Over a dozen Central Illinois high school teams set to play in new classifications in 2026-27

Peoria Notre Dame's Patrick Graham (4) talks to teammates during a 2025 soccer game against Normal Community. Jonathan Michel/Clutch Sports Media

The 2026 high school sports season in Illinois isn’t far away and begins with the first day of competitions on August 13. When the postseason rolls around, several teams in Central Illinois will find themselves in a different class than the one they participated in in 2025. 

The IHSA has made sweeping changes to its enrollment and classification procedures in the last two years, including going from two-year to one-year enrollment cycles, changing classification cutoffs for several sports and instituting new guidelines surrounding the multiplier and success factor for private/non-boundaried schools.

All but a few IHSA sports are separated into multiple classes. Girls flag football, boys and girls swimming and diving and boys and girls lacrosse are among the single-class sports. Football classifications differ as the eight classes are not determined until the end of the season. The recent expansion of the football postseason from 256 teams to 384 teams (48 teams per class) may lead to a drastic shift in classifications too.

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