Alberta Schools' Athletic Association

The Alberta Schools' Athletic Association (ASAA) is the governing body that oversees amateur athletics in schools for the province of Alberta. It is a voluntary, non profit organization that has 405 member high schools as of 2023. It enforces policies as dictated by the provincial board of Governors.

As is the case with all provincial governing bodies for school athletics in Canada, the ASAA is an affiliate member of the United States-based National Federation of State High School Associations.

History
The ASAA was founded in Calgary in 1956 to coordinate high school championships among member schools. After starting their activities by organizing a regional basketball tournament, more sports were added throughout the years, starting with track and field in 1958, badminton, volleyball and cross-country running in the 1960s; gymnastics, wrestling, and curling in the 1970s; and golf, cheerleading and football in the 1980s. Gymnastics was discontinued in 1989. Girls' wrestling was added in 1995. More recently rugby was added in 2006, team handball in 2010, and six-man football in 2011.

The association is structured in 8 geographical zones, Calgary & Edmonton as urban zones, complemented by six rural zones.

District zones
The eight geographic zones of the ASAA are:


 * Calgary
 * Calgary Independent
 * Central
 * Edmonton
 * North East
 * North Central
 * North West
 * South
 * South Central

Regional associations
Within these geographic zones, the policies set forth by the ASAA are administered by the regional associations:


 * Calgary – Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association & Calgary Independent Schools Athletic Association 1
 * Central – Central Zone of the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association
 * Edmonton – Edmonton Metro Athletic Association 2
 * North East –
 * North Central –
 * North West –
 * South – South Zone of the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association
 * South Central – Rocky View Sports Association 3 & South Central Zone of the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association
 * Notes

undefinedCalgary has two associations; the Calgary Independent Schools Athletic Association is in charge of all private and chartered schools.

undefinedEdmonton Metro handles 15 school boards (Public, Catholic, Francophone, and Independent) from Edmonton and the surrounding area. Edmonton Public Schools formed its own regional association until 2013.

undefinedRocky View Sports Association controls cities, townships, and hamlets schools outside the city of Calgary.

Structure
In order to provide a competitive balance, member schools are placed into classifications for all major sports based on the schools' enrollments. Divisions and the tier classification systems are not equivalent. Exact sizes are:

Divisions

 * 1A schools: fewer than 100 students
 * 2A schools: 100–299 students
 * 3A schools: 300–799 students
 * 4A schools: 800 or more students

Football Tiers

 * Tier IV schools: fewer than 450 students (all Division IA and 2A schools, and the smaller Division 3A schools)
 * Tier III schools: 450–749 students (mid-sized Division 3A schools)
 * Tier II schools: 750–1249 students (largest Division 3A and smaller Division 4A schools)
 * Tier I schools: 1250 or more students (largest Division 4A schools)

Team Handball Tiers

 * Tier II schools: fewer than 500 students (all Division 1A and 2A schools and the smaller Division 3A schools)
 * Tier I schools: 500 or more students (mid-sized Division 3A and Division 4A schools)

Rugby Tiers

 * Tier III schools: fewer than 600 students (all Division 1A and 2A schools and the smaller Division 3A schools)
 * Tier II schools: 600–1249 students (larger Division 3A schools and the smaller Division 4A schools)
 * Tier I schools: 1250 or more students (largest Division 4A schools)

Sports governing bodies
The sports sanctioned by the ASAA are steered by the governing sports bodies and its guidelines to provide an equitable competition and ethical standards for all male and females students and coaches involved within that sports' program. The governing sports bodies are:


 * Athletics Alberta
 * Basketball Alberta
 * Alberta Curling Federation
 * Alberta Golf
 * Rugby Alberta
 * Alberta Wrestling
 * Alberta Badminton
 * Alberta Cheerleading Association
 * Football Alberta
 * Alberta Junior Rugby Association
 * Alberta Volleyball
 * Alberta Team Handball Federation

Sports
Thirty-three provincial championships are held annually for 12 ASAA sports:


 * Badminton
 * Basketball
 * Boys
 * Division 1A
 * Division 2A
 * Division 3A
 * Division 4A
 * Girls
 * Division 1A
 * Division 2A
 * Division 3A
 * Division 4A
 * Cheerleading
 * Cross Country
 * Curling
 * Football
 * Tier I
 * Tier II
 * Tier III
 * Tier IV
 * 6-Man
 * Golf
 * Rugby
 * Tier I
 * Tier II
 * Tier III
 * Team Handball
 * Track and Field
 * Volleyball
 * Boys
 * Division 1A
 * Division 2A
 * Division 3A
 * Division 4A
 * Girls
 * Division 1A
 * Division 2A
 * Division 3A
 * Division 4A
 * Wrestling (Boys & Girls)
 * Rural
 * Provincial

Results from all sports:

Cheerleading
The first ASAA sponsored provincial cheerleading championship was awarded in 1984.

Football
The first ASAA sponsored provincial Senior Varsity football championship was awarded in 1985. Due to the cold inclement weather, the inaugural championship games were cancelled, and the competing schools were declared co-champions.

Team Handball
The first ASAA sponsored provincial Senior Varsity Team handball championship was awarded in April 2010.

Volleyball
The first ASAA sponsored provincial Senior Varsity volleyball championship was awarded in 1964.