Final NCHSAA realignment 2017-21 conferences

The final draft of the 2017-21 N.C. High School Athletic Association realignment has been submitted. The process, which shapes new conferences for the fall of 2017 through the spring of 2021, is all but done and the board of directors will get to approve it in early May.

This is the first time the NCHSAA has gone with a realignment model that purposefully keeps different classifications different sizes. After removing non-football schools, the NCHSAA divvied the schools as follows: top 20 percent in 4A, next 30 percent in 3A, the following 30 percent in 2A and the smallest 20 percent in 1A. Non-football schools were then added back in.

The 20-30-30-20 model reduced split conferences as it was intended to do, from 12 to nine.

There were few appeals with the new model. The only eastern change from the third draft was Goldsboro switching to be in a league with county foe Spring Creek.

Here are a few reminders about realignment.

▪ These do not go into effect until the fall of 2017.

▪ If you see two nearby schools that are in the same classification but not in the same league, it could be that one or both were needed to help conferences fulfill their six-team minimum.

▪ Each conference gets to choose its name, so “Conference A,” etc. will be changed sometime next fall or spring by the schools in each league. If a conference doesn’t go through major changes, the same name is usually picked.

▪ Next year is the last year of the current alignment – you get one more season of each sport to enjoy the current conferences.

4A East

Conf. A - Corinth Holders, Heritage, Knightdale, Rolesville, Wakefield, Wake Forest

Conf. B - Broughton, Cardinal Gibbons, Enloe, Leesville Road, Millbrook, Sanderson, Southeast Raleigh

Conf. C - Apex, Apex Friendship, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Middle Creek

Conf. D - Athens Drive, Cary, Green Hope, Jordan, Panther Creek, Riverside

Conf. G - Hoke County, Jack Britt, Lumberton, Pinecrest, Purnell Swett, Richmond County, Scotland County, Seventy-First

4A/3A East

Conf. E - (4A) New Bern, South Central; (3A) C.B. Aycock, D.H. Conley, Eastern Wayne, J.H. Rose, Southern Wayne

Conf. F - (4A) Ashley, Hoggard, Laney; (3A) New Hanover, North Brunswick, South Brunswick, Topsail, West Brunswick

Conf. H - (4A) Overhills, Pine Forest, South View; (3A) Cape Fear, Douglas Byrd, E.E. Smith, Gray’s Creek, Terry Sanford, Westover

3A East

Conf. H - Asheboro, Eastern Guilford, Southeast Guilford, Southern Alamance, Southern Guilford, Southwestern Randolph, Williams

Conf. K - Harnett Central, Lee County, Southern Lee, Triton, Union Pines, Western Harnett

Conf. I - Eastern Alamance, McMichael, Morehead, Northern Guilford, Northeast Guilford, Person, Rockingham County, Western Alamance

Conf. J - Cedar Ridge, Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, Hillside, Northern Durham, Northwood, Orange, Southern Durham

Conf. O - Havelock, Jacksonville, Northside, Swansboro, West Carteret, White Oak

Conf. P - Fike, Franklinton, Hunt, Northern Nash, Rocky Mount, Southern Nash

Conf. Q - Clayton, Cleveland East Wake, Smithfield-Selma, South Johnston, West Johnson

2A East

Conf. I - Bertie, Currituck County, First Flight, Hertford County, Northeastern, Pasquotank County

Conf. J - Beddingfield, Farmville Central, Nash Central, North Johnston, North Pitt, SouthWest Edgecombe

Conf. K - Ayden-Grifton, Greene Central, Kinston, North Lenoir, South Lenoir, Washington, West Craven

Conf. M - Clinton, East Duplin, Goldsboro, James Kenan, Midway, Spring Creek, Wallace-Rose Hill

Conf. P - Eastern Randolph, Jordan-Matthews, Providence Grove, Randleman, Trinity, T.W. Andrews, Wheatmore

Conf. Q - Bartlett-Yancey, Carrboro, Cummings, Durham School of the Arts, Graham, N.C. School of Science and Math, Reidsville

2A/1A East

Conf. H - (2A) East Bladen, Fairmont, Red Springs, St. Pauls, South Columbus, West Bladen, Whiteville; (1A) East Columbus, South Robeson, West Columbus

Conf. L - (2A) Croatan, Dixon, Richlands, Southwest Onslow, Trask; (1A) East Carteret, Lejeune, Pender

Conf. R - (2A) Bunn, J.F. Webb, Northern Vance, Roanoke Rapids, South Granville, Southern Vance; (1A) Granville Central, Louisburg

1A East

Conf. G - Bear Grass Charter, Cape Hatteras, Columbia, Creswell, Mattamuskeet, Ocracoke

Conf. H - Camden County, Edenton Holmes, Gates County, Manteo, Perquimans, Plymouth

Conf. J - KIPP Pride, North Edgecombe, Northampton County, Northwest Halifax, Rocky Mount Prep, Southeast Halifax, Weldon

Conf. I - Jones, Northside, Pamlico County, Riverside, South Creek, Southside, Tarboro

Conf. L - Hobbton, Lakewood, Neuse Charter, North Duplin, Princeton, Rosewood, Union

Conf. N - Chatham Central, Chatham Charter, Kestrel Heights, Raleigh Charter, Research Triangle, River Mill Academy, Woods Charter

Conf. O - East Wake Academy, Falls Lake Academy, Franklin Academy Oxford Prep, Roxboro Community, Voyager Academy

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Final NCHSAA realignment 2017-21 conferences."