.

Significant changes are coming for the Apollo Conference. Founding members Newton and Robinson, as well as Olney, will leave for the Little Illini Conference

Little Illini Conference

The Little Illini Conference is a high school athletic conference in East Central Illinois that is a member of the Illinois High School Association...

 for the 2012-13 school year. Mattoon will join the league in that same school year. Mattoon will leave the Big 12 Conference

Big Twelve Conference (Illinois)

The Big Twelve Conference is a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association , based in Central Illinois. While the name implies that the conference has twelve schools, there are actually only ten schools currently active, due to other schools either closing, ending...

. Teutopolis was invited to join the conference, but declined the invitation.

External links

• Apollo Conference official website
• Illinois High School Association (IHSA) official website
• Official 2010-2011 IHSA Apollo football standings IHSA Apollo Conference page
• Apollo Football Conference. IllinoisPigskin.com (Illinois Pigskin: Fan Focused Coverage of Illinois High School Football)
• Charleston High School
• Olney East Richland High School
• Effingham High School
• Mount Zion High School
• Newton High School
• Paris High School
• Robinson High School
• Salem High School