The sports landscape is going to look a bit different for the Catholic high schools starting with the 2027-28 academic year.
The Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association announced its long-awaited divisional realignment on June 23, after nearly a year of work by its Competition Committee, which put the plan together. There will be two divisions in all team sports, with divisional assignments based on performance over the past two and four seasons. Enrollment is also a factor. Currently, sports that compete in two divisions — boys and girls soccer, field hockey, cross country, spring track, and wrestling — are separated based solely on enrollment.
The changes came after state Sen. Eric Buckson, a Kent County Republican, introduced legislation requiring the DIAA to re-evaluate how it operates its postseason events. Buckson originally sponsored a bill that would have separated public and private schools for championship play, but he pulled that proposal in favor of the new structure.
In a statement, the DIAA said the new divisional alignments — which will affect boys and girls volleyball, field hockey, boys and girls soccer, basketball, boys and girls volleyball, boys and girls lacrosse, baseball and softball — represent a step forward in providing equitable and meaningful competition for students.
“This represents an important milestone in DIAA’s ongoing efforts to ensure our championship structures best serve Delaware’s student-athletes and member schools, said David L. Baylor, executive director of the DIAA and a Saint Mark’s graduate.
The plan not only restructures which schools play at each level, it also standardizes the criteria for determining the postseason participants. Currently, each sport has its own formula.
Under the new plan, schools could be in Division I in a number of sports and Division II in others. For example, St. Elizabeth will be in Division I for both boys and girls basketball, programs that have been quite successful over the years. But the Vikings will compete in Division II in every other sport the school sponsors.
Only Salesianum will be in one division for every sport. The Sals will be in Division I. Padua will be in Division I for every sport except girls lacrosse. Archmere, Saint Mark’s and Ursuline — all current members of Division II — will see some in each division.
Archmere will compete in Division I in the following sports: field hockey, girls volleyball, boys and girls basketball, baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, and girls soccer. Saint Mark’s has been placed in Division I for field hockey, boys and girls soccer, girls volleyball, boys basketball, baseball, boys lacrosse, and softball. At Ursuline, the Raiders will be Division I in field hockey, volleyball, basketball, and soccer.
For the sports that already have two divisions, the new alignment will put perennial challengers together. In field hockey, Division I powerhouses Cape Henlopen and Smyrna will be facing Delmar and Wilmington Friends. Division II boys soccer contenders Saint Mark’s and Sussex Academy will be in the same division as Salesianum, although the Spartans’ regular-season schedule already features several of the bigger programs, including Sallies.
The state tournaments in each sport will be expanded, with an equal number of teams playing in each division’s postseason tournament. Up to six bids in each sport will be awarded to conference winners from Blue Hen Flight A and B, Henlopen North and South, Diamond State and Independent. In some sports, all of those bids could go to teams in Division I.
Schools in Division I in any sport that believe their teams should have been placed in Division II will be able to appeal to the DIAA. Their appeals will be heard this fall by a three-person committee in hearings open to the public. The committee has indicated that teams who want to move from Division II to Division I will be able to do so.
The Competition Committee will continue to meet. Plans for sports that rely on individual results to determine team scores — cross country and track, swimming, wrestling, tennis and golf — will be addressed for the next two-year cycle.
