5 classes for three major girls' sports? Maybe

The number of high schools in Iowa is decreasing. The number of classes for girls' sports might increase.Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union officials announced Wednesday that they are considering expansion to five classes for basketball, softball and volleyball.The proposal will be discussed at the November meeting of the IGHSAU board of directors.A reason for the discussion is the wide enrollment disparity in the current Class 4A, and a likely scenario is a 32-school big class rather than the current 48-school format. That would make the bottom school's enrollment (grades 10-12) 973 rather than the current 564.Girls' basketball has had a four-class structure since the first season of its all-five-player format in 1993-94.Volleyball changed from three classes to four in 2003, softball made that move in 2004.Soccer will be expanded from two classes to three next spring.