FHSAA releases new classifications, districts for 2021 football season

Planning for a normal football season this fall, the Florida High School Athletic Association has released its classifications for 2021 based on school enrollment.

Three Palm Beach County teams are moving up in class from 2019, the last time schools were reclassified: Palm Beach Lakes and West Boca Raton from 7A to 8A, Suncoast from 5A to 6A. Spanish River, which has competed in 8A, is playing as an independent this year.

Last year, the county's public schools played an abbreviated season because of COVID-19 and opted out of the state playoffs. As an alternative, they competed in the tri-county playoffs along with teams from Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

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Teams in the four upper classes (5A through 8A) are placed in districts and have to play all other district opponents. Teams in the four lower classes (1A through 4A) are placed in regions and are rated on a point system that takes into account wins, losses and strength of schedule.

In Class 8A, Districts 7 and 8 are made up entirely of Palm Beach County teams. All other districts include a mix of county and out-of-county teams.

Because of the COVID-19 interruption, the reclassifications, which usually cover two school years, are for only one year. 

Here's the breakdown for 2021:

CLASS 8A

District 7 (Region 2): Jupiter, Palm Beach Central, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach Lakes, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington

District 8 (Region 2): Forest Hill, John I. Leonard, Lake Worth, Park Vista, Santaluces

District 13 (Region 4): Boca Raton, West Boca Raton, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Parkland-Douglas, Coconut Creek-Monarch 

CLASS 7A

District 8 (Region 2): Dwyer, Seminole Ridge, Fort Pierce Westwood, Stuart-Martin County, Sebastian River

District 13 (Region 4): Atlantic, Olympic Heights, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach-Blanche Ely, Sunrise-Piper

CLASS 6A

District 8 (Region 2): Suncoast, Okeechobee, Port St. Lucie, Stuart-South Fork

CLASS 5A

District 14 (Region 4): Boynton Beach, Fort Lauderdale-Stranahan, Hallandale, Jensen Beach, Plantation-American Heritage

CLASS 4A

Region 3: American Heritage, Glades Central, Somerset Canyons (plus 7 other teams)

CLASS 3A

Region 2: Benjamin (plus 9 other teams)

Region 4: Cardinal Newman, King's Academy, St. Andrew's, St. John Paul (plus 8 other teams)

CLASS 2A

Region 4: Glades Day, Village Academy (plus 9 other teams)

CLASS 1A

Region 4: Pahokee (plus 8 other teams)

INDEPENDENTS

Berean Christian, Boca Raton Christian, Jupiter Christian, Spanish River