WIAA denies Viroqua Schools request to switch athletic conferences

Dec. 12, 2025

VIROQUA, Wis. — The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) has denied a request by the Viroqua Area School District to leave the Coulee Conference, halting the administration’s effort to seek a more competitively balanced athletic environment for its students.

Lancaster, Platteville, Prairie du Chien, River Valley, Dodgeville and Richland Center are all in the SWC. 

The WIAA rejected Viroqua’s initial application to join the Southwest Wisconsin Conference earlier this month by a 13-1 vote. The school has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it is unclear if they will appeal that decision.

The proposal was first publicly detailed during an Oct. 20, 2025, school board meeting, where Athletic Director Dan Brown outlined the district’s intent to file an application by the Nov. 1 deadline. Brown argued that significant enrollment disparities in the current conference were negatively affecting Viroqua’s student-athletes.

“The largest school in the Cooley conference as an enrollment twice of our size, and this leads to some pretty significant disparities of outcome,” Brown told the board.

Viroqua, which has an enrollment of approximately 340 students, sought to join the Southwest Wisconsin Conference, which Brown described as a “better fit”. He noted that the largest school in the Southwest Conference has about 470 students, with most others at 400 or fewer. The district also viewed the absence of private schools in the Southwest Conference as a material factor regarding competitive advantage.

During the October meeting, the board discussed the approval process, with board member Robert Nigh asking, “Who makes the decision about yes or no?”.

Brown clarified that the decision rested with a specific WIAA subcommittee devoted to conference realignment. At the time, the board expressed support for the administration’s due diligence.

The application covered all sports except football, which Brown noted operates on a separate, more complicated realignment cycle that the district intended to address the following year.

Timeline of the Failed Bid:

• Oct. 20, 2025: Athletic Director Dan Brown presents the realignment proposal to the Viroqua School Board.
• Nov. 1, 2025: Deadline for the district to file the realignment application with the WIAA.
• Dec. 9, 2025: The WIAA rejects Viroqua’s initial application to move to the Southwest Wisconsin Conference.
• 2027-2028 School Year: This was the targeted effective date for the switch had it been approved.