The N.C. High School Athletic Association Board of Directors will gather in Chapel Hill this week for its annual winter meeting, and there are some big topics on the agenda.

Board members arrive on Wednesday when the meeting begins at 8:15 a.m. One of the first things the board will do is vote on the consent agenda, which will include admitting three new schools to the NCHSAA next school year, then the board will quickly go into closed sessions as it holds committee meetings.

The most significant part of the meeting on Wednesday will begin at approximately 1 p.m. where discussions about realignment, playoffs with eight classifications, and future amendment proposals will be discussed. The board will also discuss a proposal that would separate charter and parochial schools from other more traditional schools in the state playoffs.

Later on Wednesday, the board will receive reports from the Finance & Personnel Committee, the Policy Committee, the Review & Officiating Committee, and the Sports Committee. These report will lay the groundwork for votes that will happen on Thursday.

Thursday’s meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. with several reports from affiliate members, such as the N.C. Coaches Association and the N.C. Athletic Directors Association. After a brief recess, the board will begin discussing and voting on proposals from each of the committees.

At 1 p.m. on Thursday, Commissioner Que Tucker and members of the board will hold a virtual press conference where they will take questions from the media about the decisions made by the board.

HighSchoolOT will have full coverage of the board meeting throughout the week, including live video of each day’s meeting and the press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Board receives proposal to move charter, parochial schools to separate playoff brackets

Nash Central High School submitted a proposal the board asking it to consider creating separate playoff brackets for schools in the NCHSAA who do not have specific attendance zones. This proposal would seek to remove charter and parochial schools from playoff brackets with traditional public schools.

“A quick look in the 1A and 2A classifications across most non-revenue sports will see that many state championships are won from schools who do not have a clearly defined attendance zone,” wrote Dr. Jonathan Tribula of Nash Central High School, who submitted the proposal to the NCHSAA Board of Directors.

Tribula hopes the NCHSAA will seek input from the entire membership in the form of a survey in time for changes to be implemented for the 2025-2026 school year.

There are challenges for this proposal though, including the new bylaw that was overwhelmingly passed by the membership last year. The bylaw says the NCHSAA can only use Average Daily Membership numbers to determine the classification of a school. Using the type of school or the attendance zone of a school would require using a fact other than ADM numbers.

Could flag football become the next sanctioned sport?

Durham, Johnston, and Wake County schools submitted a proposal to the NCHSAA asking it to consider sanctioning flag football as an official sport for the 2025-2026 school year.

According to HighSchoolOT data, 116 schools across North Carolina are expected to field flag football teams this year, which meets the threshold for the NCHSAA to consider sanctioning the sport. Over half of the 4A classification has sustained flag football as a sport for two consecutive years, which also meets the NCHSAA threshold.

This week, the first flag football playoffs will conclude with a state championship at Durham County Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The championship isn’t official since it is not a sanctioned sport by the NCHSAA, but the board could create an official championship as soon as next year.

Flag football is one of the fastest growing girls sports in the country, and some other states have already sanctioned the sport. The sport grew rapidly in North Carolina thanks to financial support from the Carolina Panthers.

Starting the spring of 2026, NCAA Division II Conference Carolinas will add flag football as an official sport, including four schools in North Carolina — Barton College, Chowan University, Lees-McRae College, and the University of Mount Olive.

Board will consider changes to the RPI formula used for state playoffs

Last spring, the NCHSAA Board of Directors tabled a proposal to change the RPI formula used for the state playoffs.

The RPI formula is used to determine at-large qualifiers in all seeded state playoff brackets. It is then used to assign the seeds in the respective brackets after the qualifiers have been determined.

The NCHSAA moved to using an RPI formula after schools raised concerns about the MaxPreps rankings that were previously used for playoffs. Some schools were concerned that they did not know what the MaxPreps formula was. The RPI formula is published on the NCHSAA website and is updated regularly throughout the season.

Today’s RPI formula takes into account a team’s winning percentage (WP), their opponents’ winning percentage (OWP), and their opponents’ opponents winning percentage (OOWP).

• Current: RPI = (0.3 x WP) + (0.4 x OWP) + (0.3 x OOWP)

The NCHSAA was asked to conduct a survey of all coaches and athletic directors after the spring meeting. The results showed 51.5% of the more than 1,400 coaches and athletic directors who responded were not satisfied with the current formula, while 48.5% were satisfied.

Based on the data collected, the NCHSAA board is expected to look at two options for the RPI formula:

• Option 1: RPI = (0.35 x WP) + (0.45 x OW) + (0.2 x OOWP)
• Option 2: RPI = (0.4 WP) + (0.45 OWP) + (0.15 x OOWP)

One thing that was clear from the survey results was that the clear majority of coaches do not support returning to pre-determined brackets and want to continue seeding brackets. The survey results showed 61.2% of those who responded said they do not prefer pre-determined brackets.

Pre-determined brackets are not seeded at all. Instead, teams are placed on a line in the bracket based on where they finish in their respective conference. For example, before the season starts, the bracket will have the first place team in Conference A against the fourth place team in Conference B with no consideration for strength of schedule or any other factors.

Playoff ticket prices could go up for the first time since 2017

The NCHSAA has received feedback from member schools that they are losing money by hosting some playoff games because the mandated ticket prices for playoff games are lower than what schools and conferences charge during the regular season.

As a result of this concern, the board is going to consider increasing the ticket prices for state playoffs beginning Jan. 1. According to the NCHSAA, playoff ticket prices have not been adjusted in the last seven years. The last adjustment happened at the winter meeting in 2017.

The board will discuss the results of a survey sent to member schools regarding ticket prices in the regular season as part of its decision-making process.

Other things on the agenda

• Discuss the creation of a committee to look at the zero-tolerance policy for profanity. The board has been asked to revise the rule.
• Consider requiring a minimum of three calendar days between football contests beginning with the 2025 season.
• Potentially award Wells Fargo Conference Cup champions to the highest finishing school in each classification in a split conference, effective immediately.
• Change the NCHSAA’s eight regions to align with the N.C. State Board of Education districts.
• Add language that prevents a person under the age of 18 or still in high school from officiating NCHSAA contests.
• Adopt a policy that would require the NCHSAA Director of Officiating Services to assign officials after the first two rounds of the playoffs in baseball, softball, lacrosse, and volleyball.
• In boys golf, potentially allow four team members to score as a team at regionals if they are not on the conference qualifying team.
• Consider a proposal to eliminate or change the way the NCHSAA tracks and penalizes yellow and red cards in soccer. North Carolina is one of eight states that leaves tracking and enforcement to the schools. This would be effective in spring 2025.
• In girls wrestling, will consider proposals to cap the number of girls matches at 55 and raise the minimum match number for girls regional seeding from 10 to 15.
• For both boys & girls wrestling, the board will consider a proposal to remove the five stoppages before disqualification during blood time, which is a rule unique to North Carolina and not part of the National Federation of State High School Associations rules. The proposal seeks to implement the change immediately.
• The board will discuss an experiment that allows one-way electronic communication devices from the dugout to the catcher and pitcher in baseball.
• Review and discuss the violation and ejection reports.