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- Written by: Vic Ramsey
In January, the NCHSTCA conducted a survey of NC high school tennis coaches with regard to several issues concerning the 2025 realignment to eight classifications.
Ninety-two coaches responded to the survey, from all areas of the state and from all eight future classifications. We believe the results reflect an accurate picture of the feelings and beliefs of NC high school tennis coaches, and we have shared these results with NCHSAA staff.
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- Written by: Vic Ramsey
On Monday, March 3rd, the NCHSAA Board of Directors met at its offices in Chapel Hill and heard appeals from schools asking for changes in their conference assignments. After hearing presentations from the schools, the Board of Directors voted on each proposal, denying the majority and approving only four changes.
- Cardinal Gibbons was granted an exception to move from 6A to 7A, while remaining in the same conference.
- Swansboro was granted a move to the 5A conference currently including schools such as Dixon and Croatan. Swansboro will be the only 6A school in that conference.
- NCSSM-Durham was allowed to join a conference in the Raleigh-Durham area, forming a 1A/2A/3A split of mostly charter schools in the Raleigh metro area.
- Fourteen schools in the northwestern section of the state were reconfigured into two conferences, one a 2A/3A/4A split and the other a 3A/4A combo.
After hearing all appeals, and voting on each, the Board adopted the final conference assignments for the new realignment period. A copy of that final report is available on the NCHSAA website.
The number of conferences remained 64, with all but 10 being split conferences. There are now 11 three-way splits and 43 two-way splits.
The vast majority of schools find themselves in split conferences.
- 68 schools are in single-class conferences
- 290 schools are in two-way splits
- 83 are in three-way splits
Seventeen schools are now "singletons"; that is, a school which is the only school of its classification in a given conference.
The prevalence of split conferences is true in all eight classifications, and is testimony to the fact that the Realignment Committee prioritized geography and natural rivalry over grouping schools of similar size.
The NCHSAA Board of Directors will now turn its attention to the work of its Bylaw Task Force, which is developing the playoff structure for individual and team sports, as well as the 2025-26 sports calendar.
This article has been updated to reflect the third draft of the conference assignments released by the NCHSAA on February 14th.
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- Written by: Vic Ramsey
The NCHSAA Board of Directors held its 2024 winter meeting in Chapel Hill on December 4th and 5th, with the issues surrounding the 2025-26 realignment taking center stage.
The primary headline is: nothing new was decided about realignment or playoff structures, but intense discussions about these issues are ongoing.
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- Written by: Vic Ramsey
For the past several years, the NCHSAA has required the use of a "dual-team lineup sheet", which coaches exchange prior to the beginning of the match.
Last summer, the NCHSTCA leadership, working with Caitlin McMannen at NCHSAA, revised the lineup sheet to address several shortcomings of the previous version, and to reduce confusion about what coaches can and cannot do with their dual-team lineups.