Future of the Frontier League

Story by Catherine Grosdidier ≫

A change is coming.

The Frontier League will no longer be the seven teams that we are all familiar with. Over the last nine years, enrollment in each of the league schools has changed. The DeSoto school district has had the highest jump in enrollment out all of the Frontier League schools, forcing them to move up to 5A in the KSHSAA class divisions.

Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, the Wildcats will be moving into the newly formed United Kansas Conference with Basehor-Linwood, Shawnee Heights, Lansing, Leavenworth, and Turner.

Will Eudora continue to play Baldwin and Spring Hill and our other league rivals? The answer is yes. The Cardinals will still face off against the Bulldogs and others, there will just be a few new additions to the schedule.

In May of 2017, Tonganoxie, Bonner Springs, and Piper each approached the Frontier League in hopes of becoming new members. The league soon accepted the offers and gave official invitations to the districts.

The Frontier League is commonly known as a very competitive league in class 4A.

“It’ll be interesting,” Head Boys Basketball Coach Kyle Deterding said, “These changes will make an already good league even deeper.”

The process to join a league is complicated. There is more to the process than a school just deciding to join. According to EHS athletic director Cara Kimberlin, it takes not only the schools’ coaches and athletic directors, but also the higher administration.

“Each of the three schools came to the league with a presentation about joining,” Kimberlin said, “The league athletic directors and principals then decide whether or not they want to extend an invitation to the schools to join.”

The superintendents approve the new additions and letters go to the specific schools saying they would like to officially join the league. For the schools to be able to join a new league, the superintendent and school boards of the districts then have to approve.

The addition of the three schools now puts the Frontier League at nine schools. Tonganoxie, Bonner Springs, and Piper are each coming from the Kaw Valley League, which will no longer be a part of KSHSAA in 2018.

“Your league is typically formed in what they call a footprint,” Kimberlin said, “Looking at the map, these schools in this region area are pretty close to similarity in their enrollment, in sports they offer, and that’s how you form a league. Our footprint is now changing.”