Waverly-Shell Rock Athletics to Go Independent for 2024-25 School Year
Membership in the Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) is down to about seven months for Waverly-Shell Rock.
In Spring 2022, WSR was voted out of the NEIC as other league schools — Charles City, New Hampton, Cresco-Crestwood, Decorah, and Waukon – demonstrated WSR had grown much larger than most other members, creating competitive imbalance. In the NEIC since 1933, the Go-Hawks were initially slated to exit June 30, 2023.Â
However, after failed attempts to join Mississippi Valley and WAMAC conferences, WSR was stuck in limbo until a meeting last December allowed the Go-Hawks to remain in the NEIC for the 2023-24 school year. The agreement also stipulated that WSR cannot extend membership past June 30, 2024, now just over a half-year away.
Still without a new conference affiliation for 2024-25, Activities Director Greg Bodensteiner says they’ll be an independent next school year. It’s hoped it will only be a one-year situation after the WSR School Board earlier this month voted unanimously to apply again to join the WAMAC starting with the 2025-26 school year. Â
Bodensteiner says scheduling their athletic matchups isn’t easy as an independent, but they’ve made significant progress for volleyball, while basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball come with their own challenges. In the meantime, he says they’re going to take whichever opponents they can get to round out their schedules in ’24-25.
