By Briggs Brown

Staff Writer

Historically, R.J. Reynolds High School student-athletes have faced an uphill battle competing against schools that athletics programs can pull from much larger student populations. With deeper rosters and more resources, these matchups often put RJR at a disadvantage. Now, a major shift in North Carolina high school athletics is set to change that.

    “Right now, schools in the same classification can have student bodies that differ by more than a thousand,”RJR Athletic Director and member of the NCHSAA Realignment Committee, Brad Fisher,, said. “The new system breaks things down more evenly.”

    Currently, North Carolina high schools are divided into four classifications, 1A through 4A, with the higher classifications containing schools with larger student bodies. These classifications are based on the individual school’s average daily membership (ADM), a number determined by student enrollment over the first month of the academic year. RJR, which has an ADM of around 1,819 students, currently competes in the 4A classification with schools that have an ADM of up to 3,317 students. 

    “We’re moving to eight classifications instead of four, which should help balance competition,” Fisher said. “It’s a big adjustment, but the goal is to make sure schools are competing against others of similar size.”

    The alignment will begin in the 2025-26 school year, a long overdue change. According to NCHSAA by-law VI, each classification can have a maximum of sixty-four teams, which the current classification system has long exceeded, with each class having around 100 schools. 

    “RJR is expected to move to the 7A classification,” Fisher said. “Larger schools like West Forsyth and Northwest Guilford will transition up to 8A, and smaller schools like Mount Tabor and Glenn move down to 6A.”

    This shift will impact the landscape of the Central Piedmont Conference (CPC), which currently includes RJR, Reagan, East Forsyth, West Forsyth, Davie County, Parkland, and Glenn. There are also big in-conference rivalry games like those against Mount Tabor. 

     “It is likely that the foundation of the CPC remains the same through split-level conferences,” Fisher said. “RJR’s current new conference layout will be split-level as it pulls from both 7A and 8A. The conference would compete against each other in the regular season but be separated for playoff qualification.”

    The new conference, as of now, will be Davie County (7A), R.J. Reynolds (7A), East Forsyth (7A), Reagan (7A), Parkland (7A), West Forsyth (8A), and Northwest Guilford (8A).  

    “Our conference is unlikely to change,” Fisher said. “No schools in our conference have appealed, and from what I have heard, everyone is fairly happy with the current layout. The only way I see it changing is from a domino effect if our surrounding conferences appeal, which I think is unlikely.”     

    The realignments playoff system has been a source of debate for the committee members. As it stands now, each classification will crown a state champion in most sports; however, there may be changes in how teams qualify. Certain sports, such as girl’s golf and wrestling, will likely see combined classifications in playoffs due to the fewer participating schools.

    “Reducing the number of total schools per conference [by almost 60] schools, along with more competition in the new conference from schools like Northwest Guilford, will likely increase the odds of playoff qualification,” Fisher said.

    With the final alignments set to be confirmed in the next weeks, the transition to reclassification represents one of the biggest changes to North Carolina high school athletics in decades. While many questions remain across the state, certainly, a change to North Carolina athletics is finally coming.