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 373 member high schools. It enforces polices 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, followed by 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. ^[2]

District zones

The eight geographic zones as sanctioned by the ASAA are as follows:^{[1] :8-9}

• Calgary
• Edmonton
• North East
• North West
• North Central
• Central
• South
• South Central

The 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
• Edmonton – Edmonton Metro Athletic Association ²
• South Central – Rocky View Sports Association ³ & South Central Zone of the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association
• South – South Zone of the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association
• Central – Central Zone of the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association

Notes

Structure

In order to provide a competitive balance, member schools are placed into divisions for all major sports other than football and rugby, and into tiers for football and rugby, based on the schools' enrollments. Divisions and the two tiers systems are not equivalent, with football Tier IV including all Division IA and 2A schools, as well as the smaller Division 3A schools; Tier III including the mid-sized Division 3A schools; Tier II including the largest Division 3A and the smaller Division 4A schools; and Tier I including the largest Division 4A schools. and Rugby Tier III including all Division 1A and 2A schools as well as the smaller Division 3A schools; Tier II including the larger Division 3A schools and the smaller Division 4A schools; and Tier I including the largest Division 4A schools. Exact sizes are:

Divisions

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

^[1]:35

Football tiers

• Tier IV schools with fewer than 450 students
• Tier III schools with 450–749 students
• Tier II schools with 750–1249 students
• Tier I schools with 1250 or more students

^{[1]:101–102}

Rugby tiers

• Tier III schools with fewer than 600 students
• Tier II schools with 600–1249 students
• Tier I schools with 2500 or more students

^[1]:113

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:^[3]

• 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:^[2][4]

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.^[6]

Volleyball

The first ASAA sponsored provincial Senior Varsity volleyball championship was awarded in 1964.^[2]

References

External links

• Alberta Schools' Athletic Association
• Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association
• Calgary Independent Schools Athletic Association
• Rocky View Sports Association
• Edmonton Metro Athletic Association
• The South Zone of the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association
• The South Central Zone of the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association
• 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