BOARD APPROVES CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT FOR PREVIOUSLY REMANDED PLANS
STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control voted Tuesday to approve Conference Realignment Task Force recommendations of the nonfootball plans remanded by the Board at its meeting last month.
After hearing appeals to the revisions the Conference Realignment Task Force made to the remanded proposals, the Board approved the recommended revised plans, which will be implemented beginning with the 2025-26 sports seasons.
The new construct of a seven-team North Shore Conference will include Cedarburg, Grafton, Hartford, Homestead, Nicolet, Slinger and Whitefish Bay. A new seven-team conference, yet to be named, was formed with Kettle Moraine Lutheran, Kewaskum, Plymouth, Port Washington, Sheboygan South, West Bend East and West Bend West.
Waukesha North and Waukesha South will move from the Classic 8 into the Woodland Conference, joining Brown Deer, Cudahy, Greendale, Greenfield, Milwaukee Lutheran, New Berlin Eisenhower, New Berlin West, Pewaukee, Pius XI Catholic, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, West Allis Central, Whitnall and Wisconsin Lutheran to form a 16-team league with two divisions. The schools that will be assigned to each of the divisions will be determined by the conference's 16 member schools.
In the modified seven-team version proposed for the Southeast Conference, Oak Creek moves from the Southeast Conference into the eight-team Classic 8 Conference with Arrowhead, Catholic Memorial, Kettle Moraine, Mukwonago, Muskego, Oconomowoc and Waukesha West. The remaining seven teams in the Southeast Conference are Franklin, Kenosha Bradford, Kenosha Indian Trail, Kenosha Tremper, Racine Case, Racine Horlick and Racine Park.
Topics of discussion included staff reports on the Annual Meeting scheduled on Wednesday, April 24 at the Sentry Theater in Stevens Point, the 2024 Scholar-Athlete Award Ceremony on May 5 at SentryWorld, recruitment and retainment of licensed officials, a recap of the NFHS Legal Meeting, a review of the winter tournaments, and updates on the Student-Athlete Leadership Team Initiative.
The Board received liaison reports from Dan Rossmiller of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards and Eric Plitzuweit of the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association.
The WIAA, as defined by its Constitution, is a voluntary, unincorporated, and nonprofit organization. The membership oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 515 senior high schools and 43 junior high/middle level schools in its membership.
# WIAA #