STEVENS POINT (NBC 26) — Changes are coming to high school sports competition in Wisconsin.
New WIAA Competitive Balance Plan comes into effect in the upcoming academic year, meaning some programs will be moved up a grade based on their previous achievements.
- In April 2023, WIAA member schools voted 265-115 to implement a “performance factor” that would promote teams that meet a point threshold based on previous postseason success.
- Teams in sports such as football, basketball and baseball receive four points for winning a state championship, three for finishing second, two for reaching the state semifinals and one for reaching the state quarterfinals.
- If a team has six or more points in a three-year window, that team is moved up one division for the following year. If a team falls below six points at the end of the season, they return to their previous division.
- Sports such as golf, tennis and cross-country running have a slightly different scoring system, which can be seen hereThe change does not apply to athletics, swimming and diving.
- Several local programs, such as Notre Dame girls basketball, Brillion boys basketball and Xavier girls volleyball, will be affected by the implementation of the plan for the upcoming academic year.
“For many, many, many years — decades — the WIAA has used school enrollment alone to determine division placement,” said WIAA Executive Director Stephanie Hauser. “The committee is finding that in 2024, they just don’t see it as that simple.”
Hauser cited increased open enrollment, transfers, changing socioeconomic circumstances and access to things like club sports and specialized training as reasons for the change.
Hauser said at least a dozen other states across the country have a similar system. Still, she said it’s a monumental moment for Wisconsin.
“This is huge,” Hauser said. “This is unlike anything the WIAA has done in the history of the WIAA.”
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63 Fall Sports Teams AND 37 winter sports teams reached the points threshold. Spring results were recently finalized and are expected to be released behind schedule this week or early next week.
Schools can appeal promotion decisions, but according to the WIAA website, only two appeals were heard during the fall and winter seasons, despite a total of 36 submitted.
“Registration is still the starting point, but then other things come in,” Hauser said. “The members, I think, spoke quite loudly when they got 70 percent in favor, saying, ‘We agree, it’s not that simple anymore.'”
“I think members also acknowledge that it’s not a perfect system,” she added.
Matthew Koenig, athletic director at the Academy of Notre Dame, also belongs to this group.
Notre Dame was one of 115 schools that voted against the initiative in April 2023.
Now the school has four affected sports. The most notable is girls basketball, where the Tritons have won three of the last four Division 2 state titles and finished second in the others.
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“It could be seen as a punishment for kids who need to move up,” Koenig said.
Last year, the University of Notre Dame enrolled 727 students, nearly 500 fewer than the Division 1 enrollment limit of 1,200.
“You come here to play basketball, and now you’re going to be competing against schools that are two, three times bigger than you are,” Koenig said. “I understand that, but we also have to give credit to those who deserve it.”
The Brillion boys basketball team and the Xavier girls volleyball team face similar challenges.
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Brillion was the Division 3 runner-up in 2022 and won the Division 3 state title two years ago, but failed to advance beyond the region last season. Despite that, the Lions reach the six-point threshold and advance.
“When you win a state championship and have other successes, it’s a good sign that you’re on the up,” Brillion head coach Chad Shimek said.
Shimek said Brillion would be the smallest school in Division 3, with 319 students.
Instead, they now move on to the Division 2 postseason and will compete against schools like West De Pere and Ashwaubenon, which have about three times as many students.
Shimek said his team is up to the challenge but said he hopes to make some changes to the system in the future.
“I think certainly as things develop, the WIAA or the schools that are part of it will look at it and fine-tune some things,” Shimek said. “I really believe in taking into account different factors. Maybe it’s a matter of years. Maybe it’s a matter of conferences.”
In cases like Notre Dame and Brillion, there are concerns that one great class of players could succeed and advance the team. Once those players graduate, the younger classes face tougher competition.
Some schools have also said that three years is not long enough to determine whether a team is good enough to deserve promotion.
Hauser said the WIAA’s competitive balance committee will continue to look at the system and make changes as novel information becomes available.
“What they want to see in the first year of actual implementation is, ‘How is this going to play out?’” Hauser said. “So I think a year from now they’ll have a lot more meaningful data to look at and determine if they think there are any major changes they should make.”
She said she believes 2024-2025 is the first period in which to collect data and study the impact of the performance factor on competition.
In the meantime, affected schools are hoping to make the most of their novel challenge. Like Xavier girls volleyball, which has won two Division 2 state championships.
Coach Luke Herriges has not ruled out a third straight win, this time in Division 1.
“It’s another mountain to climb. Can we use it as an opportunity?” Herriges said. “I think the perception is that Division 1 or higher with more kids, maybe there’s more talent and maybe it’s more competitive. I think it could be a good opportunity for us at Xavier to get our name out there a little bit more.”
There are particular concerns about the impact on cross-country running. Earlier this year, leaders in the sport started a petition in the hope of exempting cross-country running from the performance factor.
Hauser said the WIAA Athletic Balance Committee is open to feedback from all sports, including cross country.
