The North Coast Section (NCS) is a part of the California Interscholastic Federation, governing the eastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, up along the northern coast of the state of California, from Fremont in the south to Crescent City in the north. It also governs the private schools in the city of Oakland. Due to this split in regions, the section is split in two for some championships, including football.

Governance

The section is governed by a board of managers, whose voting members include representatives from member leagues, superintendents, school board associations and private schools. There are 155 full member schools, assigned to leagues or conferences according to NCS Alignment and Classification Bylaws developed by the schools. In addition, currently 20 schools have affiliated with the league to play as independents without the benefit of a league to guarantee opponents.

Conference and League Structure

Competition is broken down into a system of conferences and leagues which seek to organize schools first by size/competitiveness, and then by geographic proximity.

Playoff Structure

The section employs 5 different classes, 4A****, 3A****, 2A****, A, and B. Depending on the sport, the "classes" may be represented by Divisions: I, II, III, IV, V, & VI, with DI being the largest schools, and DVI being the smallest. Some sports, including football, split the 3A and 2A sections into East Bay, for most of the Section's Bay Area schools, and Redwood Empire, for schools from Marin County north to the Oregon border. The section has championships in badminton, baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling.