2026-2027 News Releases
2026 State: Field Hockey Draw and Pairings
2026 Fall Brackets for Draw Show : FH Pairings 2026 KHSAA State Field Hockey Tournament Christian Academy, Louisville (Semifinals: October 26 / Finals: October 28) State Quarterfinal Round (Team in Top Bracket/First Listed will be Home Team) RW-B draws RRU-C RW-D draws RRU-A RW-A draws RRU-D RW-C draws RRU-B
** A blind draw for Region letters (A, B, C, D) will be done by KHSAA staff following the conclusion of all Regional Tournaments.
10/15/26 – KHSAA Awards 2025-26 NFHS State Coaches of the Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OCT. 15, 2026
As part of its annual awards program, the National Federation of State High School Associations Coaches Association recognizes Coach of the Year honorees from each state. Those named Coach of the Year at the state level then advance for consideration for Sectional Coach of the Year honors. Winners are chosen through a combination of their coaching accomplishments, particularly for the season in question, as well as their contributions outside of competition to help grow their respective sports. These awards are announced following the recognized year.
The complete list of 2025-26 honorees from Kentucky is below.
- Baseball: Heath Hicks, Apollo
- Boys’ Basketball: David Levitch, North Oldham
- Boys’ Cross Country: Sydney Goetz, Louisville Collegiate
- Football: DeMarcus Ganaway, Owensboro
- Boys’ Golf: Chris Gregory, McCracken County
- Boys’ Soccer: John Cantrell, South Oldham
- Boys’ Swimming & Diving: Mike Heuke, Eastern
- Boys’ Tennis: Brandon Haines, Owensboro Catholic
- Boys’ Outdoor Track & Field: […]
10/10/26 – Final Round Recap at 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac/KHSAA Girls’ State Golf Championships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 10, 2026
The final round of the 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac girls’ golf state tournament ended in a driving rain but Sacred Heart’s Keira Yun did not mind and finished the day with 3-under 69 and won the state title for a second straight year. In the two-day event, Yun carded a 70 and 69 for a 139 total score (-5) concluding the tournament with a 4-shot victory over Willa Borough of Frederick Douglass. Yun becomes the 11th different player since 1965 to repeat as state champion. Lexington Catholic’s Parker Haddix and Lexington Christian’s Grace Soale tied for third with a two-day total […]
10/09/26 – TOURNAMENT UPDATE: 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac Girls’ Golf State Tournament
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 9, 2026
Due to the possible inclement weather conditions for the Bowling Green area on Saturday, the final round of the 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac Girls’ Golf State Tournament will begin with tee times off holes No. 1 and No. 10 at 7:00 A.M. (CDT).
Tee sheets have been revised and updated in Golf Genius.
– 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 composed of 290 member schools, both public and non-public. The KHSAA crowns 74 team and 275 individual champions at 48 state championship events; funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its nearly 120,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports […]
10/09/26 – Round One Complete at 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac/KHSAA Girls’ State Golf Championships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 9, 2026
The opening round of the 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac girls’ golf state tournament ended with Lexington Catholic’s Parker Haddix as the clubhouse leader for the individual championship. Haddix shoots a 3-under 69 with defending champion Keira Yun (Sacred Heart) just one shot back. Emlie Miller (Graves County) and Grace Soale (Lexington Christian) opened with an even par 72.
Lexington Christian, looking for their third state title and first since 2019, shot an opening round 302. The Eagles are +14 with 13-time champion Sacred Heart in second place just nine shots back. Reigning girls’ state champion Madison Central is third at +40.
Here are the individual and team leaderboards heading into Saturday’s final round.
INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION
1. Parker Haddix (Lexington Catholic) -3 (69)
2. Keira Yun (Sacred Heart) […]
10/07/26 – Final Round Recap of 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac Boys’ State Golf Tournament
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 7, 2026
The final round of the 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac boys’ golf state tournament finished on Wednesday as Anderson Lang of Frederick Douglass outlasted Luc Kelty of St. Xavier on the second playoff hole to win the state crown. Lang shot an even par 72 on Tuesday and a 4-under 68 (140) on Wednesday becoming the first Douglass golfer to win a golf title. Kelty, the 2025 runner-up, caught fire down the stretch with four birdies on the back-nine to force […]
10/06/26 – Round One Complete at 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac/KHSAA Boys’ State Golf Championships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 6, 2026
The opening round of the 2026 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac boys’ golf state tournament concludes with Lexington Christian Academy’s Luke Ebel as the clubhouse leader for the individual championship. Ebel shoots a 5-under 67 with Luke Elliott (Christian Academy-Louisville) and Waylon Clutts (Hazard) just two shots back with a 3-under 69.
