Iowa schools adapt football programs as enrollment declines

Reporter/Multimedia Journalist

As high school football returns across Iowa, some of the state’s smaller school districts are finding new ways to keep students on the field as enrollment declines and rosters become harder to fill.

Davis County Community Schools became the latest district to make a change, announcing Aug. 10 that it would not field a varsity football team for the 2026 season. The district cited low participation and player safety concerns.

Rather than cancel football altogether, Davis County plans to play a junior varsity-only schedule this fall.

Tom Keating, executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, said those kinds of decisions are becoming more difficult for smaller schools as enrollment shrinks.

“As enrollment goes down in schools, it just … it takes a lot of kids to play football. It really does,” Keating said.

Davis County enrollment falling faster than statewide rate

Enrollment figures for the current school year will not be finalized until later this fall, but the most recent certified enrollment data already shows the pressure facing some districts.

Iowa public school district and charter school enrollment fell about 1.5% from fall 2024 to fall 2025.

Davis County’s certified enrollment fell more sharply over the same period, dropping from about 1,079 students to about 1,031, a decline of roughly 4.5%.

Keating said the association’s analysis indicates the issue isn’t interest; it’s enrollment.

“Overall enrollment has been declining,” Keating said, adding that participation numbers need to be considered as a percentage of a school’s total enrollment rather than in isolation.

A roster’s raw head count also does not tell administrators everything they need to know.

Keating said a school might have 15 or 18 players interested in football but still need to consider how many are freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors, whether there are enough players at particular positions and whether those athletes can safely compete against varsity opponents.

Keating emphasized that the challenges are concentrated among a relatively small number of programs.

More than 330 Iowa schools continue to offer football, he said.

The IHSAA organizes football into seven classifications, from Class 5A to eight-player. The current district assignments cover both the 2025 and 2026 seasons. When the cycle began, Iowa had 69 eight-player teams spread across 10 districts.

The IHSAA now lists eight schools as not offering varsity football in 2026: Davis County in Class 2A; Central Decatur and New London in Class A; and Exira-EHK, Lone Tree, Mormon Trail, Rockford and Siouxland Christian in eight-player.

That list, however, does not mean all eight districts have eliminated football.

JV, eight-player and shared teams offer alternatives

Keating said some districts are stepping down from varsity competition temporarily while trying to rebuild participation.

“Some of our schools want to try to keep football alive, keep it going, even when maybe they don’t have enough to run a varsity program,” he said.

Davis County’s JV-only schedule is one example.

Other schools have considered or used eight-player competition, which requires fewer players on the field and has long been an option for Iowa’s smallest schools.

Cooperative sharing agreements provide another route. Keating said a school that cannot sustain its own roster can partner with a nearby district, allowing students from both communities to participate on one team.

Lone Tree and Highland are taking that approach in 2026. Lone Tree had originally been assigned to an eight-player district for the current two-year cycle, but the schools later combined their football programs.

Those arrangements can also affect classification because the combined enrollment of the participating schools is considered when determining where a shared team competes.

One team’s decision can affect several schedules

When a school drops varsity football after schedules have been set, the impact extends beyond that district.

The IHSAA maintains a list of replacement-game opportunities for teams that lose an opponent because of a canceled season or individual forfeited game.

Schools may arrange another game or a scrimmage. For playoff qualification, the team that lost its original opponent receives a forfeit win and applicable tiebreaking points, while the replacement game is treated as a no-contest for playoff purposes.

Keating said the association works with administrators and coaches on scheduling and other logistics, but does not dictate whether a district should continue varsity competition.

“We’re very much in a guidance mode with them,” he said. “Those schools know their young people, they know their programs, they know their community.”

For many small towns, the question extends beyond the players themselves.

Keating described high school football as a community event that also involves cheerleaders, marching bands, dance teams and families gathering on Friday nights.

That is one reason, he said, schools often search for alternatives before walking away from the sport entirely.

“Kudos to the coaches, to the athletic administrators and to the school communities for doing everything they can to make it work,” he said.