Chicago Christian athletic director Eric Brauer can count on one hand the amount of championship plaques Knights teams have earned during their four-years in the Suburban Christian Conference.
There are four in cheerleading, one in boys basketball.
But when Chicago Christian leaves the Suburban Christian after the 2013-14 school year to join the Metro Suburban Conference, he said he’ll point to the Suburban Christian as having been a conduit to the most successful period in the Palos Heights school’s history.
An official announcement was made Thursday that Chicago Christian is among seven schools that will join the Metro Suburban Conference, doubling it in size. The others are Aurora Central Catholic, Guerin , Immaculate Conception, St. Edward, Walther Lutheran and Wheaton Academy.
Among the teams in the Metro Suburban Conference are two of Chicago Christian’s biggest rivals from its days in the Private School League, Illiana Christian and Timothy Christian. Elmwood Park, Fenton, Glenbard South, Ridgewood and Riverside-Brookfield will complete the 14-team league.
Chicago Christian joined the Suburban Christian Conference in 2009 after the Private School League was dissolved.
“We primarily joined the SCC to toughen up our regular season schedules and get us ready for the playoffs,” Brauer said. “The mission of why we joined the conference at that time proved to be exactly what we though it would in that regard. Our regular seasons have gotten tougher and our postseason success has gotten greater.”
Over the past four years, Chicago Christian teams captured 29 postseason titles, the biggest being the 2010 Class 2A girls state volleyball championship.
The reunion with Illiana Christian and Timothy Christian will be in league affiliation only.
“This won’t change our schedule any. We’ve continued playing Timothy and Illiana in everything over the past four years anyway,” Brauer said. “It does change the emphasis of the games in that they’re now conference games vs. nonconference games.
“We’ve remained close with those two schools, and I assume we always will.”