10/05/26 – Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac/KHSAA State Golf Championship Begins in Bowling Green
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 5, 2026
The fall championship season gets underway this week when the Bowling Green Country Club hosts the 2026 Leachman Buick•GMC•Cadillac/KHSAA State Golf Championships (Oct. 6-10). The boys’ tournament begins at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, October 6 with the opening round, followed by the second 18 holes on Wednesday, October 7. The girls’ championship opens with first round action on Friday, October 9, and the final 18 holes slated for Saturday, October 10.
Madison Central will look to repeat as girls’ team champion after claiming the 2025 state title with a record 604 (300-304). Sacred Heart’s Keira Yun won last year’s individual championship with a 6-under 138 and returns looking for a repeat performance. On the boys’ side, St. Xavier returned to the top in 2025 with a 7-shot victory over 2024 champion Madison Central. Individually, the Tigers finished 2-3-4 led by Luc Kelty, who finished three […]
09/30/26 – Fall Draw Show to Air October 1 on NFHS Network
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2026
Pairings for the 2026 KHSAA Field Hockey, Soccer and Girls’ Volleyball State Tournaments will be unveiled on Thursday, October 1st at 2:00 p.m. ET during the KHSAA’s annual Fall Championship Draw Show.
The 2026 Fall Championship Draw Show will air on khsaa.tv via the NFHS Network at no cost to viewers, live from the KHSAA offices in Lexington.
The 2026 KHSAA Field Hockey State Tournament will begin on Saturday, October 24, with quarterfinal games being played on campus sites. Play continues with the semifinals and championship on Monday, October 26, and Wednesday, October 28, at Christian Academy-Louisville.
The KHSAA Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer State Tournaments will open with first-round matches on October 26-27, followed by the quarterfinals on October 31. Both initial rounds will be played on campus sites. The semifinals (November 3-4) will be hosted at Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the finals (November 7) will be hosted at […]
09/28/26 – Initial RPI Rankings Released for Soccer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER. 28, 2026
The first official KHSAA Ratings Percentage Index rankings for the 2026 soccer season has been posted.
Initial soccer RPI rankings can be found through the links below:
RPI is a tool developed for all team sports using the official KHSAA Scoreboard data, modeled after, but not identical to, similar measurement tools. It is provided for a variety of reasons, including district tiebreaking and football bracketing, and as a means to increase publicity, interest, and promotion of interscholastic athletics. RPI is also used as a tiebreaking/contest-result mechanism to decide seeded district games that are not played by the deadline. RPI rankings are updated on an hourly basis, but are not calculated for teams with missing scores from the previous day. Therefore, it is essential for results to remain comprehensive for accuracy.
09/28/26- REMINDER- KHSAA to Again Conduct Title IX Education Meetings for All Schools, Middle Schools Invited
As was mentioned at the recently concluded Regional Meetings, the KHSAA will again conduct two Title IX Webinars for 2026-27. The first webinar will be on Tuesday, October 6 and will be conducted via Zoom to afford the membership more opportunities to attend. The second webinar will be scheduled in the coming days and will likely be right after election day. Once confirmed, another notice will be sent. Keep in mind that for those having field visits this year (https://khsaa.org/08-01-26-title-ix-schools-being-revisited-for-2026-2027/), the majority of those site visits are after these meetings.
Tuesday morning, October 6
- This session will be at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
- To register for this session, go to https://khsaa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ro7Z83BJTd6r50yW9Mp2ew
- The meeting should conclude no later than 12:00 p.m.
[…]
09/28/26 – Initial RPI Rankings Released for Football
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 28, 2026
The first official KHSAA Ratings Percentage Index rankings for the 2026 football season has been posted.
