GAINESVILLE – A major move has been announced yesterday (March 9) by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA).
This affects all high school football programs throughout the state, as the classification system has been renamed and heavily revised.
Up until now, there have been a total of eight classifications: 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A, and 8A. Now there are nine total classifications and three new groups, effective this upcoming 2022 season.
There is now a new Metro-Suburban-Rural model, which is divided into the following in terms of school population:
METRO
1M: 103-600 students
2M: 601-1,666 students
3M: 1,667-2,329 students
4M: 2,330-4,843 students
SUBURBAN
1S: 65-600 students
2S: 601-1,445 students
3S: 1,446-1,895 students
4S: 1,896-3,226 students
RURAL
1R: 133-600 students
The state’s eight most densely populated counties are in the Metro Division. They are – in no particular order – Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County, Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, Orange County, and Seminole County.
All other 59 counties in the state will be in the Suburban Division, which includes the Treasure Coast (Martin County, St. Lucie County, Indian River County, and Okeechobee County), Hendry County (Clewiston and LaBelle), and Glades County (Moore Haven).
The postseason structure for Metro, Suburban, and Rural will be as follows:
2M, 3M, 4M, 2S, 3S, 4S
•All district champions plus next four at-large teams per region, per FHSAA power rankings; eight teams total per region
1M, 1S
•All district champions plus next two at-large teams per region, per FHSAA power rankings; six teams total per region
1R
•Top six teams per region will qualify for postseason, per FHSAA power rankings; six teams per region
Here is what the new FHSAA districts will look like for Palm Beach County, the Treasure Coast, and the Big Lake Area:
PALM BEACH COUNTY
4M: REGION 3
4M-9
Jupiter
Palm Beach Gardens
Palm Beach Lakes
Royal Palm Beach
4M-10
Forest Hill
John I. Leonard
Palm Beach Central
Wellington
Wellington
4M-11
Boca Raton
Lake Worth
Park Vista
Santaluces
4M-12
Coral Springs
Monarch
Olympic Heights
Stoneman Douglas
3M: REGION 3
3M-9 Atlantic (Delray Beach) Dwyer Seminole Ridge
3M-10 Blanche Ely Coconut Creek Deerfield Beach West Boca Raton
2M: REGION 3
2M-9
Glades Central
Inlet Grove
King’s Academy
Suncoast
2M-10 American Heritage (Delray Beach) Boynton Beach Somerset Canyons St. Andrew’s
1M: REGION 3
1M-5
Benjamin
Cardinal Newman
Glades Day
SLAM Academy
1M-6 Avant Garde Academy Chaminade-Madonna Somerset Key St. John Paul II Westminster Academy
TREASURE COAST/BIG LAKE AREA
4S: REGION 3
4S-12 Centennial Fort Pierce Central Martin County Treasure Coast Vero Beach
3S: REGION 3
3S-11 Fort Pierce Westwood Okeechobee Sebring
3S-12 Jensen Beach Port St. Lucie South Fork
2S: REGION 4
2S-14 Avon Park Clewiston Hardee Lake Placid
1S: REGION 3
1S-6 Bradenton Christian Cardinal Mooney John Carroll
1S: REGION 4
1S-7 Evangelical Christian Moore Haven Southwest Florida Christian
1R: REGION 4
Bronson
Chiefland
Dixie County
Fort Meade
Hawthorne
Pahokee
Trenton
Wildwood
Williston
NOTE: All teams can appeal their proposed designations from now until March 18, according to the FHSAA.
PHOTO CREDITS: FHSAA
