POULSBO — North Kitsap High School’s football team will likely join a new league next season.

The high school is not getting any smaller, but because of classification changes by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, North will likely be bumped down from the 3A to the 2A level, which includes schools with smaller enrollments like Kingston High and Klahowya.

The association is reconfiguring its sports classifications so that the 1B and 2B divisions — which encompass the smallest high schools — each have 62 schools, the 1A division will have 65 schools, and the 2A, 3A and 4A divisions will each include 66 schools. In this process, schools have the option to voluntarily move up into a higher division. Enough small schools have opted to move up into divisions with larger schools, pushing North Kitsap down into the smaller 2A division.

The shift will not change the regular season schedules of most sports teams at the school. Basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball and fastpitch teams at North compete in the combined 2A/3A Olympic League and will continue to do so.

The football schedule will likely change. Currently the Viking football team plays in the 3A Olympic Western League. Four teams in that league are in the Olympia/Lacey area, while three come from Kitsap and one is on the Olympic Peninsula. If North Kitsap becomes a 2A school, there is a chance Port Angeles, Bremerton and Olympic high schools would join. If that happens, North Kitsap Head Football Coach Steve Frease said a new football league could form with the other 2A schools on the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas.

“If other schools in our area are 2A in size, it would make an eight-team league, and it would be a pretty competitive,” Frease said.

Starting quarterback Alex Nettleton, a junior this year, also would welcome the change.

“I have confidence in our team, being in the 2A league,” he said. “I think we’ll have a lot better chance next year. We lost a lot of talent and a lot of size. Next year, I think it’ll be more competitive”

The Vikings finished 4-5 this season.

Bremerton and Olympic high schools’ enrollment numbers, about 1,100 students, may keep them in the 3A class when the association finalizes its classification numbers Jan. 4. North has about 1,044 students, according to the WIAA, and would be one of the larger 2A schools.

For Bremerton and Olympic to fall into the 2A class, they would need to be pushed down by smaller schools opting to move up into larger classifications.

North Kitsap has the option to move up into the 3A class, but Athletic Director John Waller said the school will stay in the 2A class if that is indeed where it ends up.

“We want to stay where the numbers put us,” Waller said. “It allows us a different level of competition. We feel we can compete strongly at the 2A. Our hopes are that everyone (Bremerton, Olympic and Port Angeles) goes down to 2A so we can maintain the integrity of the league.”

Most other sports teams at North would continue to face the same opponents in the regular season after the change. Only postseason matchups would be different. Still, some at North have their reservations about the shift.

“From a coach’s standpoint, I would rather the kids play 3A,” Head Boys Basketball Coach Tony Chisholm said. “But from a numbers standpoint, we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. I don’t think it’s going to be a bad league at all.”

Head Girls Soccer Coach Dee Taylor said the quality of playoff teams in the 2A class is similar to those at the 3A level.

“There’s high quality soccer in all the different divisions,” he said. “Once you get into the state playoffs, there are 2A teams as good as 3A teams.”

Some relatively small schools have given larger programs a run for their money recently. The 2A North Mason High School boys basketball team shared the Olympic League title last year with 3A schools North Kitsap and Port Angeles. Last week, they knocked off 4A Central Kitsap, before losing this week to a new 2A powerhouse, Kingston High.

“The competition at every level is always there,” North Kitsap soccer player Delanee Nilles said.

Frease agreed, saying, “If you’ve watched 2As at all in the last little bit, there’s some pretty good schools in that classification.”

Aside from the quality of 2A competition, one concern is that athletes at smaller schools are not given the level of recognition athletes at larger schools receive. For students who play club sports in the offseason, this is not necessarily an issue.

“You get the most recognition from colleges in club ball,” Nilles said. “It’s kind of up to you as far as how much recognition you’re going to get.”

But for football players, who do not have strong club leagues in the area, getting recognized can be a challenge at a smaller school.

“It’ll be a lot harder to get noticed.” Nettleton said. “College scouts are going to look at a starting 6A quarterback rather than a starting 2A quarterback.”