Following invitations from the North Central Conference executive board, the school boards of Garner Hayfield Ventura, Forest City, and Eagle Grove held votes on Monday night to decide whether to accept the invitation to join the conference.
The school boards of Forest City and Eagle Grove voted unanimously to join the NCC, given the condition that all three schools would accept their invitation. However, the school board of Garner Hayfield Ventura voted 3-2 against accepting the invitation, meaning that all of the schools remain in the Top of Iowa West for the time being.
According to North Central Conference Commissioner Greg Stewart, the conference had talked for a while about possible expansion, and with the addition of Charles City, decided to reach out to the three Top of Iowa West Schools.
Had all three schools accepted the invitation, they would have had active membership in the conference beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.
As part of the North Central Conference’s expansion plans, the league had drafted a proposal to split the conference into two six team divisions with the incorporation of Forest City, Eagle Grove, and Garner Hayfield Ventura. The divisional plan would divide the conference based on enrollment, a number which would be evaluated every four years. The proposed format included Algona, Humboldt, Clear Lake, Webster City, Hampton-Dumont-CAL, and Charles City in the “Tradition Division” and Forest City, Eagle Grove, Garner Hayfield Ventura, St. Edmond, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, and Iowa Falls-Alden in the “Pride Division.”
Stewart outlined what a potential 12 team North Central Conference future schedule format could look like as the league looks at its expansion options.
According to Stewart, the North Central Conference is also open to the idea of a ten team league split into two divisions if they are able to bring one more school in to join the current schools, plus Charles City, who is in the process of joining the league.
With clear interest in joining the conference based on the unanimous votes from Forest City and Eagle Grove to accept the invitation if Garner Hayfield Ventura had also agreed, Stewart says the NCC hasn’t given up on GHV eventually re-evaluating the situation.
One other moving piece for the North Central Conference if any of the aforementioned Top of Iowa West schools eventually decide to join the league is how quickly Charles City can incorporate into the conference. The Comets are set to join the NCC as a non-voting member in in 2025-2026, before becoming a full member in 2027-2028.
Charles City may not be able to play a full conference schedule in its first couple years in the North Central in some sports until becoming a full member in 2027-2028 due to schedules already being in place for those seasons prior to 2027-2028. However, if the North Central adds any schools beyond the nine that are currently set to compete in the league, Stewart says the redesigning of schedule could speed up the process of integrating Charles City as a full member.
As of Tuesday, November 12th, there is no change in conference affiliation with the current schools in the North Central or Top of Iowa West conferences, but the NCC remains open to future league expansion as the situation develops.
