WIAA shakes up Southeast Wisconsin High School sports conferences

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Civic Media) – There’s been a shake-up with high school sports in Southeast Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control voted Tuesday to approve conference realignment recommendations from its Conference Realignment Task Force. The changes will take effect starting with the 2025-26 school year for most sports.

The biggest moves involve the formation of two new seven-team conferences. A new North Shore Conference will include Cedarburg, Grafton, Hartford, Homestead, Nicolet, Slinger and Whitefish Bay high schools. Another as-yet unnamed seven-team league was created with Kettle Moraine Lutheran, Kewaskum, Plymouth, Port Washington, Sheboygan South, West Bend East and West Bend West.

Waukesha North and Waukesha South high schools will depart the Classic 8 Conference to join the Woodland Conference. That will create a 16-team Woodland with two divisions including Brown Deer, Cudahy, Greendale, Greenfield, Milwaukee Lutheran, New Berlin Eisenhower, New Berlin West, Pewaukee, Pius XI Catholic, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, West Allis Central, Whitnall and Wisconsin Lutheran.

In the Southeast Conference, Oak Creek moves to the eight-team Classic 8 with Arrowhead, Catholic Memorial, Kettle Moraine, Mukwonago, Muskego, Oconomowoc and Waukesha West. The remaining Southeast teams are Franklin, Kenosha Bradford, Kenosha Indian Trail, Kenosha Tremper, Racine Case, Racine Horlick and Racine Park.

The WIAA Board also received updates on the upcoming annual meeting, scholar-athlete awards, officials’ recruitment and retention efforts, a recap of the winter tournaments and a student-athlete leadership initiative.

The nonprofit WIAA oversees interscholastic athletics for 515 high schools and 43 middle schools in Wisconsin.