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 405 member high schools as of 2023. It enforces policies 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; 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 eight geographical zones, Calgary and Edmonton as urban zones, complemented by six rural zones.

District zones

The eight geographic zones of the ASAA are:

Regional associations

Within these geographic zones, the policies set forth by the ASAA are administered by the regional associations: undefinedCalgary has two associations; the Calgary Independent Schools Athletic Association is in charge of all private and chartered schools. undefinedEdmonton Metro handles 15 school boards (Public, Catholic, Francophone, and Independent) from Edmonton and the surrounding area. Edmonton Public Schools formed its own regional association until 2013. undefinedRocky View Sports Association controls cities, townships, and hamlets schools outside the city of Calgary.

Structure

In order to provide a competitive balance, member schools are placed into classifications for all major sports based on the schools' enrollments. Divisions and the tier classification systems are not equivalent. Exact sizes are:

Divisions

Football Tiers

Team Handball Tiers

Rugby Tiers

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:

Sports

Thirty-three provincial championships are held annually for 11 ASAA sports: Cheerleading was removed as a sport in June 2024. Results from all sports:

Titles

Cheerleading

The first ASAA sponsored provincial cheerleading championship was awarded in 1984. Cheerleading was removed as a Sport in June 2024.

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.

Team Handball

The first ASAA sponsored provincial Senior Varsity Team handball championship was awarded in April 2010.

Volleyball

The first ASAA sponsored provincial Senior Varsity volleyball championship was awarded in 1964.