STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control approved several of the Conference Realignment Task Force recommendations for football-only and lacrosse conference realignment, and advanced five Constitutional amendments to the Annual Meeting at its March meeting today.

After reviewing 13 appeals of the football conference realignment plans recommended by the Conference Realignment Task Force, the Board approved the entire 8-player football plan and all but two of the 11-player football plans that were released on Feb. 6. The plan involving the Northeastern Conference and Eastern Wisconsin Conference, as well as the plan for the Classic Eight Conference, Greater Metro Conference, North Shore Conference, Parkland Conference and the Woodland Conference were remanded back to the Task Force for further evaluation and consideration.

Following the review of one appeal of the lacrosse realignment plan, the Board approved the alignments of the Bay Valley Lakes Association, Badger Conference, and Hudson and Superior as independents. The portion of the plan involving the Classic Eight Conference, North Shore Conference, Greater Metro Conference and the Midwest Classic Conference were remanded back to the committee for further review.

The remanded plans will be re-evaluated by the Task Force at its April 15 meeting with a final proposal for those conferences impacted to be presented to the Board for final consideration at its April 23 meeting.

The lacrosse plan approved by the Board will be implemented in the spring of the 2025-26 school year, and the football alignments will begin in the fall of the 2026-27 school year. The complete details of conference configurations, as well as information on the conference realignment process, are available on the Conference Realignment Requests and Approvals page of the WIAA website. Access the page by clicking on the “Conference Realignment” link within the “Schools” megamenu.

The Board also took action to approve the gymnastics cooperative teams for 2025-26 and the other winter sports cooperative teams for 2025-26 and 2026-27.

Among the four amendments the Board voted to advance for a membership vote at the Annual Meeting on April 25, two impact the Rules of Eligibility. One of those is a second attempt for the membership to consider Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) options. If approved, student-athletes would be permitted to enter into NIL opportunities for activities not associated or identified with their school team, school, conference or the WIAA, and in accordance with other prohibited NIL activities, including language attempting to deter undue influence.

The second amendment to the Rules of Eligibility advanced is a recommendation of the Calendar and Contact Ad-Hoc Committee. The proposal expands the opportunities for summer coaching contact in all WIAA-sponsored sports. Coaches and members of a school’s team may voluntarily assemble, without restriction from June 1-June 30 and from July 7-July 31, except football, which requires coaching contact to conclude one week prior to the start of fall practice. No school, sport-specific coach contact will be permitted from July 1-July 6.

The Board voted to advance one amendment impacting the Bylaws. In addition to the current one-game suspension, a spectator who has been ejected from a contest would be required to complete the free, online NFHS Sportsmanship Course available on the NFHSLearn.com website and submitting the completed course certificate to school officials before attending any future home athletic events.

The fourth amendment advanced by the Board is Constitutional. It would allow ninth-grade teams to play the same number of contests as allowed in the Season Regulations for junior varsity and varsity teams.

Another Constitutional amendment was brought forward by a membership petition, which advances directly to the Annual Meeting. If approved by the membership, the proposal would make cross country the only sport with a team qualifying component to be excluded from the competitive balance performance factor.

In addition, there are two editorial changes, which are intended to clarify the existing rules without changing the interpretation of the rule, moving forward to a membership vote. One addresses the Board of Control election language outlined in the Constitution. The other removes specific sport references in the performance factor language outlined in Appendix N to read “…for all WIAA team sports with multiple divisions.”

Other topics of discussion included updates on the Calendar and Contact Committee; competitive balance; the ongoing efforts to recruit and retain licensed officials; and the activities of the Student-Athlete Leadership Team, which included a presentation of promotional videos featuring the group.

The Board received liaison reports from Dan Rossmiller of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Paul Manriquez of the Department of Public Instruction and Brittany Spencer Grant of the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association.

The WIAA, as defined by its Constitution, is a private, voluntary, unincorporated, and nonprofit organization. The membership oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 513 senior high schools and 36 junior high/middle level schools in its membership.

# WIAA #