Arkansas Activities Association
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- This organization is often addressed by the initials AAA. For other uses of this term, see AAA (disambiguation).
The Arkansas Activities Association (locally known as the AAA) is the primary sanctioning body for high school sports in state of Arkansas. AAA is a member association of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHSA). Every public secondary school in Arkansas is a de jure member of the AAA, and most private schools, save for a few schools in the delta that belong to the Mississippi Private Schools Association, are included in membership.
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[edit] Administration
The following administration is current as of 2007.
- Executive Director: Lance Taylor
- Associate Executive Directors: Kathy Tadlock, Don Brodell, Joey Walters
- Assistant Executive Directors: Wadie Moore, Belle Summers, Annette Savage
[edit] Sanctioned sports
The AAA currently governs a total of 12 sports, listed below in order of season's start.
- Golf (Boys/Girls)
- Tennis (Boys/Girls)
- Volleyball (Girls)
- Cross Country (Boys/Girls)
- Football (Boys)
- Basketball (Boys/Girls)
- Swimming/Diving (Boys/Girls)
- Bowling (Boys/Girls)
- Soccer (Boys/Girls)
- Baseball (Boys)
- Softball (Girls)
- Track & Field (Boys/Girls)
Although the word "activities" is used in the name, the AAA is directly responsible only for interscholastic athletics. Other activities, including music, forensics, and spirit groups, are governed by their own associations affiliated with yet not part of the AAA, who is only responsible for sanctioning (approving) the events. These associations usually adopt the AAA's means of determing eligibility as well as its size classifications seen below, but regional classifications and means of organizing events are left only to their respective associations.
[edit] Organization
The AAA organizes its member schools by 3-year average daily membership (ADM) in grades 10-12 every two years. Each classification is organized by rank, as opposed to a minimum threshold, to maintain consistent numbers for each class.
Since 2006, the schools have been organized as follows.
- Class 7A (16 largest schools)
- Class 6A (next 16 largest schools)
- Class 5A (next 32 largest schools)
- Class 4A (next 48 largest schools that sponsor football ("football schools"), as well as all non-football schools within range)
- Class 3A (same means as Class 4A)
- Class 2A (next 48 largest schools and remainder of football schools)
- Class 1A (all remaining schools)
The means of placing private schools within these classifications have become a key issue in Arkansas. Prior to 2002, only single-gender schools would have its enrollment altered, in this case by doubling the reported enrollment. in 2002, the enrollments reported by private schools was multiplied by 1.35. In 2006, that multiplier was increased to 1.75. Starting in 2008, the multiplier wil be dropped altogether, and each private school will be placed one classification above where the enrollment would otherwise place the school.
Within each classification, the schools are further grouped into conferences, each with 6-8 schools apiece. In Classes 7A-5A, the conferences are named according to directional region (i.e. 7A-West, 6A-Central, 5A-Southeast). In the smaller classes, the conferences are named according to the activity district number which the conference is centrally located (a class 4A conference in western Arkansas would be the 4A-4 conference). In smaller classes, there can be more than one conference within an activity district. These are further named according to directional area (a pair of class 2A conferences in southwest Arkansas would be the 2A-7 West and 2A-7 East). Classes 3A and 2A group conferences for football and basketball separately (Mountainburg is in Conference 3A-1 for football and 3A-4 for basketball). Finally, sports with limited sponsorship, such as soccer and swimming, have their own conferences between the participants. These special conferences often transcend multiple classes.
For purposes of clarity , the activity districts with regions covered are as follows.
- District 1 (northwest Arkansas)
- District 2 (north central Arkansas)
- District 3 (northeast Arkansas)
- District 4 (west Arkansas)
- District 5 (central Arkansas)
- District 6 (east Arkansas)
- District 7 (southwest Arkansas)
- District 8 (southeast Arkansas)
The AAA has changed both the names and means of these classifications over time. Prior to 1977, the classes ranged from Class AAAA to Class C, with AAAA including the 8 largest schools in Arkansas. In 1977, the first "class shift" added an "A" to each class, and references to Class C were removed. In 1983, Class AAAAA merged into and was renamed Class AAAA, with all other classes relatively consistent. 1998 witnessed the second "class shift", this time removing all references to Class B. In 2006, Class AAAAA was split in half, and Classes AAA and AA, both with over 70 schools each, were reorganized into three smaller classes. At first, the largest class was called Class AAAAAAA. The current naming conventions, changing the reference to 7A, were adopted soon after.
Prior to 2006, the activity district number was placed in front of the class for conference names (i.e. 4AAA, 7AA-East). These naming conventions changed as well, but many local media outlets still placed the district number before the class (3-4A instead of 4A-3). Prior to this, a few outlets mixed prior references to new ones (some newspapers in western Arkansas made references to the 4AAA-West, yet such a conference never existed).
