The Butterfly National Schools Team Finals will be expanded this season, with eight teams competing in each category.
The competition, which is held for boys and girls in the under-11, under-13, under-16 and under-19 age groups, has for years consisted of four schools in each category, playing on a round-robin basis to determine the final positions.
Starting this season, eight teams will qualify in each category and play in a progressive knockout format to determine a final ranking from first to eighth place. The top four teams based on the combined rankings will be seeded and the remaining teams will be drawn against them.
The qualification route is through the area finals – the national semi-final has been scrapped and the winner of each of the seven area finals will progress directly to the national finals, alongside the highest ranked runners-up from the area finals based on February’s rankings.
Both the winners and runners-up of each provincial round can advance to the area finals in all provinces.
The area finals will take place in January and February 2026, with the national finals on Sunday April 26, 2026.
The new format is part of a number of updated regulations for the 2025/26 season.
Click here to view the fully updated regulations.
Also new for this season, all schools that reach their area finals must sign up for free school membership. This is to be able to link them to the TT Leagues results platform. All players registered for the school team must also have at least a free Club Play membership so that their player profile can be linked to TT Leagues.
This follows a successful trial of the use of TT Leagues at the 2025 Butterfly National Schools Team Finals, with TT Leagues now being used at this season’s Area Finals.
Click here for more information about the Schools’ Competition Pathway, including how to contact your Schools County Secretary, who is the first point of contact for your local competitions.
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