Georgia High School Association

Georgia High School Association
Abbreviation	GHSA
Formation	1904
Legal status	501(c)(3) association (1986)
Purpose	Athletics, educational
Headquarters	151 S. Bethel St.; Thomaston, GA 30286
Region served	Georgia
Membership	463 high schools (2019–2020)
Official language	English
Executive director	Gary Phillips
Affiliations	National Federation of State High School Associations
Staff	13
Website	ghsa.net

The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) is an organization that governs athletics and activities for member high schools in Georgia, USA. GHSA is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations. The association has 463 public and private high schools as members. GHSA organizes all sports and academic competitions as well as overseeing registration, training, and approves local area sports officials associations to administer regional athletics and activities per member schools.

Membership[]

Membership to the GHSA is voluntary and open to every high school in the state of Georgia, although participating private schools must have at least 150 students in their high school.^[1] Many private schools that do not enter the GHSA compete in the interscholastic organization of the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA). Member schools of the GHSA make most decisions by appointing region representatives who vote on proposals in the GHSA Executive Committee. Individual decisions by regions are made by the schools in the region on such issues as region tiebreakers and hosting of region tournaments. Members are divided into seven classes by size and then further divided into regions based on geographic locations.

Classification - Regions[]

The GHSA currently has seven classes, AAAAAAA, AAAAAA, AAAAA, AAAA, AAA, AA, and A, (called "7A","6A", 5A", "4A", "3A", "2A", and "1A" respectively) based on the schools' student population. Each class has eight regions, numbered 1 through 8, based on the geographic location of the schools involved. Region 1 of each class is usually the southernmost region, with the region numbers generally increasing as one moves north. Regions realign every two years. Regions generally have ten schools, but can range from 4 to 16 teams.

Class 6A was created for the 2012–2013 school year and Class 7A for the 2016–2017 school year to accommodate growth in local schools.

Competitions[]

Athletics[]

Boys athletics governed by the GHSA are: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, riflery (co-ed), soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and wrestling. Girls athletics programs overseen by the GHSA include basketball, competition cheerleading (co-ed & non co-ed), cross country, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, riflery, fast pitch softball, slow pitch softball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and volleyball.

Other[]

Literary activities administered by the GHSA are dramatic interpretation, essay, GHSA Debate, extemporaneous speaking, one act plays, quartet, spelling, trio and vocal solo.

The GHSA has also added Esports as an event.^[2]

List of schools[]

For the 2020–2021 season, GHSA has 469 member schools.^[3]

