AISA reclassifies teams for the '25-26 school year
By TIM GAYLE
The Alabama Independent School Association has reclassified its teams for the 2025-26 school year, breaking from its tradition of classifying its schools every two years.
AISA officials reclassified their schools in 2024-25, then tackled the issue again in May after concerns with several football programs and the CHOOSE Act, which was passed by the Alabama Senate to offer financial assistance to parents wishing to enroll their children in private schools.
“We wanted to try and get a better determination on enrollment changes (because of the CHOOSE Act) so it may be something we do every year for the next three years just to see how it changes,” said AISA executive director Michael McLendon, adding that the legislation had no noticeable effect this year. “Another reason we did it is we had those teams that at the last minute dropped out of 11-man (football) and went to eight-man.”
Last-minute decisions by Hope Christian and Heritage Christian last August not to field eight-man teams and by Lakeside and Macon East not to field traditional teams because of a lack of participation left several schools with open dates that were impossible to fill on late notice.
“I think it was a good move by the athletic committee to approve (the classification process in May),” AISA athletic director Roddie Beck said. “The CHOOSE Act will affect schools that will have an influx of students. That will play a part with some schools gaining a number of students and other schools maybe not. So next year, we’re looking at doing the same thing again.”
The 2024 alignment had 10 teams in Class AAA, 11 in Class AA and nine teams playing eight-man football. The new alignment has nine AAA teams, 12 AA teams and 11 in eight-man football.
The Class AAA group now includes Lowndes Academy and Southern Academy, two programs that have been traditionally classified in the lower divisions. Lowndes has been in the AISA’s smallest division in the last five years and hasn’t been a AAA team since 1999. Southern, meanwhile, has never been classified as a AAA team.
Another change is the movement of former AAA powerhouse Monroe Academy to Class AA this fall. Since its founding in 1970, every Volunteer team has been in the AISA’s highest classification for all but six of those 55 years.
In addition, Edgewood Academy dropped from AAA to AA in this year’s classification and Lakeside rejoined the 11-man ranks after playing eight-man in 2024. Hope Christian, which planned to play eight-man in 2024 before electing not to field a team, will join the AISA ranks as a AA member this fall.
In the eight-man division, Heritage Christian announced its intentions of playing in 2025 after doing the same in 2024 but then electing not to field a team. Trinity Christian, another relatively new AISA member, will field a football team for the first time this season. Escambia Academy, which struggled to field a AAA team last year, will join the eight-man ranks this fall.
In addition to classification changes in football, the AISA athletic committee made classification changes in basketball, baseball and softball as well. The most noticeable change to that alignment is the additiion of Success Unlimited Academy, which will compete in those winter and spring sports in the same Class AA area as Chambers Academy, Southern Prep and Springwood School.
Success Unlimited made a brief two-year stay in AISA before dropping out and competing for the past four years in another association. Football will remain in that association this year but is expected to join the AISA 8-man division in 2026.