New football districts announced Jan. 17

The Iowa High School Athletic Association will release football district assignments for the 2012 and 2013 seasons on Jan. 17, according to IHSAA assistant director Todd Tharp.

Assignments will include leagues -- they'll be called "divisions" --  for the west half of the state in Class 4A. The east half will continue to be comprised of conference play for the Mississippi Valley and Mississippi Athletic conferences.

The number of 3A, 2A and 1A schools will drop from 64 each to 56 each. Tharp said he is planning on 63 teams to play Class A football and 70 to play eight-man.

Eastern Iowa teams switching to eight-man for the next cycle include Elkader Central, Valley Community, HLV, Cedar Falls NU High and Don Bosco. Cedar Valley Christian, which played four varsity games as an independent last year, will be in a district next fall.

Tharp plans on having schedules in place by Feb. 13.