GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida High School Athletic Association Board of Directors voted 12-3 Monday to approve the classification proposal at its second meeting of the 2018-19 school year.
VIDEO: FHSAA Executive Director George Tomyn Speaks About the Vote
Endorsed by both the FHSAA Operations Committee (3-1, Oct. 28) and the Athletic Directors Advisory Committee (9-1, Oct. 17), the new two-year classification cycle begins with the 2019-20 school year. The Board also reduced the classifications in the following sports to six classes plus rural (rural is not affected): baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, softball and girls volleyball.
District tournaments will remain and be seeded by MaxPreps rankings released at the end of the regular season. However, schools are no longer required to play regular-season district contests.
Following district tournaments, the regional playoff brackets for Class 2A-7A (1A rural playoff structure remains the same) will consist of four regions per class and four districts per region. District champions now automatically qualify for the playoffs, with the top four seeds in each region being seeded by MaxPreps. Following the top four automatic qualifiers being seeded, teams 5-8 will receive at-large bids via their MaxPreps rankings. Higher seeds would host. All regional MaxPreps rankings will combine schools’ regular season and district tournament results.
For updates on the proposal, follow @FHSAA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
About the FHSAA
The Florida High School Athletic Association supervises and regulates interscholastic athletic programs for high school students at member public, private and charter schools. The organization also recognizes and honors academic achievement among student-athletes at almost 800 middle, junior and senior high schools statewide. Headquartered in Gainesville, it is the official governing body for interscholastic athletics in Florida.
