The N.C. High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors approved a major change to the state’s high school athletic landscape Tuesday during its annual spring meeting in Chapel Hill.
The board voted 17-0 to adopt a recommendation from its bylaw committee to determine which classifications its members schools will go into.
This new “Super 32” model will place the state’s largest schools into an 8A classification beginning with the 2025-26 school year, when the NCHSAA will expand from four to eight classifications.
The bylaw committee, headed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools executive athletic director Ericia Turner, also made several recommendations for playoffs and conferences, which were not voted on by the board and are not yet official policy:
- The 8A playoffs would include 24 to 28 teams in a new 32-team 8A class.
- The 2A to 7A playoffs would have 32 teams each and the 1A bracket would have 16 teams.
- New conferences would include a minimum of six teams, but the bylaw committee said creating conferences with teams from just one or two classifications would be very difficult without creating geographic hardships.
- The committee said some conferences could have schools from three different classifications. And some could be comprised of, for instance, 6A and 4A schools but none from 5A.
Putting the largest schools into one classification would eliminate some of the current issues in the four-class system where schools sometimes are facing opponents more than twice their size, said Hickory Ridge football coach Jupiter Wilson. Wilson also likes the idea of more teams reaching the postseason across all classes in the future.
“You always want to see more teams get in the playoffs,” Wilson said. “I think that’s a good thing. I love the (8A model). Some schools in Charlotte have 3,000 kids and we (have) 1,600 and we’re playing against teams with double the amount of kids. So that’s good. Now you’ll probably still find an outlier, somebody in that 32 who feels they shouldn’t be there. But you can’t make everybody happy. This is a step in the right direction.”
Hough High football coach DeShawn Baker’s team will be in the 8A class. He said he would prefer to see fewer teams reach the playoffs there, which could shorten the postseason by a week. But he thinks creating an 8A classification could lead to some high-level football.
“I kind of like that model,” he said. “I don’t like winning four games and making the playoffs, which could happen, I guess. But the competitiveness of each Friday will be incredible.”
Providence High’s Wes Ward said the new plan will help the smaller schools which are in the 4A class now but will no longer have to face the state’s biggest in the postseason.
That’s something that West Mecklenburg’s Beady Waddell agrees with.
Waddell’s school is currently 3A and plays in a conference with much larger schools like Chambers, Mallard Creek and Hough. Waddell, who said his school’s enrollment is closer to 2A numbers, said the strain of playing those bigger teams week-in and week-out leads to injuries, losses and poor morale.
He thinks the new plan will help with that, particularly if the new conference plans also keep smaller schools outside of the leagues with the 8A schools.
“All the big schools should go into one class,” Waddell said. “And if you want to schedule a big school in the non-conference, that doesn’t hurt you for playoff seedings. I don’t think it’s a good idea for kids or (smaller) schools to be in conferences with 8A teams.”
Waddell said playing in a smaller classification would make all the difference in the world at his school.
“If you put me in a 2A class right now (in the current four class system), the morale of my program and school is different,” Waddell said. “I’m probably winning eight to nine games instead of three to four the last few years. I don’t want to be in a conference with those 32, because now you’re dealing with the school feeling down and you’re dealing with a ton of injuries week-in and week-out.
“I don’t mind playing Chambers, Mallard Creek or Hough, but I don’t want to be a conference with them where I (am required) to play them.”
▪ The eight classifications will be based on average daily membership (enrollment) numbers, which will be compiled in mid-September.
NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said it could be late next winter or early next spring before the process is completed — dividing schools into eight classes, setting up conferences, hearing appeals and getting final approval.
“We can’t wait too long, because schools will be trying to put their schedules together (for the 2025-26 school year),” she said.
Observer correspondent Steve Lyttle contributed to this report.
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