Another article on it from the Cedar County News
Conference realignment could be on the horizon here
Cedar County News
HARTINGTON - Conference realignment is not only a hot topic in college athletics these days, but it's also reaching down to high school sports.
The Hartington-Newcastle School Board spent much of its Monday meeting discussing the possibility of leaving their longtime home -- the Lewis and Clark Conference -- to form a new athletic and activities conference.
The Wildcats have been a part of the Lewis and Clark Conference since the 1960s.
HNS Superintendent A.J. Johnson said eight area schools -- from from the Lewis and Clark Conference, three from the Niobrara Valley Conference, and one currently unaffiliated school -- are all considering the possibility of forming a new conference.
"We're looking at joining together with some schools that will help ensure we are able to get JV and freshman-sophomore games, as well as varsity competition," Johnson said.
When HNS competes with a smaller school, these reserve and JV contests and games are often canceled, or shortened due to lack of participants from the opposing school's teams.
HNS is poised to be competing in the Class C2 division for the next several years, so a conference comprised of mainly C2 schools could be beneficial, Johnson said.
The Lewis and Clark Conference is currently comprised of 17 schools ranging in size from Class C1 down to Class D2. The conference features schools as far east and south as Winnebago and as far west as Creighton.
Because the conference is trying to accommodate the needs of all sizes of schools, there is some friction between the larger and smaller schools, said HNS Principal Corey Uldrich.
The Niobrara Valley Conference is equally as large with 16 schools competing in that league.
"Eight schools is a really good number compared to the 17 we now have," said Uldrich, who met with the seven other schools about the issue in late October.
The new conference would help HNS to set up a more competitive schedule as well, according to Johnson.
"This would help us build a schedule that would help our teams qualify for a wild card, should they be in that situation. We have to create a schedule that helps us gain more NSAA power points," he said.
The power point system is used to help determine postseason play. The larger the school the team competes against, the more power points it has the potential to accrue.
Uldrich told board members the travel time wouldn't be much different to games in the new conference.
It's a 74-mile drive to current Lewis and Clark member Walthill from Hartington.
The furthest foe in the new conference, Summerland, would also be a 74-mile drive.
Uldrich said the school boards for the seven other schools -- Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Plainview, Creighton, Elkhorn Valley, Neligh-Oakdale, Summerland, and Lutheran High Northeast -- are discussing the proposal, so they should know by their December board meeting whether they plan to continue discussions about the new conference, or not.
"There are a lot of details that would need to be worked out," Uldrich said.
Schedules, bylaws, mutual sports and activities, and possible junior high scheduling and activities all need to be discussed yet, Uldrich said, and a new conference could potentially do some very interesting things, such as add junior high golf, art shows, and other activities.
"There are a dozen different ways this could go," he said.
Uldrich said a new conference would be, "starting with a clean slate" to sit down and see what we want to do.
Interest from some of the other schools has been very high, Uldrich said.
"There are people in that room that are very large "Let's go," he said. "We don't need to rush this, though."
Uldrich said if they do decide to form a new conference, he feels it would be best to wait until the fall of the 2025-26 school year to launch it. That gives ample time for scheduling, he said.
