WIAA Board of Control approves spring sports changes and other action items

From the WIAA —

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control approved coaches advisory committee rule change recommendations in track & field, softball, and lacrosse at its October meeting today.

The sport of track & field will experience the most changes to the Season Regulations with five recommendations passed by the Board. Beginning next spring, pole vaulters will weigh-in twice during the season with a third verification form required before the State Meet for qualifying pole vaulters.

Another rule change modifies the relay substitution language. In order to add competitors to a relay during the Tournament Series, not only must six student-athletes be listed on the original entry, but the substitutions need to be necessary for the relay to compete (a relay team must be down to three or less eligible competitors).

In addition, the pre-State Track & Field Tournament Series schedule will be modified starting in 2027. In odd years, Division 1 regionals will be held Monday with sectionals on Thursday, and Division 2 and 3 regionals and sectionals will be conducted on Tuesday and Friday, respectively. In even years, Division 2 and 3 regionals and sectionals will be scheduled Monday and Thursday with Division 1 regionals and sectionals scheduled Tuesday and Friday. In years when the Tournament Series falls on the week of Memorial Day, the Tournament Series will follow the current Tuesday and Friday schedule for regionals and sectionals.

The two remaining modifications to the Tournament Series impacts the wheelchair division. In 2026, sectional champions and those performances in sectionals that rank among the 10 best of all sectional performances will advance to the State Meet. In addition, the weight of the seated wheelchair shot put implement for girls will be standardized at three kilograms and four kilograms for boys.

In softball, the Board approved a recommendation to apply consistency to the application of the 10-run rule after five complete innings to all regular-season games and all Tournament Series games, including the State Tournament championship games. Another softball rule to add a fifth free admission for coach, manager, athletic trainer or physician, in addition to 18 student-athletes, was amended and will be revisited through the 2026-27 committee, rule-making process.

The one recommendation in lacrosse also passed. Beginning next spring, all seeding meetings will be conducted virtually.

A fast track conference realignment plan received approval from the Board, effective in 2026-27. The current 16-team Woodland Conference would split into the Parkland and Woodland Conferences. The Woodland Conference becomes a 10-team league with the addition of West Allis Hale and St. Augustine Prep to join Brown Deer, Cudahy, Greenfield, Milwaukee Lutheran, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, West Allis Central and Whitnall. Pewaukee, New Berlin Eisenhower, New Berlin West, Pius XI Catholic, Greendale, Wisconsin Lutheran, Waukesha North and Waukesha South will comprise the Parkland Conference.

In addition to the procedural approvals, the Board ratified the policy for Unmanned Aircraft Systems at WIAA Tournament Series events and approved the 2026-27 and 2027-28 fall sports co-ops, which includes 112 programs, excluding football. Not including co-ops that simply exchanged schools, the eight new co-op programs are:

Racine Park/Racine Horlick in girls cross country

Big Foot/Williams Bay in girls golf

Melrose-Mindoro/Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau in boys soccer;

Seymour/Freeman in girls swimming & diving

Viroqua/Youth Initiative in girls tennis

McFarland/Monona Grove/Oregon/Deerfield in boys volleyball

Oshkosh North/Oshkosh West in boys volleyball

Prairie Farm/Clayton in girls volleyball.

The Board was introduced to two possible Constitutional amendments. One amendment under consideration pertains to the powers and duties of the Board of Control. It would remove language that requires all changes to rules and regulation to be passed by the Advisory Council before advancing to the Board. The second amendment consideration would remove coaching contact restrictions for newly hired coaches who have not previously coached a student-athlete in the respective school’s program. Final determination for Constitutional amendments to advance to the Annual Meeting will be decided by the Board of Control at its meeting in March.

Executive Staff reports to the Board included updates on the Calendar & Contact Ad-Hoc Committee, the activities of the Student-Athlete Leadership Team and planning for the Leadership Summit, the continued efforts to recruit and retain licensed officials, awareness of the “Hear It, See It, Report It” initiative and a review of the Area Meetings.

Dr. Timothy McGuine from the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health presented an update on the goals and purpose of the NFHS Strategic Plan, the benefits of the ongoing Sport Related Concussion (SRC) Surveillance Program, the importance of emergency action plans and the Pre-event Emergency Action Plan meeting, and the research findings that the use of guardian caps in high school football was not associated with a decreased risk of sustaining a concussion during practice or games.

The Board received liaison reports from Paul Manriquez of the Department of Public Instruction, Dan Rossmiller of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards and Kyle LeMieux of the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association.

The WIAA, as defined by its Constitution, is a voluntary, private and nonprofit organization. The membership oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 515 senior high schools and 30 junior high/middle level schools in its membership.