AHSAA splits public and private schools for playoffs, gets rid of multiplier and competitive balance

 

 

 

By JIMMY WIGFIELD

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Central Board shook the ground under the feet of athletics on Friday and it will take two years or more to see the fallout.

In an historic move, the Central Board voted 13-2 to separate public and private schools for postseason play, removed the competitive balance and multiplier rules that private schools have long felt were punitive and will allow athletes who transfer to private schools using CHOOSE Act funds to be immediately eligible.

“The landscape of education-based athletics in Alabama is changing and the AHSAA must continue to adapt,” AHSAA Executive Director Heath Harmon said. “Reclassification occurs every two years and it’s never permanent. We believe this is a strong, solid plan but as with every classification cycle, we will listen to our membership and make adjustments as needed.”

The massive changes drew unprecedented interest in the biennial reclassification announcement, causing the AHSAA’s website to crash under the weight of 750,000 hits between 8 and 11 a.m.

Class 7A has been eliminated and football region play in 2026-27 will consist of 32 schools in Class 6A, 64 in Class 5A, 66 in Class 4A, 66 in Class 3A, 65 in Class 2A, 69 in Class 1A, 17 in private school Class 2A and 43 in private school Class 1A. Flag football will be divided into four classes — Class 1A-4A, Class 5A, Class 6A and an independent class.

All football championship games will continue to be played in the Super 7 — or maybe now the Super 12. How the playoff brackets will be set and possibly expanded is scheduled for discussion at another meeting on Feb. 6.

“If we talk about doing more for kids, then I am going to go for the larger bracket,” said Central Board President and former UMS-Wright coach Terry Curtis.

The state championships will be played in Mobile at Hancock-Whitney Stadium for the first time in 2026 and an extra day had already been added to the traditional three-day schedule.

“It made us look pretty smart, didn’t it?” Mobile Sports Authority Executive Director Danny Corte said. “Who knows? Eventually we might have to go to five days.”

Corte welcomed the additional games, which means additional dollars for Mobile’s economy.

“Without getting into the politics of it, for us in Mobile, I think it’s a very good day,” Corte said. “Three more games is great for us. We still have to work on the logistics of all this. We have a meeting set early next month with all those at the table and that’s when we’re going to start unpeeling this.”

Curtis, who voted against the proposal, had urged the Central Board to delay the decision for two years until the next reclassification and to use the time for deeper discussion.

“I’ve lost a lot of sleep over it,” he said. “Every time I’d wake up, it would be on my mind as far as how to do it and if I was looking at it the wrong way. … They voted and researched and did what they knew was right for kids and as long as they’re doing what’s right for kids, you can’t complain about it. Sometimes change is good. Sometimes it’s not so good. Only time is going to tell. So, let’s get behind it, let’s see what happens and move on from there. … I am a team player. I do believe in the association but you can’t win them all.”

The decision was a compromise to keep public and private schools under the AHSAA’s umbrella and could stop potential action by the Alabama Legislature, which is considering a bill to force the Central Board to accept politically appointed members. The AHSAA also gave Gov. Kay Ivey and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter what they wanted after they sued to force the association to allow athletes who transferred to private schools using CHOOSE Act funds to be immediately eligible to play instead of sitting out a year, which was the AHSAA’s long-standing policy.

The Central Board also gutted the 1.35 multiplier and the competitive balance rule, which forced many private schools to play in a class above where they should have been.

“Private schools will now be classified strictly on their enrollment,” Harmon said.

But Mobile Christian coach Charles Lawson said that is a hollow accommodation.

“It has no effect on anything,” he said. “You take it away but then you take us away. It shouldn’t have been there in the first place. You make it seem like you’re doing good for the private schools. You take away the multiplier, you take away competitive balance, but why? Because we’re not playing public schools.”

Curtis worried that public schools will harbor so much antipathy toward private schools that they will refuse to play them in the regular season.

“We’re better together,” he said, “but who knows? I’m not right all the time. We’ll see. My thing is now the private schools can thrive or figure out how they’re going to do things and I do hope that some public schools will keep playing them. But doing away with the multiplier, doing away with competitive balance and getting the financial aid gone, I’m afraid you’re gonna see more and more of them are not gonna play for that reason.”

Harmon said a complete split between public and private schools was not discussed in recent days and Lawson said Friday’s decision still doesn’t solve the problem of illegal recruiting.

“Everybody assumed that private schools are recruiting,” he said, “but that’s not the case because I’m steady losing kids to city schools around here and nothing is being done about it. If I made contact with one kid somewhere in public and they go back and say, ‘Coach, such and such from Mobile Christian talked to me,’ then I’m going to be under the spotlight and being accused of recruitment.”

NEW ALIGNMENTS

Here are the new region alignments for football and volleyball in the Mobile area as approved by the AHSAA Central Board for 2026-27. Winter and spring sports will be reclassified later in 2026:

 

FOOTBALL

6A REGION 1

Alma Bryant

Baker

Daphne

Davidson

Fairhope

Foley

Mary G. Montgomery

Robertsdale

 

5A REGION 1

Baldwin County

Elberta

Gulf Shores

Blount

Murphy

Saraland

Spanish Fort

Theodore

 

4A REGION 1

B.C. Rain

Citronelle

LeFlore

Orange Beach

Satsuma

Vigor

Williamson

 

3A REGION 1

Escambia County

Excel

Flomaton

Jackson

Opp

T.R. Miller

Wilcox Central

W.S. Neal

 

2A REGION 1

Chickasaw

Clarke County

Hillcrest-Evergreen

J.U. Blacksher

Luverne

Monroe County

Thomasville

 

1A REGION 1

Choctaw County

Fruitdale

Leroy

Marengo

McIntosh

Millry

Southern Choctaw

Washington County

 

PRIVATE CLASS 2A

Faith Academy

Glenwood School

Houston Academy

McGill-Toolen

Montgomery Catholic

St. Michael

St. Paul’s

UMS-Wright

 

PRIVATE CLASS 1A

Bayshore Christian

Bayside Academy

Cottage Hill Christian Academy

Mobile Christian

Northside Methodist Academy

Providence Christian School

St. Luke’s

 

VOLLEYBALL

6A AREA 1

Alma Bryant

Baker

Davidson

Mary G. Montgomery

 

5A AREA 1

Baldwin County

Blount

Murphy

Saraland

 

5A AREA 2

Elberta

Gulf Shores

Spanish Fort

Theodore

 

4A AREA 1

Citronelle

LeFlore

Satsuma

Vigor

 

4A AREA 2

B.C. Rain

Orange Beach

Williamson

 

3A AREA 3

Excel

Jackson

Wilcox Central

 

2A AREA 1

Chickasaw

Clarke County

J.U. Blacksher

Thomasville

 

1A AREA 1

Choctaw County

Fruitdale

Millry

Southern Choctaw

 

1A AREA 2

J.F. Shields

Leroy

McIntosh

Washington County

 

PRIVATE CLASS 2A

AREA 1

Faith Academy

McGill-Toolen

St. Michael

St. Paul’s

UMS-Wright

 

PRIVATE CLASS 1A

AREA 1

Bayshore Christian

Bayside Academy

Cottage Hill Christian Academy

Mobile Christian

St. Luke’s