High School Football in North America - Sanctioning Organizations

Sanctioning Organizations

Each state has at least one sanctioning organization for public schools. In many states a separate organization governs interscholastic athletics at most private schools. Each sanctioning body divides its member schools up into anywhere from two to eight size classifications based on the number of students enrolled at a school (so that schools are assured to compete against other schools of comparable size) and then each classification is further divided into geographic regions; the nomenclature and number of divisions vary from state to state. A school's size classification can change if its enrollment rises or declines over the years. At the smallest schools, particularly in rural communities or smaller private schools, variations on the game using six, eight, or nine players per side instead of the traditional eleven (or twelve in Canada) are encountered.