Staff report

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has released the second draft of conferences for the 2025-2029 realignment period.

It’s the most drastic and dramatic realignment in NCHSAA history as schools will be divided into eight classifications for all sports.

Nothing is set in stone yet, although everything will be finalized in the weeks ahead.

The first draft appeared on Dec. 18. Member schools had a chance to respond. Many did.

The second draft looks the same as the first draft for five Rowan County schools that are are slated to be in the same conference.

That proposed league would look a lot like the current 3A South Piedmont Conference, although it will add Salisbury and subtract Central Cabarrus.

It’s a nine-team 4A/5A league, with Lake Norman Charter, Salisbury and South Rowan being the 4A schools and West Rowan, East Rowan, Carson, Concord, Robinson and Northwest Cabarrus being 5A schools.

The school most affected will be Salisbury, which has dominated 1A/2A Central Carolina Conference boys basketball and football in recent years, but would be one of the small schools in its new league.

The draft places North Rowan in a league that will look a lot like the Cavaliers’ days in the Yadkin Valley Conference.

It’s a seven-team 1A/2A/3A league, with the 1A Bonnie Cone Leadership Academy in Huntersville competing in the league in football only.

The 2A schools in the league would be North Rowan, Albemarle, South Stanly and Gray Stone. North Stanly and (Monroe) Union Academy would be the 3As.

The proposed draft calls for A.L. Brown to be part of an eight-team 6A/7A league that will include five Cabarrus schools and three of the smaller Charlotte schools.

The 6A schools would be Berry Academy, Olympic, Harding and Central Cabarrus, with A.L. Brown, West Cabarrus, Cox Mill and Hickory Ridge being 7A schools.

The second draft calls for Mooresville to be in a 6A/7A league. Mooresville, Lake Norman and South Iredell would be the 7As, with Alexander Central, North Iredell, Statesville and St. Stephens being 6A schools.

The first draft had Davie in a conference with the Iredell schools, but the second draft moves Davie back to a league with its more traditional Forsyth partners such as West Forsyth, Reagan and RJ Reynolds.

Davie will have a new football coach, replacing Tim Devericks who has been the head coach since 2016.

Davie will be a 7A school. The second draft calls for the War Eagles to play in a 7A/8A league.

The state’s biggest 32 schools by student population will be 8A.  The 1A through 7A classes will be evenly divided and will have just under 60 schools apiece.

The process continues. Schools can still respond to the proposed conferences. The NCHSAA will accept feedback through Jan. 28.

Schools that still have concerns about the conference proposals can speak at the next realignment committee meeting in Chapel Hill on Feb. 3-4