Next conference shuffle could be on the horizon

Dominoes, anyone? How about some Musical Chairs?

The next wave of massive conference reconfiguration for local high schools could hit as early as the 2013-14 school year. It could affect the Big East, Cedar Valley and Tri-Rivers conferences directly, and the ripple effect may impact the Upper Iowa Conference.

"We're in limbo right now," said Roger Wright, athletics director at Edgewood-Colesburg. "I have no idea what's going to happen. But we're looking at all of our options."

Much of what happens is dependent on how the Iowa Department of Education rules on an appeal by Camanche.

The largest member of the Big East Conference, Camanche was denied in its application to the Cedar Valley Conference, and has petitioned to be placed there anyway.

"In my opinion, if the state allows Camanche into the Cedar Valley, the dominoes are going to start to fall," Midland AD Kirk Park said.

Park feels that if Camanche's appeal is successful, Big East brethren Northeast and Bellevue will follow suit and seek CVC admission.

The Department of Education has assigned a committee of officials, including one each from the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, to make a recommendation on how to deal with Camanche's appeal.

"We're in a holding pattern, to see if (the schools) will handle it on their own over there," said IGHSAU executive director Mike Dick.

Three schools (Andrew, East Central and Olin) ceased operation of their high-school sports programs after the 2011-12 school year, leaving the Big East with nine schools. One of those, Lisbon, will join the Tri-Rivers in the fall of 2013.

In terms of enrollment, the three largest schools would be a good fit for the CVC.

But geography is a different story. According to mapquest.com, a trip from Bellevue to Mid-Prairie High School in Wellman is 136 miles and would take more than 2 1/2 hours.

If the state sides with Camanche -- and if Northeast and Bellevue follow -- what happens with the remainder of the Big East?

Like Dick said, we're in a holding pattern.

"(The Big East) isn't even doing basketball schedules yet for the 2013-14 season, because we don't know who the players are going to be," Park said.

The most likely action for the other five Big East schools (Bellevue Marquette, Calamus-Wheatland, Clinton Prince of Peace, Midland and Preston) would be to seek entrance into the Tri-Rivers.

That would create more travel misery. It's 127 miles from Starmont (located in rural Arlington) to Prince of Peace.

In a proactive move, Starmont has applied for membership in the Upper Iowa Conference.

"We're at the north end of the Tri-Rivers, and if schools like Prince of Peace come in, that's a lot of travel," said Chad Whittle, in his first year as athletics director at Starmont. "The mileage perspective fuels a lot of this decision.

"Ideally, we would rather be in the Tri-Rivers. Staying with this original group is attractive to us. But it's a situation in which we want to be proactive. We don't want to be in a position in which we're dictated by the state."

Ed-Co also is at the northern end of the Tri-Rivers, and has been a member of the league since its inception in 1967.

"Our options are to stay in the Tri-Rivers, no matter what happens, or to go north (to the UIC)," Wright said.

If the state upholds the Cedar Valley Conference's denial, it's possible that everyone may stay put. If not, the dominoes will start to fall.

Then, the game of Musical Chairs begins.

"When the music stops, we want a chair somewhere," Park said.

THE CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Big East Conference -- Bellevue, Bellevue Marquette, Calamus-Wheatland, Camanche, Clinton Prince of Peace, Lisbon, Midland, Northeast, Preston. Note: Lisbon leaves for the Tri-Rivers in 2013-14; Camanche has been denied entrance into the Cedar Valley Conference and has petitioned the state for assistance.

Cedar Valley Conference -- Durant, Iowa City Regina, Mid-Prairie, North Cedar, Tipton, West Branch, West Liberty, Wilton.

Tri-Rivers Conference -- Alburnett, Cascade, Central City, East Buchanan, Edgewood-Colesburg, Maquoketa Valley, Monticello, North Linn, Springville, Starmont. Note: Starmont has applied for Upper Iowa Conference membership in 2013-14.

Upper Iowa Conference -- Clayton Ridge, Elkader Central, Lansing Kee, MFL MarMac, North Fayette, Postville, South Winneshiek, Sumner-Fredericksburg, Turkey Valley, Valley Community, West Central.