STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Conference Realignment Task Force reconvened at the executive office Thursday to conduct hearings for modified requests and finalize solution proposals to advance to the Board of Control.
The current realignment process addresses sports other than football for implementation in 2025-26. Football-only conference realignment consideration occurs on an alternate-year rotation.
A new conference was created to provide Kewaskum and Plymouth with conference affiliation after the East Central Conference was dissolved by the Task Force. The new, seven-school conference to be named later, includes Grafton, Port Washington, West Bend East and West Bend West, which move from the North Shore Conference; Sheboygan South, which moves from the Fox River Classic; and the two former East Central Conference schools.
The Task Force is also recommending Germantown to transition from the Greater Metro Conference into the North Shore Conference. As a result, the North Shore Conference will consist of seven members with Cedarburg, Germantown, Hartford, Homestead, Nicolet, Slinger and Whitefish Bay. With the removal of Germantown, the Greater Metro Conference will be reduced to eight teams.
An original proposal that placed Berlin in the South Central Conference from the East Central Conference and Waupun in the Capitol Conference from the East Central Conference, which was modified for more review by the Task Force, was approved to be advanced to the Board of Control.
The Task Force also approved a modification of a plan – following an appeal by the Big 8 Conference – that combines the Big 8 and Badger Conferences, as well as adding the La Crosse Central Co-op to form the Badger Lacrosse Conference consisting of DeForest, Edgewood co-op, La Crosse Central co-op, Middleton, Oregon co-op, Sauk Prairie co-op, Sun Prairie co-op, Verona co-op, Watertown and Waunakee.
The Task Force rejected a modified plan with a tied vote that would move Oak Creek from the Southeast Conference to the Classic 8 Conference. The Task Force originally rejected a request from Oak Creek to move to the Greater Metro, then was later modified for further review by the committee. The Task Force also considered moving Oak Creek and Franklin from the Southeast Conference into the Classic 8 and moving Milwaukee Reagan and Milwaukee King from the Milwaukee City Conference to the Southeast Conference, but the motion failed with a tied vote.
The conference configurations for all the modified realignment plans, as well as all the original realignment proposals submitted, are available on the Conference Realignment Requests and Proposals page of the WIAA Website.
The Board of Control will hear any appeals of plans modified or rejected at yesterday’s Task Force meeting and will vote on the recommendations of the Task Force at its meeting Tuesday, March 5. The Board has the options to approve, reject or remand realignment recommendations back to the Task Force.
If approved, the modifications will be implemented for the 2025-26 sports seasons. If remanded, the Task Force will reconvene to make appropriate changes to the plan before presenting it to the Board of Control again in April. If rejected, the conferences will remain in their current configuration.
The WIAA, as defined by its Constitution, is a voluntary, unincorporated, and nonprofit organization. The membership oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 515 senor high schols and 43 junior high/middle level schools in its membership. For more information, please contact the WIAA office at (715) 344-8580.
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