The Metro Women's Athletic Association has taken a hit.
The ABC League announced last week that it will melt down its current structure as an all-boys conference. Mary Institute-Country Day School, John Burroughs, Lutheran North, Lutheran South and Principia all participated in the MWAA. Come the fall of 2012 that will change.
With six teams on the way out, MWAA President and Ursuline Athletic Director Jen Brooks said expansion could be in the plans for the all-girls league.
"We'll meet in the next couple of weeks," Brooks said. "We could ask a couple of schools to join, that's an option."
The league, which is now exclusively single-sex institutions, has gone from 16 members to 10. Brooks feels the loss of those programs significantly affects the strength of the MWAA on and off the field.
"We were somewhat of a juggernaut for women's sports," she said. "We're not as strong."
Another factor in the shifting of league is the loss of facilities. Many of the ABC League programs have outstanding athletic facilities and MWAA member frequently held swim meets, track meets and lacrosse and field hockey games at those facilities.
Few, if any, of the remaining members of the MWAA have those distinct, and often expensive, facilities.
Brooks said with two years notice finding facilities won't be a problem.
"I'm not worried about that as much," she said. "We'll find facilities, we'll make that work."
The MWAA will know more within the next couple of weeks. To balance out the new, unnamed league, the current members of the ABC League extended an invitation to Villa Duchesne. With Priory the only all-boys school in the conference, Villa would be the only all-girls institution. It's important for the new league to find an all-girls program to give it an even number of boys and girls teams for scheduling meets and tournaments.
Villa Duchesne hopes to have an answer for the new league and for the MWAA. Until then, things are on hold.
"We're kind of handcuffed right now," Brooks said.
