Maple Grove High School to join Lake Conference

The Crimson will leave the Northwest Suburban Conference and join the Lake Conference in the fall of 2025

Maple Grove boys hockey celebrates a goal / Earl Ebensteiner

Maple Grove High School athletics will leave the Northwest Suburban Conference and join the Lake Conference in the fall of 2025, according to a statement made on the school's website.

Maple Grove will be the eighth member of the Lake Conference, joining Buffalo, Eden Prairie, Edina Hopkins, Minnetonka, St. Michael-Albertville and Wayzata.

The statement read: "This change will provide our Crimson students with new, exciting experiences in activities. Currently, growing student enrollment has expanded our athletic/activity program so much that teams are traveling more often and further away to meet competition needs. Transportation costs are also quickly rising making it more challenging to maintain such a varied schedule. 

"Every effort will be made to ensure that our athletic/activity opportunities do not change with this move, including continuing competitions with many NWSC and non-NWSC schools. Schedules with these schools could look different than they do today though; however, please know that our school is committed to collaborating with long-standing partners – most especially with our own district schools, Osseo Senior High School and Park Center Senior High School. Also, intra-district activities such as Adapted Sports, Synchro Swimming and Grove Area Percussion partnerships will continue; these activities include student participants from all of our district high schools. 

"Thank you for the opportunity to inform you on this improvement for our Crimson student-athletes."

• Top-25 Minnesota high school football rankings (9/9/2024)

It's a big switch for Maple Grove, who will make a leap into a very competitive conference. In boys basketball, Wayzata and Minnetonka played in the Class 6A state championship, and in girls basketball, Hopkins and Minnetonka played in the state championship game.

It won't get easier for the Crimson in hockey, with both the boys and girls Class 2A champion Edina Hornets in the Lake Conference.

The Crimson will continue to compete in the Northwest Suburban Conference in the 2024-25 season.

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