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WIAA moving forward on tackling conference realignment in Southeast Wisconsin **UPDATED**

12/29/2014, 2:00pm CST
By Travis Wilson

Please make note that I preface this information by stating it is NOT official and very much subject to change. With that said, it appears the WIAA is moving forward with plans to address large-scale conference realignment in Southeast Wisconsin.

After tackling a realignment proposal in Northeast Wisconsin a year ago that impacted 76 schools and 8 conferences, WIAA Associate Director Deb Hauser, who is in charge of realignment for the organization, has begun work on options to realign several of the most prominent leagues in the entire state.

Working behind the scenes with administrators from schools in the Classic Eight, Woodland, Greater Metro, Little Ten, and North Shore, Hauser made a presentation to the schools last month that would drastically alter the landscape in Southeast Wisconsin.

UPDATE:  The most recent discussions on the Southeast Wisconsin realignment occurred just before Christmas, and an updated proposal was presented. Instead of aligning several powerful large schools from multiple conferences into a new league known as "Group A", this new proposal leaves the Classic Eight intact, only addressing the Little Ten, North Shore, Greater Metro, and Woodland.

As we reported previously, Beaver Dam and Watertown are set to move to the Badger Conference in 2016-17, and indications are it could be a Large/Small divisional split rather than East/West.

Below is the rest of the most recent plan, called "Proposal #4".

"Proposal #4" (most recent)
(Schools/conferences in SE WI not listed would be unchanged)

Classic Eight:
Remain intact

Greater Metro:
Brookfield Central
Brookfield East
Germantown
Marquette/DSHA
Menomonee Falls
Oconomowoc
Sussex Hamilton
Wisconsin Lutheran

New Conference:
Cedarburg
Grafton
Hartford
Homestead
Nicolet
Port Washington
Slinger
West Bend East
West Bend West
Whitefish Bay

Woodland (2 eight-team divisions):
Brown Deer
Cudahy
Greendale
Greenfield
Milwaukee Lutheran
New Berlin Eisenhower
New Berlin West
Pewaukee
Pius XI
Shorewood
South Milwaukee
Wauwatosa East
Wauwatosa West
West Allis Central
West Allis Hale
Whitnall

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Proposal #2" (older proposal)
(Schools/conferences in SE WI not listed would be unchanged)

Conference A: 
Arrowhead, Germantown, Hartford, Homestead, Kettle Moraine, Mukwonago, Muskego, Oconomowoc

Conference B: 
Beaver Dam, Cedarburg, Waukesha North, Waukesha South, Waukesha West, West Bend East, West Bend West, Watertown

Conference C:
Brookfield Central, Brookfield East, Greenfield, Marquette, Menomonee Falls, Sussex Hamilton, West Allis Central, West Allis Hale

Conference D:
Catholic Memorial, Grafton, Milwaukee Lutheran, Nicolet, Port Washington, Slinger, Wauwatosa East, Wauwatosa West, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin Lutheran

Conference E: 
Brown Deer, Cudahy, Greendale, New Berlin Eisenhower, New Berlin West, Pewaukee, Pius XI, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, Whitnall

This plan was presented to administrators from the impacted schools to generate feedback and discus alternatives. It seems that discussion has already made headway.

Multiple sources have told WSN that Beaver Dam and Watertown are a "done deal, or close to" moving from the Little Ten to the Badger Conference starting in the 2016-17 school year. Currently the Badger is made up of 14 schools divided into North and South Divisions. With the entry of two new members, the conference would re-organize into East and West Divisions.

Of course, this or any other movement would impact the original WIAA proposal, as Group B would be left with just 6 schools. It would seem likely that 2 schools from Group D, which originally had 10 members, could move to Group B.

Again, the proposal outlined above was just an initial plan, but it gives a framework the WIAA and schools can work from, and insight into how the WIAA would like to conduct realignment. Like with the Northeast changes, the WIAA will do all possible to maintain 8- or 10-team groupings. A number of factors, including travel, rivalries, competitiveness across all sports, and more, will go into any changes.

A number of schools have expressed interest in recent years of moving from their existing conferences, including six that did so officially at last fall's Area Meetings: Milwaukee Lutheran, Port Washington, Nicolet, Wauwatosa East, Wisconsin Lutheran, and Delavan-Darien. 

It is unclear what the next step in the realignment process will be, or the timeline for new proposals or presented to the Board of Control for a vote. The WIAA could choose to wait for further discussion until after the April Annual Meeting, where the Success-Based Formula for competitive equity in tournament play will be voted on. There was also significant support among members at fall Area Meetings for statewide realignment every 8 years, which could be reviewed and researched more by the WIAA in lieu of southeast-specific changes.

Stay tuned to WSN for more on the realignment process in the coming months.

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