MISSOULA — Practices for the 2025 fall high school sports seasons begin this week.
The Montana High School Association set Friday, Aug. 15, as the first day athletes are eligible to practice for cross country, football, soccer and volleyball. Golfers are permitted to begin practice on Thursday, Aug. 14, and tee off in competition as early as Saturday, Aug. 16, while the other sports can stage their first competitions as early as Thursday, Aug. 28.
Class AA and A golfers play a short season in the fall (Class B and C golfers compete in the spring) with the state championships set for early October. The 2025 Class AA state golf tournament is scheduled for Oct. 2-3 at the Butte Country Club, and the Class A state meet is Oct. 3-4 at the Sidney Country Club.
The state soccer playoffs begin the week of Oct. 13 for Class A and on Tuesday, Oct. 21, for Class AA. All four championships (AA boys, AA girls, A boys, A girls) are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 31, or Saturday, Nov. 1.
The all-class state cross country meet is scheduled for Oct. 25 at the University of Montana Golf Course in Missoula.
The state football playoffs kick off Oct. 31 with the championships slated for Nov. 21 and 22. Playoff games, including the championships, will be played at the higher seed's home site. The Class AA title game is Friday, Nov. 21, and the other four championships (Class A, Class B, 8-Man and 6-Man) are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 22.
And all four state volleyball tournaments will run Nov. 12-14 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman. The tournaments will run Wednesday through Friday so as not to interfere with facility and parking needs for Montana State's football game versus UC Davis on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The MHSA sponsors 12 sports throughout the academic year, as well as other extracurricular activities like music, speech, drama and debate, and spirit.
