High School

NCHSAA Reveals 2025-29 Realignment: Major Changes, 8 Classifications & New Conferences

North Carolina high school sports undergo a historic shift with the first classification expansion since 1960—here’s what you need to know about the new conference structure

Mike Duprez

J.H. Rose, which entered Friday's opening round of the NCHSAA 3-A state playoffs as the 30th-seed with a 2-8 record, stunned undefeated Northern Nash, 42-36.
J.H. Rose, which entered Friday's opening round of the NCHSAA 3-A state playoffs as the 30th-seed with a 2-8 record, stunned undefeated Northern Nash, 42-36. / J.H. Rose Instagram

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association released the new conferences for the 2025-29 realignment on Thursday in what amounts to significant change for prep sports in the Tar Heel state.

There are now eight classifications in North Carolina, doubling the previous four. It’s the first change in the number of classifications since 1960.

Most of the conferences are split conferences, with some having schools from three classifications. There are nine single-classification conferences and one football-only conference drawn from 1-A and 2-A schools.

The NCHSAA Board of Directors approved the plan late Monday evening after hearing final appeals. The realignment went through three drafts before the final version.

There are 57 schools in 1-A, 59 in 2-A, 59 in 3-A, 59 in 4-A, 59 in 5-A, 58 in 6-A, 60 in 7-A and 32 in 8-A.

Up next for the NCHSAA is deciding on the playoff structure.

The new conferences can be found on www.nchsaa.org.

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Mike Duprez
MIKE DUPREZ

Mike Duprez became a freelance sports journalist for Scorebooklive.com several months after retiring from the newspaper business. A native of Oakland, California, Duprez moved around as a child due to his father’s service in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. Duprez, who lives in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had 30 years of experience in newspapers as well as other endeavors before retiring at the end of 2021. He covers stories in both North Carolina and South Carolina for Scorebooklive.com.

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