Initial RPI rankings can be found through the link below:
- Football
RPI is a tool developed for all team sports using the official KHSAA Scoreboard data, modeled after, but not identical to, similar measurement tools. It is provided for a variety of reasons, including district tiebreaking and football bracketing, and as a means to increase publicity, interest and promotion of interscholastic athletics. RPI is also used as a tiebreaking/contest-result mechanism to decide seeded district games that are not played by the deadline. RPI rankings are updated on an hourly basis but are not calculated for teams with missing scores from the previous day. Therefore, it is essential for results to remain comprehensive for accuracy.
Current KHSAA schedules, rankings/standings and […]
09/21/26 – Board of Control Seeks Applications for the position of Commissioner
Click for More Details
09/17/26 – Annual meeting of the KHSAA Delegate Assembly Held in Lexington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 17, 2026
The annual meeting of the KHSAA was held on Thursday afternoon at the Central Bank Center in Lexington. The KHSAA Delegate Assembly voted on 13 proposals and you can find those results at the following link.
Proposals passing today will now start through the regulatory approval process, the first step of which is the November Board of Control meeting.
– 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 composed of 290 member schools, both public and non-public. The KHSAA crowns 74 team and 275 individual champions at 48 […]
09/16/26 – Board of Control conducts second meeting of 2026-2027
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 16, 2026
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) Board of Control conducted its second regularly scheduled meeting of the 2026-27 academic year on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the Board approved the revised bowling alignment for the 2026-27 school year. The staff and Board had been reviewing that alignment and gathering data due to the consolidation of bowling centers since 2020, as well as to balance regional tournament fields by team count. The Staff will be sending out the new alignment in the coming days.
The Board also approved final parameters for the basketball shot clock, including special resets for defensive fouls and for the defense kicking the ball. These parameters should be used during games this year, when the shot clock is in effect, and will be the standard for the mandatory option year of 2026-27. These parameters will be placed in the competition rules.
The Board heard several requests […]
09/08/26 – Initial Stat Leader Reports Released for all Fall Sports
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 8, 2026
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association and its partnership with ArbiterSports continue to expand opportunities to follow the progress of your favorite schools and athletes by visiting https://khsaascoreboard.org.
In addition to schedules (easily manageable by searching by range of competition dates), Standings pages by Region in all sports, and by Class in football, are visible with RPI releases for the fall sports scheduled in the next couple of weeks.
In addition, the team at ArbiterSports has developed a much more comprehensive stats system to showcase the performances of these fine student-athletes and teams. KHSAA statistical leaders, both team and individual, provide a statewide look at performance throughout the season. Statistics are submitted by member schools through the KHSAA online system and are compiled into the Association’s statistical leader reports.
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On our new, much more comprehensive and flexible […]
09/04/26 – KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett to Join NFHS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 4, 2026
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (September 4, 2026) — Julian Tackett, who recently announced his retirement as commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA), effective later this year, is joining the NFHS on a consulting basis while finishing his duties as KHSAA commissioner and assisting the KHSAA Board of Control in their leadership transition.
In early 2027, the plan is for Tackett to transition to a full-time leadership position with the NFHS as Associate Executive Director – Operations & Technology.
Tackett’s initial work with the NFHS during the […]
08/24/26 – Tackett, Cope Announce Retirement from KHSAA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 24, 2026
Butch Cope, Senior Associate Commissioner for the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, has announced his retirement from the organization effective July 1, 2027.
In his 32nd year with the KHSAA, Cope currently manages girls’ and boys’ volleyball, regular-season basketball, archery, and baseball. In addition, he oversees the officials division and student services, including the HYPE student conferences, and serves as the liaison with the Association’s marketing agent, TPG.
Cope previously managed competitive cheer, dance, boys’ and girls’ golf, boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving, and boys’ and girls’ tennis with the KHSAA.
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08/11/26 – Volleyball Online Rules Clinic for Coaches & Officials Now Open
The required KHSAA Volleyball Online Rules Clinic for both boys and girls volleyball is now available through your Arbitersports Eligibility Dashboard.
The clinic is required for all coaches (varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen), regardless of whether or not the coach receives pay. The clinic is the same, so if you coach and/or officiate both boys’ and girls’, you will not have to complete the clinic for the spring.
If you have yet to log into the KHSAA360 (Arbitersports.com) system prior to receiving this email, you will need to set your password on the arbiter.io login screen (select “Forgot Password”).
