The Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) is a six school athletic conference made up of mid-sized schools in the Northeast Corner of Iowa. The conference dates in 1920, making it one of Iowa's oldest existing athletic conferences.
| Conference | IHSAA / IGHSAU |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1920 |
| Sports fielded |
|
| No. of teams | 6 (5 in 2024-25) |
| Region | Northeast Iowa |
| Official website | www |
Members
editDeparting members highlighted in red.
| Institution | Location | Mascot | Colors | Affiliation | 2024-2025 BEDS[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles City | Charles City | Comets | Public | 383 | |
| Crestwood | Cresco | Cadets | Public | 270 | |
| Decorah | Decorah | Vikings | Public | 435 | |
| New Hampton | New Hampton | Chickasaws | Public | 240 | |
| Waukon | Waukon | Indians | Public | 282 | |
| Waverly-Shell Rock | Waverly | Go-Hawks | Public | 599 |
Waverly-Shell Rock will be removed from the NEIC as of June 30, 2023, due to an imbalance of enrollment when compared to the other members. Likely landing spots for the school include the Iowa Alliance Conference or the Mississippi Valley Conference[2] Waverly-Shell Rock will compete as an independent in the 2024-2025 school year. The school attempted to join the WaMaC Conference for the 2025-2026 school year, but was denied, leaving the future of the school's athletic competition uncertain.[3]
In January 2024, Howard-Winneshiek School District (Crestwood High School) agreed to join the Upper Iowa Conference, leaving the NEIC with 4 members in the 2025-2026 school year.[4]
2 weeks after Crestwood High School announced it would leave the NEIC, both New Hampton School District and Allamakee School District (Waukon High School) announced their acceptance into the Upper Iowa Conference. Their admission would also be effective for the 2025-2026 school year.[5]
Charles City School District attempted to join the North Central Conference (Iowa), but was rejected.[6] The school district has asked for state mediation for acceptance into the conference.[7]
Decorah Community School District also attempted to join the Upper Iowa Conference but was denied as well.[8]
Invited Members
editThe following school districts were invited to the NEIC on April 25 for the 2023-24 school year.[9] All schools have since declined invitation.[10]
| Institution | Location | Mascot | Colors | Affiliation | 2022-2023 BEDS | Class | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MFL-MarMac | Monona | Bulldogs | Public | 187 | 1A | Upper Iowa | |
| North Fayette Valley | West Union | Tigerhawks | Public | 249 | 2A | Upper Iowa | |
| Oelwein | Oelwein | Huskies | Public | 266 | 2A | NICL | |
| Osage | Osage | Green Devils | Public | 226 | 2A | Top of Iowa | |
| Sumner-Fredericksburg | Sumner | Cougars | Public | 202 | 2A | NICL |
Oelwein and Osage were formerly charter members. Osage left the conference in 1958, Oelwein in 2021
History
editThe NEIC was founded in 1920 by seven schools in northeastern Iowa. These seven schools were Charles City, Cresco, Decorah, New Hampton, Oelwein, Osage, and Waverly. All of the schools were located in some of the largest cities in Northeastern Iowa and most were located in their respective county seats. Cedar Falls joined the league in or around 1948, pushing membership to eight. By the early-1960s, Osage and Cedar Falls had left the conference to join a more local and a larger conference, respectively. Cresco also merged with other small area schools to become Crestwood High School around this time, while the small Shell Rock district joined Waverly. The membership of the conference stayed at six for a few years until Allamakee School District in Waukon joined the conference. Membership has been the same since at least 1970. As of 2011, all of the schools are either 3A or 2A by classification, Iowa's second and third largest classes. New Hampton has been a 2A school since 2010, and Waukon moved to class 2A in 2012. 2021-22, Oelwein left for the NICL leaving the conference with 6 members
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ "IHSAA: Classifications".
- ^ "NEIC votes a second time to remove Waverly-Shell Rock".
- ^ "Waverly-Shell Rock kicked out of one Iowa conference, not allowed to join another. What to do?". 12 April 2024.
- ^ "Northeast Iowa Conference Losing Another Member".
- ^ "New Hampton, Waukon Bound for Upper Iowa Conference Starting 2025-26".
- ^ "Charles City Application to Join NCC Rejected".
- ^ "Charles City to File for State Mediation to Join NCC".
- ^ "Future athletic conference woes linger for Decorah School Board".
- ^ Linder, Jeff. "Northeast Iowa Conference extends expansion invitations to 5 schools". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
- ^ "Northeast Iowa Conference is on the brink of collapse".