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Excelsior Springs board weighs invitation to Midland Empire athletic conference
Summary
District activities director presented an invitation to join the Midland Empire Conference and outlined travel, scheduling and classification concerns; no formal vote taken, board asked for a decision next month.
Eric Marshall, the district activities director, told the Excelsior Springs School District Board of Education that administrators and coaches are exploring an invitation to join the Midland Empire Conference and asked the board to consider a decision next month.
Marshall said the invitation followed outreach from Midland Empire officials and several conference athletic directors. “Through those conversations, we feel like we owe it to our kids to explore what is the Midland Empire Conference,” he said.
The discussion centered on competitive balance, travel and scheduling. Marshall told the board the Midland Empire uses a single round-robin format — playing each conference opponent once per season — which would reduce repeat travel to the same schools but might increase the distance for some away games. He said the district would become one of the larger schools in that conference and that scheduling nonconference games would be important to manage travel and competitive matchups.
Board members and staff asked about impacts at different grade levels. Several trustees raised concerns about junior high scheduling and about middle-school athletes facing larger programs, saying the move could increase travel burdens and affect early athletic development. One board member warned that families sometimes struggle to follow multiple simultaneous contests when a district fields teams in two gyms at once; Marshall said schedules could be staggered to reduce conflicts.
Marshall also discussed classification mechanics. He explained district enrollment changes and a “championship factor” used in private-school classifications can push some schools up or down and that shifting classifications across conferences is common. He said the district is still contracted to the Suburban Conference (Sub 7) for one more year and, if the board agreed, the earliest practical first year in the Midland Empire would be 2026–27.
No formal motion was made. Marshall told the board Midland Empire officials are “pretty antsy” for a response and asked for a board decision at the next meeting. The board did not vote on membership; trustees requested that staff return with more detail on travel logistics, junior-high scheduling, transportation costs and coaches’ preferences.
Marshall also reported the district would host several winter postseason events and noted the timeline for any conference switch would require scheduling coordination up to two years in advance.
The board did not take action and directed staff to return with follow-up information to inform a future decision.
