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By Travis Wilson
WisSports.net

A flurry of activity at the WIAA Board of Control meeting in Green Lake this afternoon resulted in sweeping changes in the basketball and football landscapes. Featuring at times contentious debate and appeals, these changes are sure to be much-discussed in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

The 6-hour meeting resulted in the approval of the 5-Division Proposal in both boys and girls basketball, the elimination of the "3 games in 10 days" situation in football with the season start date moved forward one day, and the final approval for a football-only merger of the Wisconsin Valley Conference and Fox Valley Association amongst other agenda items.

5-Division Basketball Proposal approved

The first major action of the day came for boys and girls basketball. The WIAA's 5-Division Proposal arose from feedback garnered at last fall's Area Meetings where a different plan that featured a rural/urban component was discussed but ultimately scrapped. The current proposal adds a fifth division while also establishing a new format to divide schools within those divisions.

The plan will feature a State Tournament with four teams in each division and five championship games on the final day of the boys and girls tournaments. The plan also provides Division 1 with a “super sectional” the Tuesday the week of the State Tournament.

The proposal had advanced through the committee process with mixed results, drawing support from the Basketball Coaches Committee as well as a 9-7 affirmative vote from the Advisory Council on Wednesday. These committees are ultimately advisory in nature, meaning the final decision rested with the Board of Control vote today.

Following a brief discussion period, the Board voted unanimously 10-0 in favor of the plan (one member of the 11-person board was not present). Outgoing BOC president Roger Foegen of Bangor called it a "shot in the arm" for the sport.

Implementation of the plan is expected for the 2011 state tournaments, with re-designed sectional assignments to be released in the fall. WIAA staff noted this change will provide a more equitable opportunity for schools that were formerly on the low end of the enrollment range in Division 1, as they will now be moved to Division 2.

The new divisions will be constructed as follows:
Division 1 - schools with an enrollment of 1200 and above (76 schools using 2010 enrollment)
Division 2 - schools with enrollments ranging from 600 - 1199 (88 schools)
Division 3 - 50% of schools with enrollments between 200 and 600 (98 schools)
Division 4 - 50% of schools with enrollments between 200 and 600 (99 schools)
Division 5 - schools with enrollments of 200 and less (122 schools)

Some large Division 1 schools had voiced concerns over the plan, as Division 1 will go from 8 teams at the state tournament to just 4. However, according to Scott Lindgren of Kenosha, whose WIAA District 7 area represents a number of D1 schools, he had not received a single call or email from a D1 coach indicating their opposition to the plan.

WIAA staff pointed out that Division 1 now contains the fewest schools, making their path to the state tournament the shortest of any division. It was also pointed out that several schools have expressed interest in opting to play up a division in the tournament series, although official petitions had not been accepted until the plan was approved.

To view further information on these changes, including a spreadsheet with new divisional placement and maps of each division and sectional, please visit our initial article when the 5-Division Proposal was presented by clicking here.

Several other basketball-related items were up for vote as well. The BOC voted unanimously to deny proposals to move the basketball season up one week and to require 3-person officiating crews for all regular season games. Schools are still free to schedule 3-person crews if they choose however.

Two other tournament-related issues were discussed and approved unanimously. The first will change the regional schedule to a Tuesday-Friday-Saturday setup and the sectional schedule to Thursday-Saturday. In conjunction with the aforementioned Super Tuesday sectional final setup, the Division 1 schedule will be Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday.

The final change will require the seeding of all 16 teams in a sectional as opposed to seeding the separate 8-team regionals for all divisions, something that has been done in Division 1 for a number of years. However, if more than 25% of teams in a sectional oppose this (most often due to travel concerns) the format will revert to the standard regional setup.

Board approves moving football season up one week

Since the defeat of the District Football Plan earlier this year, the WIAA has been developing solutions to the problem of playing three games in 10 days at the end of the regular season and start of the post-season. With concussions and head-related injuries an increasing concern, the staff reviewed four proposals to remedy this situation.

The four proposals were:

1. Start the season on the Wednesday of Week 5 in August instead of Monday of Week 6.
2. Eliminate Week 9 of the regular season and play only 8 regular season games.
3. Move the WIAA State Championships back one week to the Thanksgiving weekend.
4. Reduce the playoff field to 112 teams.

WIAA staff surveyed all schools that offer football and received 335 responses. The school votes were:

1) Start season early - 46%
2) Play 8 games - 31%
3) Move state championships back - 14%
4) 112 playoff teams - 9%

The options were also presented to the various WIAA advisory committees. The Sports Advisory Committee endorsed the option of starting the season early while the Advisory Council voted 10-6 in favor of reducing the season to 8 weeks. WIAA Executive Staff were split on the measures.

As discussion by the Board of Control began, it became clear that none of the options were perfect and the voting would be close.

BOC member Mark Gobler of Luck expressed concerns about the impact of moving the start date up would have on player turnout. "I think we're going to lose kids," he said. "It's too early to start."

Jim Smasal of Winneconne expressed concern about cutting into family time during the summer but recognized cutting games isn't a good thing either. "I don't like either option," he said bluntly.

WIAA Communication Director Todd Clark added that going to an 8-game season could have impacts on how teams make it into the playoffs.

