IHSA updates sports classification rules for schools in Illinois
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Classification cutoffs for several sports were updated by the Illinois High School Association board of directors at its meeting this month. Changes take effect for the 2027-28 school year.
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The IHSA's newly revised policy gives schools plenty of notice after moving to annual classification cycles and fixed enrollment cutoffs that began in 2025-26.
“When revamping the Classification Policy in 2024, one of our goals was to provide member schools with one year notice in advance of any class cutoff changes to help them prepare accordingly,” IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said in a release. “All the changes approved today will go into effect during the 2027-28 school year.”
The board also changed its policy to be set at the nearest 25 students as opposed to only the nearest 50 or 100 due to declining enrollment membership.
“The overall enrollment within our membership is currently declining," Anderson said in a release, "so it makes sense to lower some of these cutoffs to keep in line with that trend. The data shows us that the majority of schools who are moving up in classification were competing in that same class just a year or two ago.”
New classification cutoffs for 2027-28 are below. All other sports cutoffs remain the same.
Four-class sports | Baseball, boys and girls basketball, softball, girls Volleyball
- Class 1A | 1-275 (previously up to 300.00)
- Class 2A | 275.01-600 (previously 300.01 to 700)
- Class 3A | 600.01-1600 (previously 700.1 to 1600)
- Class 4A | 1,600.01 or greater (unchanged)
Girls soccer
- Class 1A | 1-750 (previously up to 800.00)
- Class 2A | 750.01-1750 (previously 800.01 to 1,800.00)
- Class 3A | 1,750.01 or greater (previously 1,800.01 and over)
Boys golf
- Class 1A | 1-450 (previously up to 500.00)
- Class 2A | 450.01-1400 (previously 500.01 to 1,4500.00)
- Class 3A | 1,400.01 or greater (previously 1,4500.01 and over)
Boys soccer
- Class 1A | 1-675 (previously up to 700.00)
- Class 2A | 675.01-1650 (previously 700.01 to 1,700.00)
- Class 3A | 1,650.01 or greater (previously 1,700.01 and over)
Girls tennis
- Class 1A | 1-1,400 (previously up to 1,4500.00)
- Class 2A | 1,400.01 or greater (previously 1,4500.01 and over)
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA updates sports classification rules for schools in Illinois