The Ozark Conference was a high school athletic conference represented by 11 schools in the southwest portion of Missouri. As the name implies, all eleven schools are in the Ozarks region of the state and all are among the biggest in the region (only West Plains and Hillcrest are not Class 5 in basketball). The conference offers championships for girls in Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball, and Wrestling. In boys sports, the conference offers championships in Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Soccer, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, and Wrestling.
| Conference | Missouri State High School Activities Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960 |
| Sports fielded |
|
| No. of teams | 11 |
| Region | Missouri Ozarks |
The conference features All five of the public schools in Springfield and also the large central public schools in Rolla, Lebanon, and West Plains. Camdenton High School is the central school at the Lake of the Ozarks while Waynesville High School is the main high school for the military communities around the large Fort Leonard Wood army post, including Waynesville and St. Robert. The conference will disband after the 2023-24 school year with Hillcrest, Bolivar, and West Plains joining the Ozark Mountain Conference, Glendale, Kickapoo, Lebanon, and Waynesville joining the COC, Camdenton joining the CMAC, and Rolla, Parkview, and Central going independent.
List of member schools
edit| School | Team Name | Colors | Town | County | Enrollment (2015-16 & 2016–17) | Primary MSHSAA class* | Football class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolivar High School* | Liberators | Bolivar | Polk | 1000 | 4 | 4 | |
| Camdenton High School | Lakers | Camdenton | Camden | 1297 | 5 | 5 | |
| Glendale High School | Falcons | Springfield | Greene | 1561 | 5 | 5 | |
| Hillcrest High School | Hornets | Springfield | Greene | 1016 | 4 | 4 | |
| Central High School** | Bulldogs | Springfield | Greene | 1612 | 5 | 5 | |
| Kickapoo High School | Chiefs | Springfield | Greene | 1800 | 5 | 6 | |
| Lebanon High School | Yellowjackets | Lebanon | Laclede | 1466 | 5 | 5 | |
| Parkview High School | Vikings | Springfield | Greene | 1347 | 5 | 5 | |
| Rolla High School | Bulldogs | Rolla | Phelps | 1273 | 5 | 5 | |
| Waynesville High School | Tigers | Waynesville | Pulaski | 1627 | 5 | 6 | |
| West Plains High School* | Zizzers | West Plains | Howell | 1092 | 4 | 4 |
As of the 2017/18 School year Joplin HS has swapped conferences to the COC. Replacing Joplin is former OC member Central.
Bolivar High School applied to join the OC after the COC Small Division dissolved–leaving Bolivar as an independent school. November 5, 2019, it was announced that Bolivar's football program would enter the Ozark Conference in 2020, replacing Central. Central will become an independent in football but remain in the OC in other sports. Bolivar will be a "football only" school in the OC and their other sports programs will remain independent. As of March 2020 Bolivar has been approved as a full member of the conference and will compete in all sports.
As of the 2024-25 school year, the schools joined the Central Ozark Conference (Central, Glendale, Parkview, Kickapoo, Lebanon, & Waynesville), Ozark Mountain Conference (Hillcrest & West Plains), Central Missouri Athletic Conference (Camdenton), and Rolla remained independent.
*As of 10/11/23 they are leaving the Ozark Conference to form new Ozark Mountain Conference.
**Central High School (Springfield, Mo) plays football as an Independent as of 2020.