MVC football likely to stay around for at least 2 more years

BOONE - Mississippi Valley Conference football has been saved. At least for now.

Administrators from the 47 schools that comprise Class 4A football met Thursday with officials from the Iowa High School Athletic Association to discuss the future of the sport in the state's largest class.

It appears things will be status quo in the Mississippi Valley Conference and Mississippi Athletic Conference for at least the next two years.

"My take on the day is this," said Cedar Rapids Kennedy Athletics Director Aaron Stecker. "The eastern half is going to have the opportunity to play out the schedule we have already created for this upcoming two-year cycle. The western half will work with the state to build their schedules."

It should be stressed that nothing is official, yet. The IHSAA's Board of Control has a regularly scheduled meeting Nov. 19, in which results of Thursday's meeting will be shared.

Stecker said he doesn't believe a final resolution will come until December.

"We appreciated the opportunity for the entire state to get together and discuss this issue. To understand each other's needs," he said. "We love our league and the tradition of our league. To be able to keep that intact is exciting. At the same time, we certainly understand the issues the schools in the western part of the state are facing."

"I think this is a positive for the MVC," said Cedar Rapids Washington Athletics Director Paul James. "My opinion is that it's a good thing to keep our conference intact."

Travel and an overall inability to create schedules were major concerns for schools from the central and western part of the state, which led to talk earlier this fall of district football being implemented next season at the 4A level. Smaller 4A schools such as Cedar Rapids Xavier and Dubuque Wahlert would have dropped to Class 3A under original proposals.

The state is very much split on the issue, with the eastern part, including most of the MVC, highly in favor of continuing play within a conference that was created in 1939.

Administrators broke off into small groups Thursday to discuss possible solutions to the situation. It appears district football in some form is possible for schools in Western and Central Iowa, while the eastern half will continue with conference play.

The IHSAA said the 32-school playoff field will continue to be split, with 16 qualifiers on each side. A phone message Thursday afternoon to Todd Tharp of the IHSAA was not immediately returned.

"I couldn't say one way or the other," James said, when asked if he feels district talk will rekindle in two years. "A year ago, you couldn't have predicted we'd have the meeting we had today.

"I think the big thing is the problems appear to have been solved."

Here is a statement released by the IHSAA:

4A Football Schools Meet in Boone

BOONE - Administrators from all 47 Class 4A football schools met in Boone on Thursday at the Iowa High School Athletic Association in an attempt to resolve scheduling issues.

IHSAA administrators shared historical background of football conferences and district football prior to the group breaking into small groups, with each group having representation from all conferences in attendance. The small groups discussed advantages and disadvantages of the current scheduling process and suggested possible solutions.

Following the reports of the small groups on possible solutions each of the four conferences met separately to discuss their preferences and acceptability of the scheduling solutions that were identified. Each conference reported back to the entire group.

As the meeting concluded there was a consensus among those present that an "east" and "west" division will be maintained in Class 4A with 16 qualifiers from each side. All Class 4A schools will have nine game schedules in 2012 and beyond. The results of the meeting will be reported to the Board of Control at their regular meeting on November 19.