Hello,

Welcome to the National High School BBQ Association and League. We are excited about your interest in joining our High School (and now Middle) School BBQ family of events, competitions, and Champions. The first step in getting started is officially setting up your Charter. Our Charter registration and fee structure is explained below. After setting up you Charter you will be able to set up your Schools and teams to select which events you would like to attend and compete in. Along the way if you have any questions feel free to reach out to our BBQ Principal and National Director, Chef Mike Erickson at anytime via email ( Principal@HSBBQ.org ) and  he will schedule a call or time. (Remember, Chef Mike is a fulltime CTE FCS teacher also and our organization was started and is run by teachers in the classroom still today.

If you are a school, county, parish, charter, or district acting as an Administrative Education Unit to manage your schools and BBQ teams (LEARN WHAT AN ADMINSTRIVE UNIT IS HERE), you will need to complete a Charter License Application and pay the Licensing Membership Fee.  You can add schools and teachers of record to the Administration Education Unit (AEU) based on the Tier you select for your BBQ teams.  NOTE: Middle School teams are included in the Charter Tiers. To add schools after you have created your Charter License  in our BBQ Dashboard log in to your account or use the subscribe button here.  The basic entry level Charter can host two teams and be both High School (HSBBQ) or both Middle School (MSBBQ) or one of each, a High School (HSBBQ) and a Middle School (MSBBQ) teams.

Please note if you are new High School BBQ team in a new State that has never competed or have a State HSBBQ Championship within our HSBBQ Leagues and  have less than 3 teams in your State your School and team will automatically be invited to represent your State at THE SLAB: National Championship to compete June 7-10, 2026 in Colony, Texas SCHEELS Grandscape, but you must select TIER 5 and must be an active member of the National High School BBQ Association as your Charter membership will automatically make you a member in your State HSBBQ Association.

School & District Verification

National Authority & Sanctioning Confirmation

The entity "organization", "National High School BBQ Association", "national youth BBQ education body"(NHSBBQA®) serves as the national educational sanctioning and governance body for its school-based barbecue, live fire cooking, and culinary education programs.

Schools, districts, and administrators may verify the following directly with NHSBBQA®:

• National governance and oversight

• State association charter status

• Eligibility for NHSBBQA® regional and national championships

• Alignment with education-first standards and safety expectations

Participation in other cooking programs, contests, CTSOs, or industry-sponsored initiatives does not constitute NHSBBQA® sanctioning unless expressly authorized in writing by NHSBBQA®.

This verification is provided to support district approval, compliance review, and educator confidence.

Clarity protects schools. Transparency builds trust. 

Now select your Educational Charter Tier for the National High School BBQ®, NHSBBQA®, and your State HSBBQ Association division affiliation and membership license.