Newton, South Tama approved for conference switch

The Central Iowa Metro and Little Hawkeye conferences are going to see membership changes in the near future. Yesterday, the 7 schools of Little Hawkeye conference approved membership applications from the South Tama and Newton community school districts to become members of the Little Hawkeye Conference in the 2006-2007 school year. That’ll make the Little Hawkeye conference a 9-team league. South Tama’s been a member of the Waumac conference, but has already been playing some of the Little Hawkeye conference teams. Newton’s been a member of the Iowa Conference of the C-I-M-L but they cite declining enrollment as making it more difficult for their athletic teams to compete. The 2 schools will join the conference for not only athletics but also other academic programs. Pella, Pella Christian, Knoxville, Grinnell, Norwalk, Boone and Oskaloosa are the other teams after Waukee moves to the Central Iowa Metropolitan League.