Activity Conference Membership

September 08, 2025

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A few community members have asked about the status of our membership in an activities conference. The quick answer is we are remaining in the Western Iowa Conference for the foreseeable future. 

On August 25th we had a Special School Board meeting to determine how to respond to the invitation to join the Hawkeye Ten Activities Conference. At that meeting the school board reviewed the input received from the community, coaches, and sponsors.  Here is some of the input they reviewed:

• 140 responses were received for the community input survey.  The survey results were the following for respondents “top 3” choices:
  • 69% had “level of competition”
  • 60% had “travel distance/time”
  • 29% had “participation numbers for lower levels”
  • 27% had “scheduling”
  • 27% had “preparation for post-season play”
• Coach and sponsor responses
  • Prior to any other schools moving the coaches and sponsors were split in their votes whether to remain in the WIC or accept the invitation to join the H10
  • With Red Oak and Shenandoah joining the WIC those votes changed and they were strongly in favor of remaining in the WIC. Another vote was taken after Lewis Central announced they were leaving the H10 and the vote remained in favor of remaining in the WIC.  Here is the breakdown of the final vote:
    • 12 head coaches/sponsors voted to remain in the WIC
    • 3 head coaches/sponsors voted to accept the invitation to join the H10
    • 2 head coaches/sponsors were undecided

After much deliberation the final decision was to decline the invitation to join the Hawkeye Ten Activities Conference. What is still up in the air is in what school year Red Oak CSD and Shenandoah CSD will be able to officially join the Western Iowa Conference. The Board of Control for the Western Iowa Conference voted unanimously to accept Red Oak and Shenandoah no later than the 2027-2028 in hopes that it might be as soon as the 2026-2027 school year, but that is still unclear. On July 1, 2025, legislation went into effect that requires a State Committee to review all conference changes and applications. To date this committee has not been formed and therefore these proposed conference changes are still pending approval. 

We are excited for the new possibilities that come with the changes to the Western Iowa Conference and the opportunity to continue our longstanding relationship with its member schools.