Applicants must be authorized representatives of New Hampshire secondary schools serving grades 9-12. Application does not guarantee placement in our final roster of competing schools. Competing teams are selected based upon a number of criteria designed to deliver a balance of teams that will make for an exciting season. All decisions are final, and are based upon the following:

1. RECENT PARTICIPATION. Schools not represented recently on Granite State Challenge will receive preference. Any school may apply to participate in a given year, however, in order to allow for the most diverse roster of schools possible, those having competed the prior year are generally deemed ineligible except under extenuating circumstances.
2. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION. All major areas of the state will be represented. Schools will be chosen in a manner that reflects this quest for geographic diversity.
3. ENROLLMENT. Schools of varying sizes will be represented. Every effort will be made to balance the roster with schools of various sizes and to pair schools of like size in the opening round of competition.
4. SCHOOL TYPE. Both public and private schools will be represented as evenly as possible. Given that private schools are in the minority they tend to receive slightly greater weight in the selection process.
5. COACHING STAFF. Only schools with a coach or coaches currently in place, or soon to be named will be considered. Selection of a coaching staff should be considered the first priority when submitting your application.
6. PROMPTNESS in returning the application form. Applications received after the deadline are placed on "stand-by" status. They will only receive consideration after all other criteria have been applied to on-time applicants, and usually only if there are openings in the roster.

Every year our call for applications is met with a rather large response and, regrettably, we cannot accept every school that applies. We encourage any school that might not be accepted this year to continue to apply for consideration in future years. Historically, interested applicant schools have been accepted to compete once every two to three years depending on the number of new applicants, however it is important to understand that out of fairness to all potential applicants this arrangement CANNOT be guaranteed regardless of your school’s past competition history and/or track record.