The North Central Conference is an eight team high school athletic conference based in North Central Iowa. The conference's membership is 3A (Iowa's second largest classification of schools), 2A, and sometimes even 1A (Iowa's smallest classification of schools). The conference dates to 1929 and has a long tradition together and many intense rivalries.
For many years, the North Central Conference was an eight team league. Schools from Algona, Clarion, Clear Lake, Eagle Grove, Hampton, Humboldt, Iowa Falls, and Webster City competed in the conference. In the 1980s Hampton and Clarion both began whole grade sharing with smaller neighboring districts (Dumont and Goldfield, respectively). The districts reorganized into Hampton-Dumont and Clarion-Goldfield, respectively in the early 1990s. In 1988, the Boone Valley School District of Renwick dissolved and was split mostly between Humboldt and Clarion. In 1993-94, the league expanded to include two of the region's strongest catholic schools: Bishop Garrigan of Algona and St. Edmond of Fort Dodge. Iowa Falls and Alden began whole grade sharing in 2004 as did Clarion-Goldfield and Dows in 2005. Clarion-Goldfield and Dows consolidated into Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in 2014. Humboldt and Twin Rivers began whole grade sharing in 2012. Algona and Titonka began whole grade sharing in 2012 and consolidated in 2014, and LuVerne began whole grade sharing with Algona in 2015. Corwith-Wesley dissolved, with much of the district being attached to LuVerne and Algona. Webster City and Northeast Hamilton will begin a whole grade sharing agreement in 2015 as well. Despite the deep roots the member schools have with the conference, the disparity in the size of conference schools has recently become a pressing issue for league members. CAL (Latimer) is looking at potentially beginning whole grade sharing with Hampton-Dumont in 2018.
In October 2012, Bishop Garrigan Catholic looked at moving to the North Iowa Conference. In December 2012, NIC accepted Bishop Garrigan's request to join their conference and the move became official in 2014.
On Monday, December 10, 2012 the Eagle Grove Community School Board voted in favor of applying for North Iowa Conference membership. This was approved by the North Iowa Conference. Clarion-Goldfield-Dows has also been involved in discussions with the NIC, however no action was taken by CGD. Other NCC member institutions such as Iowa-Falls-Alden, Hampton-Dumont, and St. Edmond have also suggested possible interest in leaving the NCC.
In February the NCC superintendents approved on 9-0 and 8-0 votes to move to divisional play. There will be a large school division and a small school division, determined by enrollment. In basketball, baseball, and softball, teams will play schools in their own division twice and schools in the other division twice as well. It is hoped that this will not only hold the remaining eight teams of the NCC together, but also attract surrounding schools into the league. The large school division includes Webster City, Algona, Humboldt, and Iowa Falls-Alden. The small school division includes Clear Lake, Hampton-Dumont, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, and St. Edmond.