Board acts on conference plans, advances amendments
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control approved several of the Conference Realignment Task Force recommendations for footballonly and lacrosse conference realignment, and advanced five Constitutional amendments to the annual meeting at its March 11 meeting.
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.
As part of the 8-player plan, which takes effect in the fall of 2026, Gilman will be part of the North Central-East Conference, which will include Alma Center Lincoln, 8-player newcomer Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, Athens, Cornell, Newman Catholic, Owen-Withee and Thorp. Rib Lake will be part of the Northwoods-East Conference with Chequamegon, Elcho-White Lake, Hurley, Phillips, Prentice, Three Lakes-Phelps and Wabeno-Laona.
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 202627.
Annual meeting update
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.”
