Major General James G. Blunt

Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) is the association that oversees public high school sporting contests in the state of Maryland.^[2] Organized after World War II in 1946, the MPSSAA is made up of public high schools from each of Maryland's 23 counties and independent city of Baltimore, which joined the association in 1993 when its public high schools withdrew from the earlier longtime athletic league, the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) which was founded in 1919. The MSA had been composed of public high schools in Baltimore and private/religious/independent schools on the secondary level in Baltimore and its metropolitan area and the surrounding central Maryland region. It was one of the few state-level interscholastic athletic leagues in the nation composed of both public and private/religious/independent secondary schools. After the Baltimore City public high schools withdrew from the MSA, the remaining private/religious/independent schools conferred and organized two parallel regional/state-wide athletic leagues with sports competition and exercise activities with one for young men and the other for young women. These were the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MISAA—for boys) and the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (ISAAM—for girls), which still exist today. All three state-wide athletic leagues, two for private/religious/independent secondary schools and one for co-ed public high schools exist today marrying on the proud traditions, memories and championships of the old Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA)—one of the oldest state athletic leagues for secondary schools in the country.

The current MPSSAA includes nearly 200 public high schools, with more than 110,000 student-athletes participating in 24 sports. The Association is governed by the Division of Instruction of the Maryland State Department of Education. All public high schools in Maryland in the 23 counties who qualify under the established rules and regulations may become members of the MPSSAA.

The stated purpose of the MPSSAA is "to promote, direct, and control all interscholastic activities of high school students; to establish, maintain, and enforce regulations to assure that all such activities are part of and contribute toward the comprehensive educational program of the state of Maryland; to work with the state department of education in the development of the program to safeguard the physical, mental, and moral welfare of high school students and protect them from exploitation."^[3]

Member high schools

Due to the state's unique geography, Maryland high school athletics is divided into nine districts by the MPSSAA for purposes of organizing athletic activities and postseason tournaments. MPSSAA member schools compete within geographic regions (jurisdictions) and are divided into leagues across the state. In total, there are five conferences and six counties competing together to form a league, but remaining independent.

Classifications

The MPSSAA's 199 member schools are arranged by classification to ensure that schools compete on a regular basis with other schools in the geographic area of a similar size. The classifications are 1A (the smallest), 2A, 3A, and 4A (the largest).

1A = Lowest 25 percent based on enrollment
2A = Next 25 percent based on enrollment
3A = Next 25 percent based on enrollment
4A = Top 25 percent based on enrollment

District Alignment

District 1 – Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, and Washington counties
District 2 – Montgomery County
District 3 – Prince George's County
District 4 – Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary's counties
District 5 – Anne Arundel and Howard counties
District 6 – Baltimore County
District 7 – Cecil and Harford counties
District 8 – Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester counties
District 9 – Baltimore City

Conferences

Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference

Allegany	Garrett
Allegany High School	Northern Garrett High School
Mountain Ridge High School	Southern Garrett High School
Fort Hill High School

Bayside Conference

Caroline	Dorchester	Kent	Queen Anne's	Somerset	Talbot	Wicomico	Worcester
Colonel Richardson High School	Cambridge-South Dorchester High School	Kent County High School	Kent Island High School	Crisfield High School	Easton High School	James M. Bennett High School	Pocomoke High School
North Caroline High School	North Dorchester High School		Queen Anne's County High School	Washington High School	St. Michaels High School	Mardela High School	Snow Hill High School
						Parkside High School	Stephen Decatur High School
						Wicomico High School

Monocacy Valley Athletic League

Carroll	Frederick	Washington
Century High School	Brunswick High School	Boonsboro High School
Francis Scott Key High School	Catoctin High School	Clear Spring High School
Liberty High School	Frederick High School	Hancock High School
Manchester Valley High School	Governor Thomas Johnson High School	North Hagerstown High School
	Linganore High School	Smithsburg High School
South Carroll High School	Middletown High School	South Hagerstown High School
Westminster High School	Oakdale High School	Williamsport High School
Winters Mill High School	Tuscarora High School
	Urbana High School
	Walkersville High School

Southern Maryland Athletic Conference

Calvert	Charles	St. Mary's
Huntingtown High School	Henry E. Lackey High School	Chopticon High School
Northern High School	La Plata High School	Great Mills High School
Calvert High School	Maurice J. McDonough High School	Leonardtown High School
Patuxent High School	North Point High School
	Thomas Stone High School
	Westlake High School
	St. Charles High School

Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference

Cecil	Harford
Bohemia Manor High School	Aberdeen High School
Elkton High School	Bel Air High School
North East High School	C. Milton Wright High School
Perryville High School	Edgewood High School
Rising Sun High School	Fallston High School
	Harford Technical High School
	Havre De Grace High School
	Joppatowne High School
	North Harford High School
	Patterson Mill High School

Independents

Anne Arundel County League

Baltimore City League

Baltimore County League

Howard County League

River Hill High School competes against Baltimore City College for the 2009 Class 2A girls' basketball state championship at UMBC's Retriever Activities Center in Catonsville.

Montgomery County League

Prince George's County League

References

^ "About Us". Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
^ "Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association". Maryland Public Secondary Schools Association. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
^ "2013-14 Handbook" (PDF).

External links

Official website

[1] "About Us". Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association. Retrieved February 22, 2024.

[2] "Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association". Maryland Public Secondary Schools Association. Retrieved 1 April 2011.

[3] "2013-14 Handbook" (PDF).

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