FHSAA tees up football postseason for independent teams
GAINESVILLE - Windermere High football coach Riki Smith said his team will kick off its spring practices next week with excitement in the air.
The Wolverines went 10-0 in each of the past two seasons as the top dog in the Orange County Public School's experimental independent division. But postseason play was not available because Windermere did not sign up to compete in the Florida High School Athletic Association's football state championship series.
That scenario has changed with the FHSAA moving to create its own Independent League, built to cater to the growing number of teams like Windermere that opted out of the classification system, which mandates district games and is largely dominated by powerhouse programs.
In a Monday meeting, the association's board of directors were briefed on the Independent concept. FHSAA executive director Craig Damon joined two Central Florida coaches in saying the second-tier Independent format is a big step in the right direction - and the avenue that has prompted many teams to return to the FHSAA this year.
"It's an honor to have the opportunity (for postseason play)," Smith said on the phone Monday. "It's awesome. The kids are excited. They’ve worked really hard."
It is expected that at least 14 other Orlando area teams will bring their football program back into the FHSAA fold as independents. The exact number will be known after a June 1 declaration deadline. The details will be finalized for a final draft that goes to a vote of the 13-member board of directors in their June 9 meeting.
That is the same timeline for another major playoff addition - the creation of Open Division playoffs for the state's highest-ranked teams in major sports, including football. That was also a discussion item on Monday.
Damon told the board his staff will be holding more coaches advisory committee meetings after spring sports conclude their playoffs and those discussions will be considered. One factor to be determined is how many sports will have Open Divisions. It's a certainty, Damon said, for football, girls volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball.
Almost all of the schools that pulled their teams out moved to the Sunshine State Athletic Association, which was created in 2008 as the Sunshine State Athletic Conference with a promise to provide parity for private schools that lacked the depth of talent to compete against the top teams in their classifications. Over the years, the SSAA added public schools of all sizes. These schools also struggled to field football teams that could match up competitively with programs that had more talent, size and strength. In some cases, there were also two or three times as many players on roster.
"We joined the (SSAA) in 2020 because we could play teams like us," said Lake Highland Prep head coach Ben Bullock, who spoke at Monday's meeting. "Football is a sport where there is a safety factor. We were able to play teams with similar roster sizes."
Other sports have not been mentioned in the building of the Independent League. Damon said it is tailored for football because of the safety factor.
The SSAA used a rankings index to pair teams with similar ratings for playoffs. The FHSAA will do the same for its Independent League.
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Damon said MaxPreps rankings will be used to select and seed playoff participants. School size and travel considerations will be viewed as "secondary factors."
Damon said he foresees at least 85 Independent League schools this year. The league will have two or three divisions with a goal of at least 40 teams in each. The target is advancing 40% of the teams in each division into the playoffs. There will be North and South regions to reduce travel, likely with eight teams in each bracket. The North and South winners will meet in finals scheduled for Dec. 3-5 at the Villages Charter School stadium.
Those details also will be included in the final draft that goes to a vote of the 13-member board of directors in their June 9 meeting.
Damon has made it clear that Independent League division winners will not be labeled as state champions. But Bullock and others have said that, as in the SSAA, teams that hoist trophies will be more than satisfied as tournament winners.
"Having something to play for, that is important," Bullock said. "The Independent Division is a place where we can continue to grow our program."
Smith, entering his fourth season as Windermere's head coach, said adding the playoff goal is a game-changer. Windermere competed in a district in its first seven seasons (2017-23), but never came close to playoff contention with records of 0-10, 2-7, 1-9, 2-7, 2-8, 2-8, 3-7.
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Five other Orange County public schools have also jumped into the FHSAA independent pool after two years in the OCPS second division: Lake Buena Vista (4-6 in 2025), Innovation (8-2), Oak Ridge (4-6), Colonial (2-8), University (2-8) and Cypress Creek (0-10). All of those teams had fewer lopsided losses after breaking away from the playoff-eligible OCPS teams: Apopka, Boone, Dr. Phillips, Edgewater, Horizon, Jones, Ocoee, Olympia, West Orange and Winter Park
Freedom, which went 3-7 last season with lopsided district losses to Boone 63-0, Winter Park 63-8 and Timber Creek 37-6, also opted for the FHSAA Independent League.
The new path also brought a number of Orlando area private schools back into the FHSAA football fold.
Teams that are expected to choose the FHSAA Independent Playoffs after playing recent seasons in the Sunshine State Athletic Conference include: Central Florida Christian Academy, Geneva School, Foundation Academy, Lake Highland Prep, Mount Dora Christian, Orangewood Christian, The Master's Academy, Trinity Prep and Windermere Prep.
Those teams, like many others across the state, stayed in the FHSAA system for other sports but moved to SSAA status for football in large part because that organization offered postseason play and more competitive balance.
Jason Smith, coach at All Saints of Winter Haven, served as the SSAA's director of operations for five years. But he, too, is signed on for the Independent League.
"Small schools don't all play small and not all big schools play big," Smith said of the FHSAA plan to use MaxPreps rankings, not school enrollment counts, to determine its Independent playoff pairings. "I've had conversations with fellow coaches and ADs from our former association (SSAA) asking what it truly means to return now to the FHSAA and why. My answer has been simple: it provides new opportunities that independent schools in FHSAA were missing. A path to a postseason, and the chance and format to compete against comparable programs."
FHSAA classifications have historically been determined by school enrollment numbers, grades 9-12, with larger schools populating the higher classifications. Enrollment remains the factor the FHSAA uses to classify teams for all of its state championship sports.
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Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 4:06 PM.