The Alabama High School Athletic Association's Central Board of Control voted 13-2 Friday to adopt a reclassified system in which public and private schools will have separate championships.
“The landscape of education-based athletics in Alabama is changing, and the AHSAA must continue to adapt,” AHSAA executive director Heath Harmon, as reported by NBC affiliate WFSA in Montgomery. Harmon added that, “the Central Board determined that now is an appropriate time to restructure championship play, resulting in restructured championships for public and private schools.”
Per the WFSA report, the new classification covers two academic school years, 2026-27 and 2027-28, and creates six classifications for public schools and two classifications for private/independent schools that are members of the association.
AHSAA’s bylaws require it to reclassify its member schools every two years, WFSA reported. That means the seven-class system adopted in 2014, where public and private were spread out between 1A and 7A classifications, will no longer be in effect.
“The Central Board has approved a championship alignment model that applies only to post-season play,” Harmon said. “Its purpose is to expand opportunity and strengthen the overall championship experience for student-athletes across Alabama.”
According to the AHSAA, the association “remains one unified association serving all its member schools,” and that both public and private schools “will continue to compete against one another throughout the regular season.” All championships will also continue to be played at the same venues.
