From the WIAA —
The member schools of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association passed two amendments to the Constitution, Bylaws and Rules of Eligibility and conducted other membership business at the 130th Annual Meeting at the Sentry Theater today.
Both the amendments that were advanced and voted on by the membership received approval. The Constitutional change removes language that required all rule and regulation changes to be approved by the Advisory Council before advancing to the Board. The membership’s vote returns the power of decision-making back to the Board of Control for matters within the Constitution, Bylaws, Rules of Eligibility and sport-specific regulations. The amendment passed by a 307-62 vote.
The other membership-approved amendment changes language in the Rules of Eligibility. The membership voted 359-10 to remove coaching contact restrictions for newly hired coaches who have not previously coached a student-athlete in the respective school’s program.
The membership also voted 301-64 in support of seven editorial changes, clarifying Board language outlined in the Constitution, Bylaws and Rules of Eligibility. These changes serve as clarifications to an existing rule or Board of Control interpretation. The rule changes passed will be effective upon publishing of the Bulletin on May 20, 2026.
In the Director’s Report, Hauser introduced a five-year Strategic Goals Architecture and Plan developed with collaborative and data-informed feedback from a membership survey conducted last year.
The process examined the three purpose statements of the association dating back 130 years, which began formulating a modernized mission statement that serves as a road map for the future. Analysis for identifying points of growth resulted in a creation of a vision statement. The objectives of four organizational pillars in the strategic plan–with performance metrics for accountability–was approved by the Board at its March meeting.
The vision statement “Inspiring Champions for Life” was determined to serve the philosophical foundation of the WIAA’s mission identified as “Striving for excellence and consistent standards through education-based athletics.” The four organization pillars identified to ensure accountability were: Governance, Engagement & Education, Human Resources, Finances & Operations. Hauser presented examples within each organizational pillar.
Speaking on Governance, Hauser is committed to modernizing how the WIAA operates and defending the association’s legal identity as a private entity and preserving the membership’s self-governance in creating and enforcing its rules and process. When referencing the Engagement & Education pillar, Hauser stated the value of education-based athletics must be shared widely and supported by modern tools and systems. She referenced the launch of the “Hear It, See It and Report It” initiative to foster a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for education-based athletics. She also referenced the establishment of the WIAA Foundation to invest in the future of students participating in school-based sports.
In her comments regarding the Human Resources pillar, Hauser stated “We are a people business.” She alluded to the efforts to increase and retain licensed officials and the creation of the Student-Athlete Leadership Team last year as examples of that focus. Hauser also acknowledged the careers of Lisa Gagas, Deb Lepak and Sandy Zastrow, who retired within the past year with a combined 101 years of institutional knowledge and service to the membership, as well as the positive impact observed with the new members of the staff.
In addition, Hauser shared the executive staff began a process of achieving attainable goals called Organize & Execute two years ago, which has produced improvements to the existing website with the Forms Directory and State Tourney Central. She announced the process was the catalyst for the launching of an improved WIAA website this summer.
Referencing the Finance organizational pillar, Hauser echoed the membership-approved Treasurer’s report by noting that the WIAA is financially sound and ensuring financial stability for the future is an important objective. The WIAA returned almost $3.2 million to member schools this year while conducting high-quality events at the venues and communities that provide for the most rewarding experiences for student-athletes.
Abundant Life Christian High School was recognized as the recipient of the NFHS Section 4 and Wisconsin recipient of the Spirit of Sport Award, sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. Also recognized were the representatives of the 39 schools that received the WIAA Award of Excellence for 2024-25.
The executive staff responded to four pre-submitted Open Forum topics, including conference realignment, competitive balance, ejection of coaches and seed meetings. Rachel Biertzer and Janel Batten, co-chairs of the Ad Hoc Calendar & Contact Committee, presented an update on the committee’s efforts and progress. Aaron Moen also reported on the discussions of the Classification Committee, and Doug Chickering and Dave Steavpack, members of the WIAA Foundation Board, presented on the progress of the WIAA Foundation since its launch in 2025.
In the 2026-27 Board of Control elections, Brian Nadeau, the current Board president-elect and superintendent at Ellsworth, was elected to a second three-year term on the Board as the District 3 representative. Bryan Davis, the superintendent of the Oshkosh Area School District, will continue serving after being elected to a three-term representing District 4. Ty Breitlow, the superintendent at Lomira, will serve a special two-year term representing District 6. Tarrynce Robinson, the superintendent in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, will embark on a three-year term as the ethnic at-large representative, and Katrice Cotton, superintendent of the Brown Deer School District, will serve as the gender at-large representative.
In the 2026-27 Advisory Council elections, Jamie Koepp, the superintendent at Lakeland, was re-elected to a three-year term as a large school representative. In the election for the medium school representation, Jeff Koenig, the superintendent at Stanley-Boyd and Patrick Gretzlock, the principal and assistant athletic director at Boyceville, were elected to three-year terms. Dennis Kaczor, the superintendent at Rosholt, was elected to a three-year term representing small schools, and Jeffrey Campbell, the superintendent at Riverdale, will serve a special one-year term. Tremayne Clardy, superintendent at Verona, returns to the Council to serve a second three-year term as the ethnic at-large representative.
There were representatives from 378 schools in attendance at the meeting. The WIAA, as defined by its Constitution, is a private, voluntary, unincorporated, and nonprofit organization. The membership oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 514 senior high schools and 30 junior high/middle level schools in its membership.
