Highlights of Doug Chickering's tenure as executive director of the WIAA:

Nov. 15, 1985: The WIAA names Doug Chickering, 44, district administrator at Marathon, as its executive director. He replaces John Roberts, who held the job for 29 years.

June 26, 1986: The WIAA doubles the number of teams in its football playoff field from 48 to 96, effective with the 1987 football season.

September, 1986: The WIAA Board of Control revises its policy on conference realignment procedures and gives Chickering authority to "identify unsatisfactory conference alignments based on his studies of problem areas" and initiate discussions to alter conference groupings.

April 12, 1987: Chickering opposes an effort by State Sen. Gary George (D-Milwaukee) to merge the WIAA with WISAA, the athletic governing body for the state's private schools, saying: "I'm aware that (the) Legislature has the authority to make any law they want. But one organization is not the objective of the WIAA."

July 31, 1987: Gov. Tommy Thompson vetoes a provision of the state budget that would've given WISAA schools the option of joining the WIAA. Chickering said: "I am relieved that the public-school membership option is, at least for the time being, back within the jurisdiction of the two organizations."

May 19, 1987: The WIAA awards the television contract for its state boys and girls basketball tournament to WKOW (Ch. 27) in Madison after a two-year run on WMTV (Ch. 15).

April 14, 1989: The WIAA Board of Control approves adding a fourth division to its basketball tournaments with eight teams in Division 1 and four each in Divisions 2, 3 and 4.

June 19, 1989: The WIAA moves its state track and field meet to Veterans Memorial Stadium -- the 5-year-old track and field complex at UW-La Crosse -- after a 17-year run at Mansfield Stadium in Madison.

March 11, 1990: Chickering removes Milwaukee Hamilton from the WIAA state boys basketball tournament in favor of sectional runner-up Milwaukee Tech after it was discovered Hamilton played 21 regular-season games -- one over the maximum -- only to have a Milwaukee Circuit Court judge reject the WIAA ruling and restore Hamilton to the field.

Nov. 15, 1991: The WIAA state football finals make their live television debut on Madison-based TCI Cablevision.

April 28, 1994: WISAA schools are allowed to compete in WIAA state tournaments in sports WISAA does not sponsor after WIAA schools overwhelmingly approve an amendment to the WIAA constitution.

Jan. 12, 1996: WISAA executive director Al Bill announces his association -- formed in 1957 -- will "cease administrative operation" after June 30, 2000, paving the way for private schools to join the WIAA.

Jan. 25, 1996: The WIAA expands its football playoff field from 96 to 192 teams, assuring that every team with a winning conference record will qualify for postseason.

Feb. 1, 1996: The WIAA Web site debuts and eventually replaces its "Fax on Demand" service as the source for tournament information.

Jan. 29, 1998: A plan to seed the first two rounds of the WIAA football playoffs passes the Board of Control, less than a month before hockey coaches become the first to seed their WIAA state tournament.

Feb. 26, 1998: Wrestling becomes the first sport to hold its state tourney in the Kohl Center, the University of Wisconsin's new 17,142-seat facility that opened Jan. 17. The boys and girls state basketball tournaments, which -- like wrestling -- had been held at the UW Field House also move to the Kohl Center.

July 1, 1999: The WIAA moves from its Stevens Point-based headquarters in the village of Park Ridge to a new building in the Portage County Industrial park along Interstate 39 near Plover.

Aug. 6, 1999: The WIAA and the University of Wisconsin reach a compromise on using the Kohl Center, approving a rotation between the state girls basketball tournament and the WCHA hockey and the state boys basketball tourney and NCAA women's basketball regional.

June 22, 2000: Seeding the regional level of the WIAA basketball and volleyball tournaments is approved by the WIAA Board of Control, which also votes to sponsor girls hockey.

May 11, 2001: The WIAA Board of Control votes to move the state softball tournament from Saratoga Complex in Waukesha to Goodman Diamond on the UW campus.

Sept. 13, 2001: Chickering announces all scheduled prep football games will be played despite the Sept. 11 attacks on the East Coast. "The (WIAA's) position is not one lacking in respect for the tragic events of Tuesday, nor is it a statement suggesting that high school sports cannot be interrupted," he said in the statement. "Rather, it reflects the president's intention to have people engage in their normal activities. Furthermore, child psychologists tell us that maintaining a normal and consistent environment is important in times of crisis."

Jan. 18, 2002: The WIAA football playoffs expand as a seventh division is added and the field expanded by 32 teams to 224.

April 30, 2003: Chickering announces the WIAA state soccer tournaments will move from Madison to Milwaukee and will be played at Uihlein Soccer Park.

Jan. 16, 2004: Coaches in football, volleyball and soccer are given limited contact with their athletes in the summer under a plan passed by the WIAA Board of Control.

March 21, 2004: The WIAA extends its contract with Quincy Newspapers, Inc., to televise live its state boys and girls basketball tournaments through 2010, virtually guaranteeing the tournaments will maintain their four-division format.

July 13, 2004: Chickering is elected to the board of directors for the National Federation of State High School Associations.

July 12, 2005: Chickering announces the WIAA state girls basketball tournament will move to the Dane County Coliseum for three years, beginning in 2006.

April 27, 2006: WIAA schools pass a constitutional amendment imposing a year of athletic ineligibility for any student transferring from a school after four consecutive semesters there beginning in 2007-08.

Dec. 1, 2006: Chickering and the WIAA make national headlines by denying a Stevens Point boy's request to compete on the school's girls gymnastics team.

Sept. 14, 2007: The WIAA state girls basketball tournament will return to the Kohl Center in 2010 when it will be played the week after the state boys tournament.

April 23, 2008: At the WIAA annual meeting, Chickering warns delegates of growing pressure from national organizations courting elite athletes at the expense of those athletes competing for their high schools.

Oct. 8, 2008: Chickering announces he will retire as executive director after the 2008-09 school year and 22-plus years on the job.