Austin, Wisdom in for a big change
Foremost among the many tweaks is Class 5A split
Robin Kirk’s Houston Austin team turned in its best season in his three years at the helm and was just six points away from what has been an elusive playoff win for the program.
Thursday’s University Interscholastic League realignment promptly rewarded him with what is now known as District 9-5A in Division I.
Austin and fellow Houston ISD school Wisdom share a district with Goose Creek Memorial in Baytown, Galena Park, Kingwood Park in Humble, New Caney, Porter and a giant in Port Arthur Memorial.
The Mustangs are used to staying close to home and playing at Barnett or Delmar on an all-HISD schedule. They’ll play in a district far different from their HISD counterparts.
“We want to be in the playoffs,” Kirk said. “We’re going to get to play in a playoff game almost every week. Our kids are up to that challenge.”
Such is the randomness that is district realignment.
Together no longer
It’s a little extra wacky this year in Houston with nearly every district going through some sort of change.
Class 6A is highlighted by the split of 12 football-playing Cypress-Fairbanks ISD high schools — seven are in Region II and share a district with Bryan and Tomball Memorial. The other five stay in Region III with the Spring Branch ISD schools.
Katy ISD has a Class 5A school now in Paetow, which shares a football district with two Montgomery schools, Huntsville, Lamar Consolidated in Rosenberg, Cleveland, A&M Consolidated in College Station and Bryan Rudder.
The Conroe schools share a district with the Klein schools. La Marque is on the uptick in Class 4A now.
The real wrinkle is the split of Class 5A into two divisions before the postseason based on enrollment numbers — a custom now spread throughout every classification under the UIL except 6A. Usually teams are split into divisions once the playoffs start and that created districts with a wide variety of enrollment numbers.
UIL deputy director Jamey Harrison said there is a balance of pros and cons with the Class 5A split. The “competitive equity” is stronger. However, the travel increases — case in point Austin or Paetow.
The 5A split does produce what could be a tantalizing 105A football district in Division I that consists of Angleton, Shadow Creek, Hightower, Friendswood, Galveston Ball, Foster, Terry and Texas City. Each one of those teams made the playoffs last year, save for Shadow Creek, which is embarking on its first full varsity season this year.
It sparks the question — how far away is Texas from a Class 6A split, if at all?
“There have been more and more who have been talking about it,” Harrison said.
Harrison knows 6A superintendents in favor of a split, and he know some who are not. They ultimately drive the decision, and it’ll get serious if momentum carries the topic to a referendum ballot for the legislative council.
Harrison said the division before the 5A split was enacted could be put into two groups — the single-high school districts for it and the multi-high school districts against it.
A split could turn a marquee district rivalry game in November into a non-district contest that had to be rescheduled in August to keep up with tradition.
Should 6A split?
But again, there’s the travel for football and, in some cases, sports with midweek games.
It’s one reason why Katy football coach Gary Joseph gives a hard pass on it in 6A. He’s not alone.
“I rather stay with the way it is,” North Shore coach Jon Kay said. “I do think it’s inevitable with the way 5A is doing it now and talk in the past of going to a 7A and everything else. … But I prefer to keep it the way it is right now for travel purposes.”
Kay brings up a point about a uniform system when it comes to realignment. Should 6A split into divisions before the postseason simply because the other five classes have?
“At the end of the day, the rules that we have are driven by our schools,” Harrison said. “They tell us the rules they want. When the majority of the 6A superintendents tell us they want the split conference format, then they will get it.”