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WIAA to decide on football realignment this week

WALWORTH — A few weeks ago, it seemed a proposal by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association to eliminate conferences and switch to enrollment-based districts for varsity football this fall was a done deal.

But as the 11-member WIAA Board of Control prepares to make its decision Wednesday in Stevens Point, uncertainty now prevails.

After the association’s Football Coaches Advisory Committee approved the proposal 6-1 in December, the Sports Advisory Committee voted 11-2 just last week to reject the plan.

The impetus behind the proposal is a desire by the WIAA executive staff to keep football programs at lesser-populated schools viable, and to create more parity.

Among the concerns, says Rodney Wedig, coach at Rock Valley Conference champion and Division 4 state champion Big Foot, is why the proposal only restructures football.

“I think one of the neat things about high school sports, especially schools our size, is you have a lot of kids who play several sports, competing against each other … adding to the rivalry,” Wedig said. “I think if they’re going to change, they need to do every sport to make it consistent.”

With a decision just days away, the realignment proposal continues to generate lively debate statewide.

Read the full story in the Jan. 24, 2010 e-edition of Walworth County Sunday, PAGE 11A.