For full instructions on how to access your Eligibility Dashboard to complete the Online Rules Clinic and the rest of your Bylaw 25 requirements, see below:
Accessing_and_Completing_Online_Rules_Clinics_and_Other_Bylaw_25_Requirements_on_ArbiterSports
If you are having difficulties finding your requirements dashboard following the instructions above, it can be found at the following link: https://app.arbitersports.com/eligibility/coach
Deadlines for Coaches:
- August […]
07/24/26 – Final Approved Track and Field Alignment
CLASS 1A
REGION 1–
Ballard Memorial,
Caldwell County,
Carlisle County,
Christian Fellowship,
Community Christian (Paducah) High School,
Crittenden County,
Dawson Springs,
Fort Campbell,
Fulton City,
Fulton County,
Heritage Christian Academy (Hopkinsville),
Hickman County,
Livingston Central,
Lyon County,
Mayfield,
Murray,
St. Mary,
Trigg County,
University Heights
REGION 2–
Bethlehem,
Campbellsville,
Caverna,
Clinton County,
Cloverport,
Cumberland County,
Edmonson County,
Fort Knox,
Foundation Christian Academy,
Green County,
Hancock County,
McLean County,
Metcalfe County,
Monroe County,
Owensboro Catholic,
Russellville,
Todd County Central,
Trinity (Whitesville),
Washington County
REGION 3–
Brown High School,
Evangel Christian,
Francis Parker,
Grace James,
Highlands Latin,
Holy Cross (Louisville),
Kentucky Country Day,
Kentucky School f/t Blind,
Louisville Collegiate,
[…]
07/24/26 – Board of Control Conducts First Meeting of 2026-2027
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 24, 2026
The KHSAA Board of Control held its first regularly scheduled meeting of the 2026-27 academic year on Thursday and Friday in Newport, with much of the focus on carryover items from the prior year.
A two-day series of meetings began with an orientation for new and returning Board members, then launched into the full Board work session on Thursday afternoon, followed by the full Board Meeting on Friday. The Board and staff welcomed new Board members, Troy Johnson of Fern Creek High School and Randy Borchers of the Kenton County schools.
“The first meeting each year offers a great opportunity for our new board members to become familiar with the process of these meetings and with our staff members,” said Commissioner Julian Tackett. “The first meeting is always one of our longer ones as we try to set the tone for the […]
07/13/26 – KHSAA Spring Sports Officials of the Year Nominees and Winners Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2026
Each year, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association honors the top officials in the sports it licenses. Finalists in each sport are selected based on a combination of on-field performance, local association activity and leadership, training efforts, and mentoring of newer officials.
One official in each sport is named Outstanding Official of the Year in appreciation of their dedication and service to schools and student-athletes across the state. Winners are selected following consultation with local assigning secretaries, veteran officials’ observers, and coaches throughout the state, as well as additional staff review.
To finish out the 25-26 school year, the Association has announced its spring sports nominees and overall winners.
2025-26 KHSAA OUTSTANDING SPRING OFFICIALS (Winners in bold)
- Baseball: Kirk Dragoo (Madisonville), Jordan Blair (Columbia), […]
07/07/2026 – Exertional Heat Stroke Guidance for High School Football Linemen – NFHS SMAC Task Force
This information is being shared with all KHSAA contacts involved in football, based on recently shared guidance from the NFHS.
The NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) convened an expert task force that included physicians, athletic trainers, state association executives, athletic directors, football coaches and strength and conditioning coaches to address a critical and persistent safety issue in high school football: exertional heat stroke (EHS), the leading cause of preventable death in high school players. Nearly all EHS fatalities occur during sustained, high‑intensity conditioning sessions in the first week of practice, and 97% involve linemen—athletes who heat up faster, cool down more slowly, and face unique physiological risks not fully mitigated by existing guidelines on hydration, acclimatization, WBGT monitoring, or uniform modification. These traditional measures remain essential, but they have not adequately accounted for exertional intensity or the disproportionate vulnerability of linemen.
In response, the task force has developed new, position‑specific guidance designed to fundamentally […]
Board of Control Seeks Applications for Commissioner
Official KHSAA Operations Partners
Current Year Hall of Fame Information
