The historic football co-op between Shorewood High School, Messmer High School and Dominican High School in Milwaukee, Wis., will dissolve after the 2027 school year.
According to Fox 6 Now, Shorewood School District made the decision to not renew the football co-op in a recent meeting with players and coaches. The co-op has seen declining participation numbers, and now leaders have voiced concerns about student-athlete safety.
The co-op began in 2001, when Shorewood High School and Messmer formed a first-of-its-kind public-private co-op team. Dominican High School was added to the co-op, known as “Messwood” in 2025. Throughout the years, Shorewood and Messmer also formed a co-op wrestling team, which will live on.
Even with the 2025 addition of Dominican High School, participation numbers have remained too low to safely field a varsity team.
“This decision followed several discussions about declining participation and player safety,” said Shorewood School District in a statement reported by WISN.
Messwood was the subject of a 2022 Milwaukee-area filmmaker’s documentary. The film followed the team in 2019, chronicling both the action on the field and the city’s racial tensions in sharp contrast to the diverse makeup of the team. Shorewood has a predominantly white student population and Messmer has a predominantly Black student population.
"I think that there's so much we can learn from these players and these young people who are, you know, living in the city and experiencing so much and still overcoming so much and coming together and have just this really nuanced understanding of what it means to live in Milwaukee and to grow up in the city right now. So I hope people, you know, learn to respect and listen," filmmaker Emily Kuester told WUWM 89.7 of the former student-athletes and team she captured in the film.
Students who have competed on the Messwood team will be connected with school staff to help them find other teams and school organizations.