List by class and region
Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Count
7A	Camden County Colquitt County Lowndes Tift County	Campbell East Coweta McEachern Newnan Pebblebrook	Harrison Hillgrove Marietta North Cobb North Paulding Walton	Brookwood Grayson Newton Parkview South Gwinnett	Alpharetta Cherokee Etowah Milton Roswell Woodstock	Denmark Forsyth Central Gainesville Lambert North Forsyth South Forsyth West Forsyth	Archer Berkmar Discovery Duluth Dunwoody Meadowcreek Norcross	Collins Hill Mill Creek Mountain View North Gwinnett Peachtree Ridge	45
6A	Houston County Lee County Northside, Warner Robins Valdosta	Bradwell Institute Brunswick Effingham County Glynn Academy Richmond Hill South Effingham Statesboro	Alcovy Evans Grovetown Heritage, Conyers Lakeside, Evans Rockdale County	Hughes Lakeside Lovejoy Morrow North Atlanta Tucker Westlake	Alexander Carrollton Dalton Douglas County East Paulding Paulding County Rome South Paulding	Allatoona Kell Kennesaw Mountain Lassiter Osborne Pope South Cobb Sprayberry Wheeler	Cambridge Centennial Chattahoochee Creekview Johns Creek River Ridge Riverwood Sequoyah	Buford Central Gwinnett Dacula Habersham Central Lanier Shiloh Winder-Barrow	56
5A	Coffee Veterans Ware County Warner Robins Wayne County	Griffin Harris County McIntosh Northgate Northside Starr's Mill Whitewater	Banneker Creekside Drew Forest Park Jonesboro Mundy's Mill Tri-Cities Woodward Academy	Dutchtown Eagle's Landing Jones County Locust Grove Ola Stockbridge Union Grove Woodland	Chamblee Clarkston Cross Keys Decatur King Lithonia Northview Southwest DeKalb St. Pius X Stone Mountain	Chapel Hill Grady Jackson Lithia Springs New Manchester North Springs Villa Rica	Blessed Trinity Calhoun Cartersville Cass Hiram Woodland	Apalachee Clarke Central Eastside Greenbrier Jackson County Johnson Loganville Walnut Grove	59
4A	Bainbridge Cairo Dougherty Monroe Thomas County Central Westover	Carver Columbus Hardaway Jordan Kendrick LaGrange Shaw Spencer Troup County	Benedictine Islands Jenkins New Hampstead	Baldwin Howard Perry Rutland Spalding West Laurens Westside	Fayette County Hampton Luella McDonough Mount Zion North Clayton Riverdale	Arabia Mountain Druid Hills Hapeville Marist Mays Miller Grove Stephenson	Cedartown Central Carroll Heritage Northwest Whitfield Pickens Ridgeland Southeast Whitfield	Cedar Shoals Chestatee East Hall Flowery Branch Jefferson Madison County North Oconee	54
3A	Appling County Brantley County Long County Pierce County Tattnall County	Americus-Sumter Central Crisp County Jackson Mary Persons Peach County Pike County Upson-Lee	Beach Groves Johnson Liberty County Savannah Savannah Arts Academy Southeast Bulloch Windsor Forest	Burke County Cross Creek Harlem Hephzibah Morgan County Richmond Academy Thomson	Carver Cedar Grove Douglass Greater Atlanta Christian Redan Salem Sandy Creek Westminster	Adairsville Coahulla Creek LaFayette Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe Murray County North Murray Ringgold Rockmart Sonoraville	Cherokee Bluff Dawson County East Forsyth Gilmer Lumpkin County North Hall West Hall White County	Franklin County Hart County Monroe Area Oconee County Stephens County	59
2A	Berrien Cook Early County Fitzgerald Thomasville Worth County	Bacon County East Laurens Jeff Davis Swainsboro Toombs County Vidalia Woodville-Tompkins	Bleckley County Dodge County Jasper County Lamar County Northeast Southwest Washington County	Butler Davidson Fine Arts Glenn Hills Jefferson County Johnson Josey Laney Oglethorpe County Putnam County Technical Career Magnet Westside	Bremen Callaway Haralson County Heard County Temple	Columbia Elite Scholars Academy King Academy KIPP Atlanta Collegiate Lovett McNair Pace Academy South Atlanta Stilwell Arts Therrell Towers Washington	Chattooga Coosa Dade County Fannin County Gordon Central Model Pepperell	Banks County Elbert County Rabun County Riverside Military Union County	60
1APu	Baconton Baker County Calhoun County Miller County Mitchell County Pataula Charter Pelham Quitman County Randolph-Clay Seminole County Terrell County Webster County	Atkinson County High School Brooks County High School Charlton County High School Clinch County High School Irwin County High School Lanier County High School	Bryan County Claxton Emanuel County Institute Jenkins County McIntosh County Academy Metter Portal Savannah Classical Academy Savannah Early College Screven County Steam Academy	Dooly County Dublin Hawkinsville Johnson County Montgomery County Telfair County Treutlen Wheeler County Wilcox County	Central, Talbotton Chattahoochee County Furlow Charter Greenville Macon County Manchester Marion County Rainey-McCullers Schley County Stewart County Taylor County	Armuchee Atlanta Classical B.E.S.T Academy Bowdon DeKalb School of the Arts Drew Charter School Fulton Leadership Academy Georgia School for Deaf Gordon Lee Morris Innovative Mt. Zion, Carroll Trion	ACE Charter Crawford County Georgia Academy for Blind Georgia Military College Glascock County GSIC Hancock Central Taliaferro County Twiggs County Warren County Wilkinson County	Barrow Commerce Greene County Lake Oconee Academy Lincoln County Social Circle Towns County Washington-Wilkes Woody Gap	83
1APr	Deerfield-Windsor First Presbyterian Mount de Sales Academy Stratford Academy Strong Rock Christian Tattnall Square Academy	Atlanta Jewish Academy Ben Franklin Academy Eagle's Landing Christian Greenforest Christian Landmark Christian Our Lady of Mercy Paideia Southwest Atlanta Christian W. D. Mohammed Whitefield Academy	Aquinas Calvary Day School Savannah Christian Savannah Country Day St. Vincent's Academy	Brookstone Heritage, Newnan St. Anne-Pacelli Trinity Christian	Atlanta International Galloway Hebron Christian Academy Holy Innocents' Mount Vernon Providence Christian Wesleyan	Brandon Hill Fellowship Christian King's Ridge Lakeview Academy Mt. Bethel Christian Mt. Pisgah Christian Pinecrest Academy St. Francis Weber School	Christian Heritage Darlington Excel Christian Mt. Paran Christian North Cobb Christian Walker	Athens Academy Athens Christian George Walton Academy Loganville Christian Prince Avenue Christian Tallulah Falls	53

Notes[]

NFHS

References[]

^ GHSA Constitution and By-Laws for 2015-2016
^ "Esports". Georgia High School Association. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
^ "2020-2021 Region Alignments". Georgia High School Association. 2019. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020.

External links[]

GHSA official website
In The Game High School Sports Magazine – Recognizing high school athletes and sports in Georgia
Georgia High School Football Historians Association
Georgia Helmet Project (Class 7A, Regions 1 thru 4)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class 7A, Regions 5 thru 8)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AAAAAA Regions 1-4)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AAAAAA Regions 5-8)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AAAAA Regions 1-4)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AAAAA Regions 5-8)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AAAA Regions 1-4)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AAAA Regions 5-8)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AAA Regions 1-4)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AAA Regions 5-8)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AA Regions 1-4)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class AA Regions 5-8)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class A Regions 1-4)
Georgia Helmet Project (Class A Regions 5-8)

[1] GHSA Constitution and By-Laws for 2015-2016

[2] "Esports". Georgia High School Association. Retrieved 21 August 2019.

[ghsa-2020-21-3] "2020-2021 Region Alignments". Georgia High School Association. 2019. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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