The Shawano/Bonduel boys hockey team only has one more year of an independent schedule before joining the Great Northern Conference in 2027-28.
The WIAA board of control voted March 10 to approve Shawano’s request to join the conference.
“We’re excited about it,” said Adam Gafner, Shawano/Bonduel head coach and president of the Shawano Hockey League. “There is a lot of value and purpose in joining a conference.”
Current teams in the GNC are Tomahawk, Northland Pines, Mosinee, Waupaca, Antigo, Lakeland, Medford and Rhinelander.
Gafner said the Shawano youth hockey teams and the high school team plays most of the GNC teams already.
“This is 15 years in the making,” he said. “We are finally in a conference we belong in.”
An early vote by the athletic directors of the existing GNC schools was against allowing Shawano to join. Gafner holds no animosity because of the vote.
“They voted based on what they thought was the best interests of their students,” he said. “I understand that.”
As conference members, the team can now compete for a conference title, and players can compete for conference awards, both of which are lacking when teams play an independent schedule.
The move could also generate some rivalries for the Hawks.
“We sort of have one now against Antigo,” Gafner said. “We could develop one with Rhinelander, with even more over time.”
Adding Shawano to the mix isn’t the end of the realignment, though.
A fast-track application placing Merrill in the Great Northern Conference for boys hockey will be addressed by the WIAA board following the completion of the realignment process in April.
Merrill currently is part of a co-op team called East/Merrill United with Wausau East and Newman Catholic.
Next season, Merrill will have its own independent team.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
