Decorah Still Needs An Athletic Conference, Turning Lemons Into Lemonade

(11-14-24) Decorah (Iowa), thanks to the Iowa Department of Education and schools in the Upper Iowa Conference, will play an independent schedule in all sports (except football) next year. The issue came about when at the end of the school year the Northeast Iowa Conference, the oldest conference in Iowa, will dissolve after more than 100 years.

Recently the Iowa Department of Education denied Decorah entry into the Upper Iowa Conference, citing enrollment differences. Every school in Iowa is entitled by state law to compete in an athletics conference…not this time.

• Iowa School Denied New Conference By State Department Of Education

A situation that needed help, now turns into something that Decorah officials are now left to find their own solutions.

Adam Zander, a Decorah School Board member in a KWWL TV story said –

“We can go 10 minutes north and get to Minnesota, we can go 45 and get to Wisconsin, but the rest of the state of Iowa is a pretty lengthy drive for us, we’re truly in the corner of the state.”

• High School Athletic Conference Barometer
• A look at past conference issues and changes
• Could State HS Athletic Associations Make A Difference In ‘Conference Turmoil’?

High school athletic conferences can lead to hard feelings between schools, it happens in numerous states.

• INDIANA – Another Indiana HS Athletic Conference Dumps Member In Retribution
• OHIO – So Why Did The MAC Turn Down Lehman Catholic And Lima Central Catholic?
• ILLINOIS – Illinois School Board of Education President Confronts Issues With Athletic Conference Member

Options for Decorah would be to think ‘out of the box‘ to solve the problem.

• Consider an out-of-state conference (Minnesota or Wisconsin) Catholic High School League, Five Toledo Catholic Schools To Make It Official
• Start a new conference, recruit members
• Single-sport conference – Northern Buckeye Tennis League…Single-Sport Leagues Filling The Gap
• A Challenge league – informal with a group of schools who play each other now in non-conference games or matches

It is quite obvious that the best move for Decorah would be joining the Upper Iowa Conference, the worse choice would be placing them in the WaMaC. travel would be an adventure for Decorah and the conference members (especially in the winter).

UIC members need to consider a plan to allow Decorah to enter the conference, a three year plan to evaluate if the concern of being to BIG of a school is a problem. For some reasons when it comes to good sportsmanship high school athletics seem to miss the target…someday it could happen to UIC members, after all the Northeast Iowa Conference is over 100 years old and is ending.

A ‘not so nice‘ solution is to take the matter through the Iowa court system, every avenue needs to be looked at.