The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) is the governing body for high school activities throughout the state of Missouri. Approximately 580 high schools are members of MSHSAA. The MSHSAA conducts championship-level activities in 23 activities. At least 50 member high schools must sponsor a sport for an official championship series to be conducted. Sports such as boys volleyball, field hockey, girls lacrosse, boys softball, and water polo are considered "emerging sports" by MSHSAA, but an official postseason series does not exist with less than 50 schools involved in those activities. MSHSAA also administers sideline cheerleading and dance team activities. History In 1925, while 46 of the states in the US already had governing bodies to regulate interscholastic activities, Missouri did not. The first meeting was held on November 13, 1925, in St. Louis where a subsequent constitutional convention was scheduled for December 12, 1925. Carl Burris was the first secretary of MSHSAA, and the following men drafted the original constitution: W. T. Doherty, Cape Girardeau C. C. Conrad, Charleston Dr. H. S. Curtis, Jefferson City T. C. Reid, Warrensburg C. O. Williams, Jefferson City D. W. Hopkins, St. Joseph Uel W. Lampkin, Maryville J. D. Deaton, Butler H. N. McCall, Carterville Carl Burris, Clayton H. R. Shepherd, Kansas City Coach G. Henry, Columbia W. F. Byers, Carthage O. G. Sanford, Trenton The organization was formed in 1926 when the constitution was approved and adopted, and MSHSAA set its residence in Columbia. "By the close of the 1926-27 school year...472 schools [had] joined the association." MSHSAA's first focus was to ensure uniform eligibility requirements and "control abuses that were creeping into" Missouri athletics. In 1949, MSHSAA shifted its cause from solely athletics to include activities; the acronym stayed the same, but the name was officially changed. The organization continued to evolve, and in 1956, the board adopted a program that would aim to use high school activities to educate students in a more holistic way. Its first final was in boys' basketball, held that year at Washington University in St. Louis. MSHSAA removed the color barrier in 1952, allowing schools from the MNIAA (Missouri Negro Interscholastic Athletic Association) to join. In the late 1960s, the group unified football tournaments (previously only held locally) to form the Show-Me Bowl that exists today. School classification MSHSAA's member schools are organized into groups based on enrollment, with Class 1 being the smallest.