Gainesville leaves loaded Region 7-6A, GHSA approves 12 region appeals
THOMASTON — The Georgia High School Association reclassification committee approved 12 schools’ appeals to move regions on Monday, most notably approving football and basketball power Gainesville.
Gainesville spent the last two seasons in Region 7-5A, clashing with athletic titans like Milton and Roswell. The school’s request to move from Region 7 to Region 8 when it goes to Class 6A (effectively the same class under a new name) next school year was approved.
The Red Elephants have more history competing against several Region 8 teams like Habersham Central, Jackson County and Apalachee.
Gainesville was bumped out of Region 8 and into Region 7 two years ago. The Red Elephants, who were coming off back-to-back football Region 8 championships at the time, did not win a Region 7 football title the last two seasons.
Returning to the school’s traditional region was the main argument that Gainesville athletic director Adam Lindsey presented to the committee. Lindsey was surprised that the GHSA approved Gainesville’s appeal.
“At the end of the day, that’s what’s best for Gainesville athletics, for us to be in Region 8,” Lindsey said. “So excited about it, but it’s a shock.”
Lindsey recognized that some of Gainesville’s most competitive sports — football and basketball —will continue to be highly competitive in Region 8. He also noted the move will be better for some of Gainesville’s spring sports, which struggled the last two seasons in Region 7.
“Region 8 just is going to give us a better opportunity to compete in those spring sports,” Lindsey said.
Gainesville, Mountain View and Lanier all appealed to move from Region 7 to Region 8. Gainesville and Mountain View were approved, but Lanier was denied.
Here are Monday’s region appeal results for every classification. The updated region lists can be found below, too.
GHSA region appeal results
Class 7A
- North Atlanta (Region 4 to Region 3): Approved
- Paulding County (Region 2 to Region 3): Approved, but moved to Region 5
Class 6A
- Mountain View (Region 7 to Region 8): Approved
- Gainesville (Region 7 to Region 8): Approved
- Lanier (Region 7 to Region 8): Denied
- Morrow (Region 3 to Region 4): Denied
Class 5A
- Banneker (Region 3 to Region 5): Approved
- Northview (Region 6 to Region 5): Approved
Class 3A
- Union County (Region 8 to Region 7): Approved
- Morgan County (Region 4 to Region 8): Approved
- Cook (Region 1 to Isolation): Denied
Class 2A
- Swainsboro (Region 3 to Region 2): Approved
Class A
- Treutlen (Region 3 to Region 4): Approved
- Irwin County (Region 2 to Region 4): Denied
- Twiggs County (Region 4 to Region 5): Approved
- Baconton Charter (Region 2 to Region 1): Approved
- Pelham (Region 2 to Region 1): Approved
- Manchester (Region 7 to Region 6): Denied
Updated GHSA regions (2026-2028)
Class 7A
- Region 1: Camden County, Colquitt County, Lowndes, Richmond Hill, Valdosta
- Region 2: Carrollton, Douglas County, East Coweta, Northgate, Westlake
- Region 3: Campbell, Harrison, Hillgrove, Kennesaw Mountain, McEachern, North Atlanta, Pebblebrook
- Region 4: Archer, Grayson, Lakeside-Atlanta, Newton, Rockdale County, South Gwinnett
- Region 5: Cherokee, Etowah, Marietta, North Cobb, North Paulding, Paulding County, Walton, Wheeler
- Region 6: Alliance Academy*, Denmark, Forsyth Central, Innovation Academy*, Lambert, North Forsyth, South Forsyth, West Forsyth
- Region 7: Berkmar, Brookwood, Duluth, Norcross, North Gwinnett, Parkview, Peachtree Ridge
- Region 8: Buford, Central Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Dacula, Discovery, Mill Creek, Seckinger
Class 6A
- Region 1: Bradwell Institute, Brunswick, Effingham County, Glynn Academy, Greenbrier, Grovetown, Lakeside-Evans, South Effingham
- Region 2: Coffee, Houston County, Lee County, Northside-Warner Robins, Thomas County Central, Tift County, Veterans
- Region 3: Creekside, Hughes, Lovejoy, McIntosh, Morrow, Newnan, Northside-Columbus, Tri-Cities, Woodward Academy
- Region 4: Alcovy, Chamblee, Decatur, Dunwoody, Heritage-Conyers, Meadowcreek, Midtown, Shiloh
- Region 5: Alexander, Chapel Hill, East Paulding, Hiram, New Manchester, Osborne, South Cobb, South Paulding
- Region 6: Creekview, Kell, Lassiter, Pope, River Ridge, Rome, Sequoyah, Woodstock
- Region 7: Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lanier, Milton, Riverwood, Roswell
- Region 8: Apalachee, Cedar Shoals, Clarke Central, Gainesville, Habersham Central, Jackson County, Loganville, Mountain View, Walnut Grove
Class 5A
- Region 1: Benedictine, Evans, Groves, Jenkins, Richmond Academy, Statesboro, Ware County, Wayne County
- Region 2: Eagle’s Landing, Jones County, Locust Grove, Ola, Perry, Union Grove, Warner Robins
- Region 3: Central-Carrollton, Griffin, Harris County, LaGrange, Lithia Springs, Starr’s Mill, Whitewater
- Region 4: Arabia Mountain, Drew, Dutchtown, Eastside, Forest Park, Jonesboro, M.L. King, Mundy’s Mill, Stockbridge
- Region 5: Banneker, Cross Keys, Druid Hills, Jackson-Atlanta, Lithonia, Mays, Northview, Southwest DeKalb, Tucker
- Region 6: Blessed Trinity, Cambridge, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Marist, Sprayberry. St. Pius
