THOMASVILLE – The new regions are nearly set for Thomasville, Thomas County Central and Cairo. Thomasville is in Region 1A-D1, Central is in Region 2-5A and Cairo is in Region 1-3A. The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) must ratify the new regions and will do so after Thanksgiving.

The area schools already knew what regions they would be aligned in for the 2024-2026 school years. They just didn’t know exactly what schools would be included … until now.

The GHSA Reclassification Committee heard appeals from schools to move laterally within classifications on Thursday. One move impacting Thomasville’s region involved Dodge County. It was granted an appeal to move to Region 2A-D1, leaving Thomasville’s region with seven schools; Bacon County, Berrien, Brantley County, Fitzgerald, Jeff Davis, Thomasville and Worth County.

Brantley County requested to move to Region 3A-D1 but was denied.

“One of the two-hour trips is gone. There’s still three for us in the region with Jeff Davis, Brantley and Bacon. But none of those are extremely difficult to get to,” Thomasville athletic director Jeremy Rayburn said. “Jeff Davis is probably the most difficult. It’s not more than two and a half hours. Each sport will make that trip at least once a year, but that’ll be okay, too.”

Region 2-5A will include Coffee, Houston County, Lee County, Northside-Warner Robins, Thomas County Central and Veterans.

Region 1-3A will include Bainbridge, Cairo, Dougherty, Monroe, Peach County and Westover. Cairo athletic director Sam Holland thought multiple Columbus schools might join his team’s region, but they were aligned in Region 1-2A. The addition of Peach County bolsters the region, says Holland.

“That’s a heck of a pickup for our region. Traditionally, they are a powerhouse in everything,” Holland said. “It’s going to add a lot of excitement to the region.”