This post was provided by News Now Warsaw

By Roger Grossman
News Now Warsaw

This is a sports-related column, and occasionally someone contacts me with subject matters that you’d like me to tackle in this space.

And I listen to you. I don’t always write about the subjects you bring up, but I consider them.

However, there is a topic that I have avoided for a few months now.

I don’t think I can anymore.

It’s time to have a chat about Wawasee Athletics.

Specifically, it’s time for a full-length, serious discussion about Wawasee’s membership in the Northern Lakes Conference.

Before we dive into this, you need to understand that this is an opinion column. Within it, you will see facts and information that I have dug up in preparation for writing it. However, I am not breaking news here. I am not quoting sources, and I am certainly not in the business of telling local athletic departments what they should or should not be doing.

I am just telling you how things look from where I am perched and offering information to you.

This is also written carefully so as not to come across as critical of any current or former Wawasee athletic directors, school administrators, coaches, athletes or anyone else involved in Wawasee athletics.

That’s not my heart.

But in recent months, there have been whispers about the future of Wawasee — not just the athletics scene but the school corporation in general.

People are concerned about the school district, and that’s not irrational. Wawasee patrons, you must be honest and admit that the general feeling surrounding the school system is low right now.

Athletics, as a whole, mirrors that.

Doesn’t mean those involved aren’t committed to doing what it takes to win.

Doesn’t mean there aren’t talented people involved.

There just isn’t a lot of positive vibes coming out of there right now.

Wawasee, since it opened just before 1970, has always been one of the smallest schools in the Northern Lakes Conference. Now, according to the IHSAA’s most recent enrollment data, Wawasee is the smallest school in the league. NorthWood now has more students than Wawasee.

And when they opened, the enrollment difference between Wawasee and Warsaw was just a few hundred students. Now, Warsaw is well over twice as big as their neighbor to the northeast.

And it’s not just Warsaw — Northridge has grown, Goshen has grown, Mishawaka is bigger, Concord has grown. Wawasee is not growing right now.

From a competitive standpoint, many Wawasee teams are struggling against their conference rivals. In the three major sports, for example, Wawasee has won 19 total football games in the last 10 seasons and 11 in the last 8 years. In the NLC, the Warriors have won 11 games since the start of the 2016 season — that’s 10 seasons.

Boys basketball has won a total of 9 NLC games in the last 10 seasons, and 5 of those 10 seasons yielded no wins in league play.

Girls Basketball has won a total of 27 conference games in the last 10 seasons, including 5 wins and a third-place finish in 2022-23 and 4 wins and a fourth-place finish two seasons ago.

There are certainly reasons for Wawasee to stay in the conference.

Ticket revenue would be at the top of the list. NLC fans travel, and established rivals make it easier to be a fan.

Playing against better opponents in the NLC in preparation for their postseason should be a reason to stay, but it honestly hasn’t improved the Warriors’ chances in most sports for the last decade.

Travel time would seem to be better in the NLC, but not as much better as you’d think when you open up the maps app on your phone.

And this might be weird to read from an old-school guy like me, but “tradition” can’t carry any weight in this discussion.

So, let’s say Wawasee decides to leave the NLC—where might they go?

The most logical choice would be the relatively new Indiana Northern State Conference. The schools in that league would be closer in size for them than the NLC, and they are looking for new members. They currently have six schools, so there is room for two schools there.

I wonder if another school might want to jump to the INSC if Wawasee chooses to do that. Again, I won’t mention any school names here—that would be unfair to them. But I have a couple in mind that could work.

OK, I was wrong before. I am, in fact, going to tell Wawasee what they should do about this.

They should do what is best for Wawasee’s future coaches, athletes and the community. That it — that’s the only consideration that should be given. They should ask the question “What’s best for all of us?”

Now, what is best for them? I’m not sure, but I know that the people who are going to make that decision are people who care about the right things, who have their priorities in check, and who will do what is best for all parties involved.

Based on my very unscientific polling data, the community is split. I think if we polled the administration, we’d see the same. That’s not a horrible thing! Sure, it would be nice if everyone saw the situation the same way and had the same vision of what to do. If Wawasee people will take the right approach to this, the discussion will make the community stronger by finding out the “why” of what they are doing.

Regardless, it’s time for the Wawasee community to have the hard conversations required to chart the course of what comes next.

The post Time To chat about Wawasee appeared first on News Now Warsaw.