"Eight games would muddy the water and could result in some teams qualifying for the playoffs and others not based on the flip of a coin."

With these thoughts in mind, the vote was close as expected. A motion was made to approve the first option of moving the season up one week. When the roll call vote was read, the measure passed 6-4.

This move in the start date will not go into effect until the 2011 season.

WVC/FVA merger leads to heated debate

While the 5-Division basketball proposal received the most statewide attention, the most heated debate came from discussions involving the proposed football-only merger between the Wisconsin Valley Conference and the Fox Valley Association.

Since defections by former members Antigo, Rhinelander, and Merrill in the past few years, the WVC has been operating as a six-team league, making scheduling four non-conference games extremely difficult for the remaining teams. Some have taken to playing and traveling to out of state schools in Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, while others have been only able to fill eight of their schedule openings.

The District Football Plan would have alleviated this issue, but when it was defeated earlier this season, the WVC was stuck between a rock and a hard place. WIAA staff immediately began devising ways to provide scheduling relief for the conference.

A proposal emerged early on and was later passed by the Board of Control to merge the WVC with the Fox Valley Association to create a 16-team league that ultimately would be separated into two eight-team divisions.

While the plan was approved at the May Board of Control meeting, the FVA schools appealed and were presented the opportunity to provide arguments at today's meeting.

Prior to the FVA statements, representatives from several of the WVC schools spoke in support of the idea. They empathized with the reluctance of the FVA to break up a league that did not have issues, but pointed out that they themselves did not ask to be in that position either when Antigo, Rhinelander, and Merrill left.

With filling schedules difficult, especially at the lower levels, they pointed out that their students were missing out on the opportunities other athletes in the state were receiving as a result of fewer games.

Representatives of every district in the FVA were on hand and given the chance to share their thoughts. Ranging from empathetic to the plight of the WVC to impassioned at the potential break-up of their league, the statements showed a group of schools that were not only angered by the possible outcome, but disillusioned by the process by which they got there.

Most FVA representatives (which included AD's, principals, and superintendents) cited four main concerns:  safety for players and fans, increased cost, decreased revenue, and increased travel.

The safety of athletes as well as fans traveling more and longer to away games was at the forefront for all of those who spoke. The conference would go from the longest intra-league trip being less than an hour (Fond du Lac to Kaukauna) to the longest trip being approximately two hours (Fond du Lac to Marshfield).

With school budgets facing increasing pressures to cut expenditures, FVA school administrators also expressed concerns over how to pay for the increased travel this plan would result in. Brad Jodarski of Oshkosh West cited a study his department had done that showed an anticipated increase of $1500 per year if the proposal were to pass.

Jodarski also indicated that with increased travel distances and a lack of natural rivalries, his department anticipated a decrease in gate receipts of between $1000 and $1500.

Expressing concerns about communication during the process, some FVA members also indicated they felt "bullied" into accepting the proposal.

Following the prolonged, and at times contentious debate, the WIAA Board of Control adjourned into private session for further discussion. After emerging following a 30-minute internal debate, the BOC voted 7-3 to uphold the conference realignment, ultimately deciding that the proposal was the best solution for the circumstances.

A second football-only conference realignment plan receiving final approval by the Board affects the members of the Cloverwood, Dairyland, Great Northern and Marawood conferences. The plan moves McDonell Central from the Marawood to the Cloverwood, Augusta from the Cloverwood to the Dairyland and Tomahawk from the Great Northern to the Marawood.

The Great Northern Conference released Northland Pines and Tomahawk from its football schedule effective in 2010, making it a five-team league this fall. In 2011, Merrill and Ashland are both scheduled to become members of the Great Northern Conference for football only. Until then, Merrill will compete in the Wisconsin Valley Conference with all sports beginning this fall, and Ashland will play an independent football schedule in 2010.

All conference realignment decisions from today's meetings will go into effect for the 2011 season.

Hockey and other notes

A number of other topics were discussed and/or voted on at Thursday's meeting. Among them was a pair of hockey proposals. The first would have extended the hockey season by one week, although it would not have added any games to the regular season. This measure was defeated 10-0 in part because of appeals from the Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association that the school season would run into the WAHA schedule, potentially resulting in players facing the unenviable task of having to choose between the two. A second proposal was approved and adjusted the suspension for a game misconduct penalty resulting for fighting from a 1-game suspension to a 3-game suspension.

-- WIAA staff indicated receipts from the winter sports tournaments, especially basketball and hockey, were down from the previous year; these losses will be off-set somewhat by a surplus from the fall sports tournaments.

-- The WIAA has extended the contract with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to use Fox Cities Stadium for the spring baseball state tournament for another three years, pending final contract approval.

-- Advisory Council member Gordon Sisson of Marshfield broached the topic of potentially re-organizing the Board of Control to reflect enrollment rather than geography. It was pointed out the makeup of the Advisory Council and other WIAA committees would need to be re-organized under such a plan as well. Balancing the At-Large Representatives would also be a concern.

-- The WIAA also provided an update on the lawsuit with the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and Gannett newspapers. A federal judge issued a summary judgment in favor of the WIAA in early June. For more details, read our past article here.