Iowa High School AD Explains Decision To Not Field Varsity Girls Basketball Program

It was recently reported that at least six Iowa high schools will not field a varsity girls basketball program for the upcoming 2026-2027 season.

One of those is Sumner-Fredericksburg High School. The Cougars won nine games a year ago, but their athletic director cited a number of reasons for the decision to not play a varsity schedule this winter.

“Unfortunately, we will not have a varsity girls basketball teamt his season,” Sumner-Fredericksburg athletic director Mike Quigley told KWAY Waverly. “Numbers have been declining for several years, and injuries have added to the situation this year.

“After many meetings and conversations with administration, ADs and our school board at the last meeting, we decided the best path forward is to play a JV-only schedule and focus on rebuilding our own program rather than co-op.”

A co-op agreement would have meant student athletes from Sumner-Fredericksburg interested in playing varsity girls basketball could join a neighboring school. When you do that, the enrollment of both schools is combined, which can lead to teams moving up in the class ranking in Iowa.

Members of the North Iowa Cedar League, the school has an enrollment of 155, which places them near the bottom of Class 2A. The conference includes the likes of AGWSR, Aplington-Parkersburg, Columbus Catholic, Denver, Dike-New Hartford, East Marshall, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Grundy Center, Hudson, Jesup, Oelwein, South Hardin, Union Community and Wapsie Valley.

In addition to winning nine games last winter, Sumner-Fredericksburg won seven in 2024-2025 and had a string of 15 consecutive years with a record of .500 or better going. That run included a 23-2 mark in 2011-2012, 21 wins the season before that and 20 victories during the 2017-2018 campaign.

Competing in Class 2A, the Cougars ranked 57th last year according to the Bound rankings and were 243rd overall in the state. They scored just under 41 points a game and were set to return starters Sydney Zupke, Erin Steege, Kylee Krueger and Hannah Buhman.

Krueger and reserve Maggie Jones were the lone juniors on the roster for Sumner-Fredericksburg last year. Zupke, Steege, Megan Balk, Malina Fober, Madalyn Vstecka and Maggie Jones would have been juniors, as Buhman would have been a sophomore.

“The decision was not taken lightly,” Quigley said. “We explored several options, and there really wasn’t a perfect answer. Ultimately, we felt this was the best decision for the long-term health of our entire 7-12 girls basketball program.

“Our goal is to rebuild participation, develop our younger players and get our varsity program back on the floor as soon as we can.”

The other confirmed schools not fielding varsity girls basketball programs include Central City, Postville, Starmont, Vinton-Shellsburg and West Central.

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