North Carolina High School Sports Hall of Fame
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| Abbreviation | NCHSAA |
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| Legal status | Association |
| Purpose | Athletic/Educational |
| Headquarters | 222 Finley Golf Course Rd. Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515 |
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Region served
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North Carolina |
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Official language
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English |
| Affiliations | National Federation of State High School Associations |
| Website | nchsaa.org |
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across the state.
The NCHSAA organizes member schools into conferences and oversees the state championships for each of the sanctioned sports. The NCHSAA headquarters is located at 222 Finley Golf Course Road, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The mailing address for the NCHSAA is PO Box 3216, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515.
The NCHSAA was founded in 1913 by Dr. Louis Round Wilson, a professor at the University of North Carolina. The University served as the primary source of funding and leadership for the Association from 1913 through 1947 before the organization adopted its current model, which provides school administrators with direct influence through the presence of the NCHSAA Board of Directors. The NCHSAA remained affiliated with UNC until 2010 when it became an independent organization.
The first state playoffs were held in the Association's inaugural year in both football and track. Baseball (1914), Basketball (1915), and Tennis (1916) were added over the next three athletic seasons, and the organization has sponsored 16 different sports throughout its history, including: Soccer (1927), Wrestling (1938), Golf (1938), Swimming (1950), Cross Country (1956), Slow-Pitch Softball (1975), Volleyball (1976), Indoor Track (1987), Fast-Pitch Softball (1994) and Lacrosse (2010). Women's athletics were introduced in 1969, and there are currently 13 sports offered for men and 10 for women.
The high schools in the state are organized (since 1929) into classifications by the size of the student population. Prior to 1929 all schools played in a single "open" format and postseason play was decided within "east" and "west" regions by meetings of school administrators. The east versus west postseason approach continues to this day. In 1929 the NCHSAA split schools into "Class A" and "Class B," generally by school size.
Due to this and other factors, 36 schools in the Piedmont and western foothills of the state broke away in 1929 and formed their own association, the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association or WNCHSAA. This association grew to as many as 44 high schools, including many of the most successful high school athletics programs in the state. The WNCHSAA merged back into the NCHSAA in 1977.
The NCHSAA, due to segregation, also did not include African-American high schools. These schools played in the North Carolina High School Athletics Conference (NCHSAC) until 1971.
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