Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale SCHS football head coach Alan Tomow talks to his players about their upcoming schedule at the end of Monday’s practice.
This fall, Shawano Community High School will face four new members of the Bay Conference.
As part of the 76-school, eight-conference realignment across the state approved last year by the WIAA, Green Bay East and Green Bay West join the Bay Conference from the Fox River Classic Conference, and Xavier and Waupaca move from the Eastern Valley Conference to the Bay.
Waupaca will join the Bay for football but remain in the North Eastern Conference, which replaced the Eastern Valley, for other sports.
Luxemburg-Casco, Marinette and Oconto Falls move from the Bay to the NEC.
SCHS football coach Alan Tomow believes the realignment creates a more competitive balance within the conference.
“I expect everything will be a lot tighter,” Tomow said. “Each game is going to be competitive. Whoever is going to get hot is going to win football games.”
He continued, “I think it’s going to make for some competitive football because, like I said, the parity is there this year, and there’s a lot of us in the same boat in needing to beat each other to either get to the playoffs or finish higher in the conference.”
The Hawks finished sixth in the Bay Conference last season,
The SCHS boys basketball team advanced to the sectionals for the second straight season under head coach Chris Kellett last year. New boys basketball coach and assistant football coach Dave Ambrosius believes the conference will raise expectations for its athletes each and every day.
“It raises the level of competition in terms of the quality of teams that we added,” Ambrosius said. “Obviously, we added some very talented high school teams, so it raises the level of expectation for us in practice. We have to get better in order to compete with those new teams.”
The realignment won’t affect game results, though. That pressure will still be placed on the athletes come game time.
“Every game is going to matter, just like it always has,” Tomow said, “but I’m looking forward to competing against the new competition.”
AT A GLANCE
School Enrollment
Bay Conference (2014): Menasha, 965; Shawano, 820; West De Pere, 820, New London, 767; Seymour, 697; Luxemburg-Casco, 626; Marinette, 624; Oconto Falls, 522; Denmark, 506.
Bay Conference (2015): Green Bay East, 1,300; Menasha, 992; Green Bay West, 958; Shawano, 767; West De Pere, 845; New London, 786; Seymour, 710; Waupaca, 689; Xavier, 594.
Source: WIAA