Ames High School leaving IAC for Little Hawkeye Conference

Starting in 2026-27, Ames High School will be part of Little Hawkeye Conference

Ames High School will move to the Little Hawkeye Conference to compete in all sports outside of football in the near future. / Joe Randleman/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

One of the founding members of both the Central Iowa Metro League and Iowa Alliance Conference, Ames High School will now be competing in the Little Hawkeye Conference.

The school board made the decision in a unanimous vote to withdraw from the IAC and move into the Little Hawkeye Conference starting with the 2026-27 school year. This will affect all sports outside of football, which uses districts to determine groupings.

Members of the Little Hawkeye Conference include Dallas Center-Grimes, Indianola, Newton, Norwalk, Oskaloosa, Pella and Pella Christian. The league has stated that would like to reach 10 total teams and create two divisions in the near future.

While the move away from regular opponents such as Fort Dodge, Mason City and Marshalltown would seem like a step down, the overall talent and continued growth of the schools in the Little Hawkeye Conference might actually prepare the Little Cyclones for the postseason in a better fashion.

Dallas Center-Grimes, Norwalk, Pella and Pella Christian are constant state contenders in numerous sports. 

“What’s always within changes for conferences is what’s best for student involvement,” Ames superintendent Scott Grimes told the Ames Tribune. “If we have teams A through F in basketball, these schools also have similar A through F, so we can compete with all our teams. It provides more opportunties for all the kids.”

Other schools in the Iowa Alliance Conference include Waterloo East, Waterloo West, Des Moines East, Des Moines Hoover, Des Moines Lincoln, Des Moines North, Des Moines Roosevelt and Ottumwa. It remains unknown at this point if those schools will remain together, add other schools or see other programs leave.