Iowa Alliance Conference
 | |
| Conference | IHSAA / IGHSAU |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2022 |
| Sports fielded |
|
| No. of teams | 11 |
| Region | Central Iowa |
| Official website | https://www.iowaallianceconference.org/ |
The Iowa Alliance Conference is a high school athletic conference whose members are mostly located in the metropolitan areas of central Iowa, with five of the schools being from the Des Moines Independent Community School District.
The conference includes 11 schools and is divided into 2 divisions: North and South. 10 of the 11 schools are formerly of the Central Iowa Metro League.
Member schools
[edit]| Institution | Location | Affiliation | 2024-2025 BEDS[1] | Mascot | Colors | Former Conference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Division | |||||||||
| Ames | Ames | Public | 1,106 | Little Cyclones | CIML | ||||
| East | Waterloo | Public | 834 | Trojans | MVC | ||||
| Fort Dodge | Fort Dodge | Public | 807 | Dodgers | CIML | ||||
| Marshalltown | Marshalltown | Public | 1,242 | Bobcats | CIML | ||||
| Mason City | Mason City | Public | 809 | River Hawks | CIML | ||||
| South Division | |||||||||
| East | Des Moines | Public | 1,480 | Scarlets | CIML | ||||
| Hoover | Des Moines | Public | 660 | Huskies | CIML | ||||
| Lincoln | Des Moines | Public | 1,823 | Rail Splitters | CIML | ||||
| North | Des Moines | Public | 1,078 | Polar Bears | CIML | ||||
| Ottumwa | Ottumwa | Public | 1,101 | Bulldogs | CIML | ||||
| Roosevelt | Des Moines | Public | 1,521 | Rough Riders | CIML | ||||
| School | Sport Shared | Co-opting Schools |
|---|---|---|
| Ames | Boys Tennis | Gilbert |
| DM East | Girls Soccer | Saydel |
| DM Hoover | Boys Wrestling | DM North |
| DM North | Boys Wrestling | DM Hoover |
| Fort Dodge | Boys Soccer | Southeast Valley, St. Edmond Catholic, Manson-Northwest Webster |
| Fort Dodge | Boys Tennis | Southeast Valley |
| Fort Dodge | Girls Soccer | Southeast Valley, St. Edmond Catholic, Manson-Northwest Webster |
| Marshalltown | Boys Tennis | West Marshall, East Marshall, Nevada, BCLUW |
| Mason City | Baseball, Boys Soccer | North Iowa Christian School |
| Mason City | Boys Tennis | West Fork |
| Mason City | Girls Soccer | Central Springs, Newman Catholic, North Iowa Christian School, Osage, Rockford |
| Ottumwa | Baseball, Boys XC, Football, Boys Tennis | Ottumwa Christian |
| Ottumwa | Boys Soccer | Davis County |
| Waterloo East | Boys Tennis | Waterloo West, Waterloo Christian |
| Waterloo East | Girls Soccer | Waterloo West, Waterloo Christian, Dunkerton, Wapsie Valley |
History
[edit]On March 1, 2021, ten high schools made the announcement to leave the Central Iowa Metro League (CIML) and form a new conference. These schools include Ames, Fort Dodge, Marshalltown, Mason City, and Ottumwa, as well as the five public Des Moines schools (East, Hoover, Lincoln, North, and Roosevelt). The schools left the CIML in the spring of 2021 to create a new conference. The withdrawal is due to a low percentage in wins from the non-suburban schools in the conference.[2][3] The new conference was announced on November 19, 2021, and included Waterloo East High School, joining from the Mississippi Valley Conference (Iowa).[4]
Due to the size of the schools and proximity, games will still be routinely scheduled with the members whom remained in the CIML, while allowing scheduling with other schools they did not have space in their schedule for.
Mason City dropped the mascot "Mohawks" in November 2021, citing an effort to rid the district of a symbol that exploited Native American tribal imagery. The Meskwaki and Akwesasne Nations had voiced objections to the mascot.[5] On March 22, 2022, it was revealed the new mascot for Mason City would be the "River Hawks". The name was chosen by vote over "Majors" and "Monarchs", which were narrowed down from over 300 submissions.[6]
Sports
[edit]The conference offers the following sports:
- Fall — volleyball, boys' cross-country, girls' cross-country, boys' golf and girls' swimming.
- Winter — Boys' basketball, girls' basketball, bowling, wrestling and boys' swimming.
- Spring — Boys' track and field, girls' track and field, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, boys' tennis, girls' tennis and girls' golf.
- Summer — Baseball and softball.
All the member schools field a varsity football team, however it is not sponsored by any conference in Iowa. Football is played in a separate classification system, and competition is organized by districts.
Although the member schools field freshman — and in some cases, junior varsity — teams in many of the above-mentioned sports, conference championships are determined at sophomore and varsity levels only.
References
[edit]- ^ "IHSAA: Classifications".
- ^ Rohlfing, Noah. "Change on the horizon: Marshalltown, others reveal CIML departure plans". Times Republican. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ "Understanding the CIML". j-hawks.com. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ Mollenbeck, Andrew. "11 schools join new Iowa athletic conference". KCCI. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ "Mason City School Board approves new mascot: River Hawks". Times-Republican. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ Jirgens, Alex. "For Mason City, it's out with the Mohawks and in with the River Hawks". KIMT 3 News. Retrieved 25 July 2022.