- Region 7: Allatoona, Cartersville, Cass, Cedartown, Dalton, Villa Rica, Woodland-Cartersville
- Region 8: East Forsyth, Flowery Branch, Jefferson, Johnson-Gainesville, Madison County, North Oconee, Winder-Barrow
Class 4A
- Region 1: Bainbridge, Cairo, Columbus, Dougherty, Hardaway, Monroe, Shaw, Spencer, Westover
- Region 2: Baldwin, Howard, Mary Persons, Peach County, Spalding, Troup, Upson-Lee, Westside-Macon
- Region 3: Harlem, Liberty County, Long County, New Hampstead, Southeast Bulloch, West Laurens, Windsor Forest
- Region 4: Fayette County, Hampton, Luella, McDonough, Mount Zion-Jonesboro, North Clayton, Riverdale, Sandy Creek, Woodland-Stockbridge
- Region 5: Clarkston, Douglass, Greater Atlanta Christian, North Springs, Pace Academy, Salem, Stephenson, Stone Mountain, Westminster
- Region 6: Chestatee, Dawson County, Gilmer, North Hall, Pickens, White County
- Region 7: Adairsville, Calhoun, Heritage-Ringgold, Northwest Whitfield, Ridgeland, Southeast Whitfield
- Region 8: Cherokee Bluff, East Hall, East Jackson, Hoschton*, Monroe Area, Oconee County, West Hall
Class 3A
- Region 1: Carver-Columbus, Cook, Crisp County, Jordan, Kendrick, Sumter County, Worth County
- Region 2: Callaway, Central-Macon, Jackson, Lamar County, Northeast, Pike County, Rutland, Southwest
- Region 3: Appling County, Beach, Brantley County, Islands, Johnson-Savannah, Pierce County, Tattnall County, Toombs County
- Region 4: Burke County, Butler, Cross Creek, Hephzibah, Thomson, Washington County, Westside-Augusta
- Region 5: Haralson County, Holy Innocents’, KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, Lovett, North Cobb Christian, Temple, Therrell, Wesleyan
- Region 6: Carver-Atlanta, Cedar Grove, Columbia, Hapeville Charter, McNair, Miller Grove, Redan, South Atlanta, Towers
- Region 7: Coahulla Creek, LaFayette, Murray County, North Murray, Ringgold, Rockmart, Sonoraville, Union County
- Region 8: Barrow*, Elbert County, Franklin County, Hart County, Hebron Christian, Lumpkin County, Morgan County, Stephens County
Class 2A
- Region 1: Bacon County, Berrien, Brooks County, Fitzgerald, Jeff Davis, Thomasville
- Region 2: ACE Charter, Bleckley County, Dodge County, Dublin, East Laurens, Swainsboro, Vidalia
- Region 3: Bryan County, Calvary Day, Metter, Savannah, Savannah Arts Academy*, Savannah Christian, Screven County, St. Vincent’s Academy*, Woodville-Tompkins*
- Region 4: Aquinas, Davidson Fine Arts*, Glenn Hills, Jasper County, Jefferson County, Johnson-Augusta, Josey, Laney, Putnam County, Social Circle, Technical Career Magnet*
- Region 5: Ben Franklin Academy*, Coretta Scott King Academy*, Drew Charter*, Eagle’s Landing Christian, Greenforest Christian*, Landmark Christian, Paideia*, Southwest Atlanta Christian*, Stilwell Arts*, Trinity Christian, Utopian Academy, W.D. Mohammed*, Washington, Whitefield Academy
- Region 6: Armuchee, Bremen, Coosa, Darlington, Heard County, Model, Mount Zion-Carroll, Pepperell
- Region 7: Chattooga, Christian Heritage, Dade County, Dalton Academy*, Fannin County, Gordon Central, Gordon Lee, Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe
- Region 8: Athens Academy, Banks County, Commerce, Oglethorpe County, Prince Avenue Christian, Providence Christian, Rabun County
- Region 9: Atlanta International*, DeKalb School of the Arts*, Fellowship Christian, Galloway*, King’s Ridge Christian, Mount Vernon, Mount Bethel Christian, Mount Paran Christian. Mount Pisgah Christian, St. Francis, THRIVE Christian*, Walker, Weber*
Class A
- Region 1: Baconton, Baker County*, Calhoun County, Early County, Miller County, Pataula Charter, Pelham, Quitman County*, Randolph-Clay, Seminole County, Southwest Georgia STEM, Spring Creek*, Stewart County*, Terrell County
- Region 2: Atkinson County, Charlton County, Clinch County, Echols County*, Irwin County, Lanier County, Mitchell County
- Region 3: Claxton, Emanuel County Institute, McIntosh County Academy, Montgomery County, Portal, Savannah Classical*, Savannah Early College*, Steam Academy*
- Region 4: Dooly County, Hawkinsville, Telfair County, Turner County, Treutlen, Wheeler County, Wilcox County
- Region 5: Georgia School for Innovation*, Glascock County, GMC Prep, Hancock Central, Jenkins County, Johnson County, Twiggs County, Wilkinson County
- Region 6: Central-Talbotton, Chattahoochee County, Crawford County, Furlow Charter*, Macon County, Marion County, Rainey-McCullers*, Schley County, Taylor County, Webster County
- Region 7: Atlanta Classical*, B.E.S.T. Academy, Bowdon, Elite Scholars Academy*, Greenville, Manchester, Northwest Classical Academy*, Trion
- Region 8: Greene County, Lake Oconee Academy, Lincoln County, Taliaferro County*, Towns County, Warren County, Washington-Wilkes, Woody Gap*
*Schools marked with an asterisk will not be playing varsity football.
About the Author
Jack Leo is a sports writer and reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jack worked for the AJC throughout his four years studying journalism and sports media at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. He's now focused on telling stories in the grassroots: bringing comprehensive coverage of high school sports for AJC Varsity.
