Northern Shores Conference

The Northern Shores Conference (NSC) is an interscholastic athletic conference affiliated with the Michigan High School Athletic Association. It began play during the 2024–2025 school year. It is located in Northern Michigan and contains eight teams that encompasses seven counties: Antrim County, Charlevoix County, Cheboygan County, Crawford County, Emmet County, Grand Traverse County, and Kalkaska County.

The Northern Shores Conference was announced in April 2023, comprising six teams from the Lake Michigan Conference and one each from the Northwest and Straits Area Conference. The conference formed following the dissolution of the old Lake Michigan Conference, the schools in the conference had concerns with Traverse City St. Francis, and their domination in most of the sports offered, they had almost 50 more conference champions than the next closest school. East Jordan was the first school announced to leave; they were joining the smaller Ski-Valley Conference for all sports. Kingsley, who had previously been denied entry into the Lake Michigan Conference in 2017, and Cheboygan were invited by the remaining six LMC teams, sans St. Francis, to form the new conference.

Administrators at the schools feel the new conference will have better competitive balance, as well as maintaining some of the rivalries that have formed over the years. The new conference however does not affect its members schools association with the Northern Michigan Football League, the new conference will not sponsor football, all member schools except Kalkaska are current members of the NMFL.^[1][2][3]

In October 2025, it was announced that the Northern Shores Conference would sponsor football starting in the 2026 season, with the exception of Harbor Springs, who will stay in the Northern Michigan Football League. The seven other schools will play a 7-game schedule with non-league games to open and close the season, and one team playing a non-league game each week from weeks two through eight. ^[4]

Notes:

° Boyne City - Co-ops with Charlevoix in Skiing; Co-ops with Petoskey, Petoskey St. Michael and Harbor Springs in Hockey and Lacrosse.

° Charlevoix - Co-ops with Boyne City in Skiing; Co-ops with Elk Rapids, Kalkaska, Kingsley, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, Mancelona, Suttons Bay and Traverse City St. Francis in Hockey.

° Cheboygan - Co-ops with Indian River-Inland Lakes, Onaway, Pellston and St. Ignace in Ice Hockey

° Elk Rapids - Co-ops with Charlevoix, Kalkaska, Kingsley, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, Mancelona, Suttons Bay and Traverse City St. Francis in Hockey; Co-ops with Central Lake and Traverse City St. Francis in Skiing.

° Harbor Springs - Co-ops with Petoskey, Petoskey St. Michael and Boyne City in Hockey and Lacrosse; Co-ops with Harbor Light Christian and Petoskey St. Michael in Football.

° Kalkaska - Co-ops with Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Kingsley, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, Mancelona, Suttons Bay and Traverse City St. Francis in Hockey.

° Kingsley - Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Kalkaska, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, Mancelona, Suttons Bay and Traverse City St. Francis in Hockey.

Notes:

° Elk Rapids - Co-ops with Central Lake and Traverse City St. Francis in Skiing.

° Harbor Springs - Co-ops with Petoskey St. Michael in Tennis,

• Boyne City Public Schools
• Charlevoix Public Schools
• Cheboygan Area Schools
• Elk Rapids Schools
• Crawford AuSable School District
• Harbor Springs Public Schools
• Kalkaska Public Schools
• Kingsley Area Schools