NEIC realignment at a standstill

By Bob Fenske, editor@nhtrib.com
and James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

The news about a possible conference realignment for Charles City and New Hampton high schools and their fellow members of the Northeast Iowa Conference is pretty much on hold.

“Right now, we’re really looking at our options, and I think we’re taking a step back to find out what’s best for us,” New Hampton Superintendent Jay Jurrens said recently.

Jurrens said the conference schools have notified Mason City that it is putting its application to join the conference “on hold” while it continues to study the future of the league that was founded in 1920.

Mason City’s application in December and what appears to be the imminent departure of Oelwein to the North Iowa Cedar League have called into question the long-term viability of the NEIC, which sponsors athletics, an annual music festival and leadership conferences.

Jurrens said he thinks Oelwein will become a member of the NICL in 2021-22, as three of that league’s schools have already approved the Huskies’ application.

That would leave the NEIC as a seven-team league for next school year, but if Mason City’s application is rejected, that would leave the conference with just six teams.

That’s a concern in sports like basketball and baseball where teams play home-and-away games with league foes. In basketball, for example, that would mean the NEIC would only have 10 conference games, meaning 11 non-league dates would have to be found.

“With the makeup of the leagues around us — they’re large — they don’t have a lot of non-conference dates available,” Jurrens said. “Like I said last month, I’d love to find a way to get to an eight-team league because I think that’s a really good size.”

The three largest NEIC schools — Waverly-Shell Rock, Decorah and Charles City — appear comfortable bringing Mason City into the league, but the smaller schools are leery because Mason City’s most recent BEDs enrollment is 810, three to four times larger than New Hampton, Waukon, Oelwein and Crestwood.

“Everything is still on the table,” Jurrens said. “It’s just we need time to really find the best possible fit for us so we’ve asked our athletic directors to come up with options and bring them back to us.”

The NEIC superintendents held their monthly meeting Wednesday in Charles City, but there was no update from the superintendents Thursday.

Decisions are made by the executive board, composed of the superintendents of the seven NEIC districts in consultation with activity directors. Any subsequent additions to the NEIC conference would need approval from the superintendents from the respective communities.

In a Jan. 27 press release, the Charles City School District said that Oelwein’s expected move and Mason City’s application have sparked a larger conversation about the NEIC moving forward.

Discussions have been focused on what actions to take regarding these requests and the possibility of expanding the NEIC into a super conference. A super conference could be structured in multiple ways, including adding more schools and divisions within the conference.

“As part of this collaboration, the Northeast Iowa Conference is leading the way with conversations focused around becoming an exemplar conference and creating an equitable conference based on school size, socioeconomic status, and other factors,” the district said in the release.