Defending state champion Franklin Combined is one gymnastics program that will be affected by the WIAA's new rule on co-op teams

STEVENS POINT - The days of co-op teams in gymnastics as we know them are numbered.

By an 8-1 vote Thursday, the WIAA board of control approved a measure that will limit the scope of co-op teams and address a long-simmering issue that some coaches believe has affected the competitive balance of the sport.

Beginning with the 2019-'20 school year, a co-op team will be eligible for the WIAA postseason if it consists of no more than two schools or the combined enrollment of the co-op team is less than the largest stand-alone team in its division. Individuals from ineligible co-op teams will be eligible for the individual competition.

The rule will affect a number of Division 1 programs, including three-time defending state champion Franklin Combined, but no Division 2 programs.

This means some of the area's top programs will have to split if they want to continue to compete for state team titles.

The plan received a mixed reception as it went through the committee process. It received approval from the Coaches Committee, 6-0, the Sports Advisory, 9-5, and Advisory Council, 7-6.  The only dissenting vote among the board members came from Kenosha Tremper principal Steve Knecht.

Proponents of the plan believe it will not only restore competitive balance in a sport that has been dominated at the Division 1 level by larger co-ops but also create opportunities for more recreational gymnasts to join programs and push more schools to recruit athletes to their teams.

Detractors questioned if low-income schools would be the ones left out of the co-ops and if it was wise to do anything that could be perceived as limiting opportunities in girls sports. Beyond athletics, there was concern expressed that in this age of open enrollment not being able to offer a sport could put districts at a disadvantage.

Time will tell.

“How many of you have added anything athletically in recent years,” WIAA executive director Dave Anderson asked the board before the vote. "If you want to add the sport of gymnastics with the equipment, with the coach, with the facility, what you’re talking about is rolling the dice.

“The reality is we don’t know if it will grow programs or if it will diminish and eliminate opportunities. We don’t know.”

Based on next year’s list of approved gymnastics co-ops, there will be seven programs affected, including the Oshkosh West Co-op that also includes North and Lourdes. Here are the six from the area with the makeup of their co-op for next season, according to the WIAA website. Sun Prairie (2,370 enrollment) has the largest stand-alone program.

» Waukesha Combined: North, South, West, Catholic Memorial (4,461)

» Menomonee Falls/Germantown/ Sussex Hamilton (4,198)

» Burlington Co-op: Burlington, Badger, Catholic Central, Williams Bay, Wilmot, Union Grove (5,067)

» Kenosha Combined: Bradford, Indian Trail, Tremper, Westosha Central (7,700)

» West Allis: Central, Hale, Divine Savior Holy Angels (5,574)

» Franklin Combined: Franklin, Muskego, Oak Creek, Whitnall (5,991)

The big winners in that bunch in recent years are Franklin and Kenosha, which was the state runner-up in 2016 and ’17. Overall the co-ops with three or more schools have claimed 16 out of a possible 20 podium finishes (top two) in the past 10 years at state in Division 1. Six times those programs claimed the first- and second-place trophies in a season.

That success made the sport a target for change. Assistant director Stephanie Hauser, who oversees the sport for the WIAA, told the board that a concern of the Coaches Committee was that the sport would become filled with co-ops similar to what has happened in girls hockey.

“If we continue to let it go unchecked, their fear is that is what it’s going to become,” Hauser said. “It’s just going to be all these large conglomerates, you’re going to lose your stand-alones.”

One philosophical question the board dealt with the before the vote was if the matter of co-ops was one for it to handle on a per-sport basis or should it be voted on by the membership as part of a referendum on the entire co-op system.

The former way of thinking won out Thursday, leaving districts with some tough choices.

Which schools will partner in the future? And for districts like Waukesha and Kenosha, which two of the three schools will the district pair together? And there is always the option of maintaining the status quo and having the athletes from the team compete as individuals in the postseason.

Schools will have until next April to decide their plans for the 2019-'20 season.

State hockey: The board's other vote of note was in support of seeding the entire bracket of the boys and girls state hockey tournaments beginning next season. Previously the top half of each bracket was seeded with the remaining teams placed randomly.