The Indianapolis-area world of high school athletics was dealt a significant shakeup on Monday afternoon, as two big schools are out one of the biggest conferences in the state – and have an eye on joining one of Indiana’s other powerhouse leagues.
Carmel and Center Grove high schools are leaving the Metropolitan Intersholastic Conference (MIC). Both schools were charter members of the league since its founding in 1996, but are now former members. Hours after the announcement, both Carmel and Center Grove announced they have formally applied for membership to the Hoosier Crossroads Conference (HCC), which contains four other Hamilton County schools: Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, Noblesville and Westfield. Other schools in the HCC are Avon, Brownsburg, Franklin Central and Zionsville.
At 3:09 p.m. on Monday, Indianapolis Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep posted on Twitter that Carmel and Center Grove had been voted out of the MIC by the principals of the conference’s six other schools: Ben Davis, Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, North Central, Pike and Warren Central.
The MIC later released a statement on the changes. The statement said that during the fall “it came to our attention that for athletic reasons, as well as a desire to ‘culturally align’ (as reported in the media) with surrounding suburban schools, Carmel and Center Grove were seeking placement in a different conference. We value the historical relationships with these two communities, and while this news was sad to those of us who understand the rich history, we also understand that these two schools no longer share the vision that we are more than an athletic conference, that athletics should not drive our decisions, and that our unique characteristics are what make us strong.”
The statement said that the remaining principals then “made the difficult decision to vote Center Grove and Carmel out of the conference. Article V, section 4 of the MIC Constitution allows for the removal of other schools with a unanimous vote of the remaining schools and just cause. This vote will allow these two schools to seek a confernce that aligns with their visions.”
Once the news broke, speculation immediately began about one or both schools joining another conference, with all signs pointing to the HCC. Later that afternoon, Carmel High School athletic director Jim Inskeep sent out a joint statement from Carmel and Center Grove confirming that both schools had formally applied to join the HCC.
The statement reads:
“Center Grove High School and Carmel High School have submitted a formal petition to join the Hoosier Crossroads Conference (HCC). We respect the coaches, faculty, administrators, and student-athletes of the MIC Conference. We have had long-standing and positive relationships with the MIC Conference and appreciate the 26 years of collaboration and competition with the MIC schools. The decision to request to change conferences is rooted in the belief that this move would provide our schools with the collaboration, competition, and support necessary to grow our programs over the next 20 years.”
The contracts between Carmel and Center Grove and the six MIC schools will be honored through the 2022-23 school year, but the MIC will begin as a six-team conference in the spring of 2022.
Carmel and Center Grove were both charter members of the MIC. When the league formed in 1996, the other six schools in the conference were Ben Davis, Lawrence North, North Central, Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and Warren Central. The Terre Haute schools left the MIC in 2013, with Lawrence Central and Pike joining from Conference Indiana that same year.
Prior to the founding of the MIC, Carmel had been a charter member of the Sagamore Conference when it began in 1967. The school left the Sagamore in 1974 to join the Olympic Conference, and stayed a member of that league until the MIC began.
