The N.C. High School Athletic Association will transition to eight divisions starting in the 2025-2026 academic year.

At the recent NCHSAA Board of Directors meeting, the board unanimously approved the recommendation of the realignment ad hoc committee to transition to eight classifications in the upcoming realignment.

Erica Turner, the chair of the committee and Executive Director for Athletics at Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, presented the recommendation to the board.

NCHSAA member schools passed a bylaw requiring classifications be limited to no more than 64 schools. That meant the NCHSAA’s next realignment period would need a minimum of seven classifications.

On Wednesday, Tod Morgan, a member of the board, clarified that if the NCHSAA were to transition to seven classes, each class would have approximately 62-63 schools. However, the recently implemented bylaw restricts classes from exceeding 64 schools, allowing limited space for new schools to become part of the NCHSAA.

Morgan stated that if there were eight categories, each class would consist of approximately 54 to 55 schools.

Turner stated that the goal behind suggesting eight classifications was to allow the NCHSAA to expand. The NCHSAA has agreed to include four additional schools for the 2024-2025 academic year, resulting in a minimum of 440 schools in the NCHSAA next autumn.

The upcoming realignment will be determined using the average daily membership figures from the 2024-2025 academic year.

Source: highschoolot.com