The idea of a conference for schools in Dakota County is not new, but inroads are now being made in the formation of such a conference.

It makes nothing but sense, especially when you consider the costs of travel for teams from the varsity level all the way down to ninth grade. Plus, parents and families would have their travel time cut significantly if they never had to leave the county for conference games.

Apple Valley, Eagan, Eastview, Rosemount, Lakeville North, Lakeville South, Burnsville, Farmington and Hastings are all in Dakota County. Most of them are in the Lake Conference; Farmington is in the Missota and Hastings in the Suburban East.

John Currie is superintendent of School District 196, which encompasses Apple Valley, Eagan, Eastview and Rosemount high schools. He told me today that discussions are being held about forming a new conference.

“District 196 principals and athletic directors are developing a list of things to look into as we think seriously about starting a Dakota County conference,” Currie said. “There seems to be lots of support for this idea and we’re seriously examining that concept. Part of it is we’re looking down the road to see what we think makes sense in the years ahead. We want to look at all programs and the expenses of those programs, and decide what the best thing is for our kids.

“We’re going to invite some of our neighbors to sit down with us and see if they’re interested in joining us.”

It’s fair to say that those neighbors include Farmington and Hastings, and possibly others. 

This is a major step toward fixing the problems of metro conference alignment. The Classic Lake schools (Edina, Hopkins, Minnetonka and Wayzata) are looking for new homes, and here’s a thought to consider: Those four schools join with Eden Prairie and one, two or three schools from the Northwest Suburban to form a powerhouse football-only conference. The Northwest Suburban schools could use a rotating schedule, with teams taking turns playing the Classic Lake/Eden Prairie teams.

Football is the elephant in the room whenever conference alignment is discussed. So taking football out of the equation somewhat might make change easier to accept.

Let’s hear your thoughts…Â

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.