Change happening next season in the Northern Indiana Conference is hitting Penn’s Athletic Program in different ways.
Some sports – including Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball and Volleyball – will need to find new opponents for their schedules next season.
Some sports – including Baseball, Softball, Football, Boys Soccer and Girls Soccer – will need to drop familiar and in some cases long-time opponents from their current schedules to make room for the revised NIC line-up.
The NIC is losing four members after the 2023-2024 school year, trimming the 12-schools league down to eight schools.
South Bend Clay is closing after this school year. Bremen, Glenn and Jimtown are leaving the NIC for the newly formed Indiana Northern State Conference.
The NIC will consist of Penn, Elkhart, Marian, New Prairie, South Bend Adams, South Bend Riley, South Bend St. Joseph and South Bend Washington starting in the 2024-2025 school year.
That means, instead of 11 conference opponents, Penn will have seven conference opponents next school year.
Sports such as Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys and Girls Swimming and Wrestling are not likely to be affected by the NIC schedule changes.
Here’s a snapshot of how the NIC changes will affect some of Penn’s teams:
BASEBALL
NIC Baseball teams will play a 14-game league schedule in 2025, playing each of the seven conference opponents twice in successive days. The Kingsmen will have to drop three non-conference opponents after this season to make the NIC double round-robin schedule work.
“I’m not a big fan of this at all,” said Penn Baseball Head Coach Greg Dikos, who has guided Penn to back-to-back State Championships the last two seasons. “The double round-robin does not benefit us as a program. This is forcing us to take off some non-conference teams that we have built a very, very good relationship with over the past couple of years.
“For example, the high schools that are in the mix of being removed are Lakeshore, Fort Wayne Carroll and Mishawaka,” Dikos continued. “Those are the teams that come to mind but nothing is set to stone yet.
“We have to trim the schedule up. As an organization, we do not want this to take place, we don’t want to play conference teams twice, we want to be able to see what our team is capable of with teams like Lakeshore and others. We aren’t benefiting from this.”
SOFTBALL
NIC Softball, like NIC Baseball, will be playing 14 conference games in a double round-robin format.
“The changes to the NIC will create a very different playing field in the spring (of 2025) for Penn Softball,” said Penn Softball Head Coach Beth Zachary, who led Penn to the State Championship last season. “While we will miss our friends and the games with the schools who are leaving the NIC, we are excited for new opportunities that are possible now.
“We have been able to join a tournament in Southern Indiana hosted by Castle High School, where we will be playing some of the best teams in Southern Indiana and Kentucky. We typically only are able to compete against teams as far as Indianapolis, so it’s really beneficial for our team to be able to see great competition from the Southernmost part of the state.
“If you want to be the best team in the state, you have to play the best, and we have always been blessed to pride the success of our teams heavily on the rigorous schedule we play each season. We are excited for the new competitions coming up.”
Penn dropped Northridge and Concord for 2025, and had an open date already for 2025.
FOOTBALL
The Kingsmen go from having five conference games in 2023 to having seven next season in 2024. Penn is dropping Hammond Morton and Cathedral from next year’s schedule, and canceling the Carmel series that was scheduled to start in 2025. Penn will be adding South Bend Riley and South Bend Washington to its schedule next season.
“We’re happy that we’re able to keep our rivalries with Valparaiso and Mishawaka weeks one and two, and we look forward to new challenges in the NIC,” Football Head Coach Cory Yeoman said.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Boys Basketball currently plays a single round-robin schedule in the NIC, so Penn will go from 11 NIC games this season to seven NIC games next season.
“With the loss of the four teams from the NIC, we will have the opportunity to play some different opponents,” Penn Boys Basketball Head Coach Barak Coolman said. “We have a few options and I will be looking to help get the Penn players and our program some more exposure across the state.
“The first thing I would like to do is to add a holiday tournament to our schedule,” Coolman said. “Homestead High School has a good one and it would be great for us to go to the Fort Wayne area and play some great competition.
“The second thing I would like to do is to add a Showcase that we can play in. Ideally it would be in the Indy area to help get our players more exposure.
“And with our final opening to the schedule, I would like to add another opponent to fill out our schedule – more than likely we would want Varsity and JV games. I’m not sure who this would be.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Girls Basketball will also be looking to add four new opponents to its 2024-2025 schedule with the loss of four conference games.
“With the conference changing next year, it leaves some holes in our schedule,” Penn Girls Basketball Coach Kristi Ulrich said. “Three schools are leaving the conference and Clay is closing. We are working on finding four replacement teams.
“We have picked up Michigan City and Mishawaka so far,” Ulrich said. “Michigan City is another Duneland opponent and Mishawaka is a big rivalry game that we are excited about bringing back.
“The challenge with finding so many replacements is that all of our weekends are full with opponents that are quite a distance away. We can not go to Indy or Fort Wayne on a week night with school the next day. It might take a year or so to completely realign our schedule, but for now it is a work in progress.”
BOYS SOCCER
NIC Boys Soccer (as well as NIC Girls Soccer) competed in divisions in 2023. Penn will have to drop three non-conference opponents in order to add New Prairie, South Bend Riley and South Bend Washington next season when NIC Boys Soccer switches to a round-robin format.
“With regards to the change in the conference, changes like this always bring new excitement and new challenges,” Penn Boys Soccer Head Coach Kyle Zaber said. “I know our current conference rivals create a fun playing environment and great matches, and I have strong relationships with the opposition coaches. I hope we can continue that as we welcome in new programs to the new NIC structure.”
Zaber did not yet know which non-conference teams would be dropped from the 2024-2025 schedule.
GIRLS SOCCER
NIC Girls Soccer will also have to eliminate three non-conference games in order to add three new league matches.
“With the changes to our conference, there will be some changes to our girls soccer schedule,” Penn Head Coach Jeff Hart said. “We’ve been in divisions in the conference, but will now play everyone going forward. This means we add three conference games and must drop three out-of-conference games. The negatives include the possibility of dropping long-standing games vs. elite teams from outside our area, while the positives include less travel and building rivalries closer to home. Regardless, we will make the best of it and are looking forward to an exciting 2024.”
VOLLEYBALL
Penn Volleyball will be adding at least four new opponents for 2024 as the Kingsmen conference schedule in that sport goes from 11 conference games to seven.
The Kingsmen are bringing back a traditional rivalry – Mishawaka. The Cavemen will visit Penn in 2024 in the renewal of the neighborhood classic.
Penn High School Assistant Athletic Director Marie Doan said that the Kingsmen will play in a round-robin with state powers Brownsburg and Yorktown, and are adding Michigan power Edwardsburg. The Kingsmen may also add Chesterton to the schedule.
