FHSAA to pause Rural class for two years; Merge remaining teams to 1A

The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) held an emergency Board of Directors virtual meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss the current Rural, Class 1A and independents football classes.

FHSAA in the emergency meeting decided to pause the Rural class for football only for two years and merge the remaining teams with Class 1A for 2026-28. According to FloridaHSFootball.com, FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon said that 13 or 14 teams are ready to be placed in a district, with the remaining clubs being put into 1A.

Also voted on by the board and passing was to establish an Independent League, which would have some sort of postseason plays but not be given a state championship game. Damon made certain that state championships would only happen for those members within the state series.

Though the teams remaining that would look to be placed in 1A were not revealed, the last update of teams showed 18 programs still remaining in Florida’s Rural classification were: Baker, Blountstown, Chiefland, Fort Meade, Fort White, Hamilton County, Hawthorne, Hilliard, Lafayette, Madison, Marathon, Moore Haven, Northview, Pahokee, Pierson Taylor, Port St. Joe, Taylor County and Williston.

Based on the current number of 1A teams, which is at 43, with the addition of the Rural teams now officially taking place will take the classification closer to 60 total. Among the programs in 1A are 9-time state champion Chaminade-Madonna, Clearwater Central Catholic, Carrollwood Day, Orlando The First Academy, True North Classical, St. Petersburg Catholic and defending state champion Cardinal Newman.

The FHSAA started up the Rural classification in the 2022 Florida high school football season as Class 1R and Hawthorne has been the team to beat in the four years of its existence. The Hornets have won three of the four possible state championships, with Madison County beating Hawthorne in 2024 for the title.

The virtual meeting by the Gainesville-based association came at a critical time for high school football teams around the state that are scheduling games for the 2026 season. Next question will be which teams decide to not join the FHSAA’s 1A classification and decide to bolt for the Rural class.

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