Two amendments pass at WIAA annual meeting

The member schools of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association passed two amendments to the constitution, bylaws and rules of eligibility­ and conducted other membership business at its 130th annual meeting Friday in Stevens Point.

Both the amendments that were advanced and voted on by the membership received approval. The constitutional change removes language that required all rule and regulation changes to be approved by the advisory council before advancing to the board. The membership’s vote returns the power of decision-making back to the board of control for matters within the constitution, bylaws, rules of eligibility and sport-specific regulations. The amendment passed by a 307-62 vote. 

The other membership-approved amendment changes language in the rules of eligibility. The membership voted 359-10 to remove coaching contact restrictions for newly hired coaches who have not previously coached a student-athlete in the respective school’s program. 

The membership also voted 301-64 in support of seven editorial changes, clarifying board language outlined in the constitution, bylaws and rules of eligibility. These changes serve as clarifications to an existing rule or board of control interpretation. The rule changes passed will be effective May 20, 2026.

In her report, WIAA Executive Director Stephanie Hauser introduced a five-year strategic goals architecture and plan developed with collaborative and data-informed feedback from a membership survey conducted last year. 

The process examined the three purpose statements of the association dating back 130 years, which began formulating a modernized mission statement that serves as a road map for the future. Analysis for identifying points of growth resulted in a creation of a vision statement. The objectives of four organizational pillars in the strategic plan­ — with performance metrics for accountability — was approved by the board at its March meeting.

The vision statement “Inspiring Champions for Life” was determined to serve the philosophical foundation of the WIAA’s mission identified as “Striving for excellence and consistent standards through education-based athletics.” The four organization pillars identified to ensure accountability were: governance, engagement and education, human resources, finances and operations. 

The executive staff responded to four pre-submitted open forum topics, including conference realignment, competitive balance, ejection of coaches and seed meetings. Rachel Biertzer and Janel Batten, co-chairs of the ad hoc calendar and contact committee, presented an update on the committee’s efforts and progress. Aaron Moen also reported on the discussions of the classification committee, and Doug Chickering and Dave Steavpack, members of the WIAA Foundation board, presented on the progress of the WIAA Foundation since its launch in 2025.

In the 2026-27 board of control elections, Brian Nadeau, the current board president-elect and superintendent at Ellsworth, was elected to a second three-year term on the board as the District 3 representative. Bryan Davis, the superintendent of the Oshkosh Area School District, will continue serving after being elected to a three-term representing District 4. Ty Breitlow, the superintendent at Lomira, will serve a special two-year term representing District 6. Tarrynce Robinson, the superintendent in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, will embark on a three-year term as the ethnic at-large representative, and Katrice Cotton, superintendent of the Brown Deer School District, will serve as the gender at-large representative. 

In the 2026-27 Advisory Council elections, Jamie Koepp, the superintendent at Lakeland, was re-elected to a three-year term as a large school representative. In the election for the medium school representation, Jeff Koenig, the superintendent at Stanley-Boyd and Patrick Gretzlock, the principal and assistant athletic director at Boyceville, were elected to three-year terms. Dennis Kaczor, the superintendent at Rosholt, was elected to a three-year term representing small schools, and Jeffrey Campbell, the superintendent at Riverdale, will serve a special one-year term. Tremayne Clardy, superintendent at Verona, returns to the Council to serve a second three-year term as the ethnic at-large representative.  

There were representatives from 378 schools in attendance at the meeting.