11/13/25 – Board of Control to Monitor Possible Changes in Several Sports

November 13, 2025 2025-2026 News Releases

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NOV. 13, 2025

The KHSAA Board of Control conducted its November 13th meeting, the third of the 2025-26 academic year, in Lexington with numerous conversations concerning tennis, soccer, diving, lacrosse and wrestling.

Significant changes could be coming to boys’ and girls’ individual and doubles tennis state tournaments as the board attempts to address significant facility issues with its current format. The board will evaluate, much like golf, a format that would have those that advance from region tournaments (champions, runners-up and semifinalists) playing at four different satellite venues in the first round of the state tournament. The first-round state events will consist of four sites, with four regions at each site (i.e., Regions 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, and 13-16). The format would create sixteen entrants in brackets at each state first round event.

Competitors will have to win two matches to advance to the final round event in Lexington, as each quadrant of four inside a bracket will produce one singles/doubles entry that advances to the final round, a sixteen-entrant event in singles and doubles for each gender. Players will be seeded prior to the first round events for each site and then re-seeded for the final round event. The board will review the final proposed details at its January meeting, aiming to maintain the current four-per-region qualifying field.  

There are no planned changes proposed to the KHSAA Team Tennis Tournament, as the 16 regional champions will continue to advance to Lexington for a two-day event.

At the July meeting, the Board began evaluating end-of-game procedures in lacrosse. It had previously been decided that overtime would not be used in regular-season or non-seeded district games. That has been rescinded, and member schools will continue to follow NFHS playing rules for each gender while more game data is collected. Another area of emphasis will see the Board continuing to study the margin of victory and potential sportsmanship issues around lopsided scores.

As for diving, after a vote of 29-14 by schools that currently offer diving, the Association will request permission from the NFHS to experiment with a rule that would adopt a 6-dive format rather than the current 11-dive format for postseason competition. Diving participation has been steadily declining among member schools, and it is hoped that a change in format will spur additional interest.

In other items: 

• For several months, the Board has been exploring alternatives to realign wrestling and restructure the postseason tournaments. The KHSAA will continue to gather information and present those findings to the Board of Control at the February meeting for possible implementation in the 2026-27 school year. The primary focus of alternatives being reviewed would sub-divide the current regions by creating another feeder round prior to the region tournaments, as the sport continues its recent growth throughout the state.
• The Board decided to begin gathering information to further consider a potential 3-year trial run utilizing a class format with boys’ and girls’ soccer, as had been requested through presentations by multiple school administrators at recent board meetings. Since its inception as a KHSAA sport in 1972 for boys and 1992 for girls, there has been only one overall state champion in each gender. The board wants to gather further data, including enrollment figures for the 2025-26 school year, before making any decisions during this review. Previously, the board conducted a nearly two-year review of possible classes in baseball, but geographic travel concerns and school proximity led to the decision not to expand to classes at that time.
• After lengthy consideration and discussion, the Board, citing the need to maintain geographic consistency, declined a request made at an earlier meeting by the Frankfort Independent Schools to move from the 11th Region to the 8th Region in team sports and corresponding moves in other sports.
• Heard a report from membership meetings involving the 8^th region schools, as those schools proposed revisions in the alignment of the existing 8^th region schools. The KHSAA staff will work with the Designated Representatives of those schools to determine if there is consensus on a revised alignment for the 19 schools in that region for the team sports of basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, and soccer.

– KHSAA –

About the Kentucky High School Athletic Association

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 289 member schools, both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 229 state championships to 72 teams and 270 individuals in 21 sports and six sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 109,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.

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