ARN article 'Anticipating Realignment' ...

[wyliegrad04]

(might have already been posted ...)


Anticipating realignment
UIL changes not announced until Feb. 1, but speculation is already underway

By Garner Roberts
Special to the Reporter-News
Friday, November 23, 2007

The high school football season may be winding down, but the talk about who will play whom next year after UIL realignment is just heating up.

Coaches say they expect Abilene, Cooper and Wylie high schools will stay in the same classification. But they believe Brownwood High School will drop down.

The University Interscholastic League, which governs extracurricular competition in Texas public schools, groups high schools into classifications and districts every two years based on enrollment and location. Classifications apply to athletic and academic competition.

Schools are classified from 1A, the smallest, to 5A, the largest.

The realignment for the 2008-09 through 2009-10 school years will be announced Feb. 1.

Until then, it will be a popular topic of speculation and conversation for administrators, coaches, students, parents and fans across the state.

"It's always a day of anticipation," said Hugh Sandifer, Wylie's director of athletics and head football coach.

"Some schools are waiting to find out whether they will move up or down, and some are just waiting to see who they will play in district for the next two years," Sandifer said.

He said realignment makes for great conversation.

"Some coaches will tell you they think they have it figured out, but it's probably best just to wait and see," he said.

Wylie

Each high school in Texas was required to report its enrollment as of Oct. 26 to the UIL, which verifies the numbers with the Texas Education Agency.

At Wylie, Superintendent Don Harrison said the school reported an enrollment of 956, up from 916 in 2005, when the UIL maximum for Class 3A was 949.

"If the number goes up at all, we feel like we'll stay in 3A," he said.

"The new schools that are being added in 5A will help us because they start realignment in 5A and work their way down," he explained.

Brownwood

According to figures from Brownwood High School Principal Bill Faircloth, the Lions appear to be headed down to Class 3A from Class 4A.

The school's enrollment report for 2007 is 901, down about 9 percent from 971 in 2005. The enrollment range for schools in Class 4A in 2006-08 is 950-1,984, up from 900-1,924 in 2004-06.

Cooper

Cooper High School Principal Gail Gregg said his campus reported 2,048 students, up from 1,989.5 reported on Oct. 28, 2005.

Cooper's enrollment in 2005 narrowly placed it above the Class 5A minimum enrollment of 1,985 set by the UIL for the 2006-08 biennium, making it likely the smallest school currently competing in Class 5A.

The minimum enrollment for 2008-10 is expected to increase (it was 1,925 for 2004-06) when the announcement is made Feb. 1, but Gregg and CHS football coach Mike Spradlin think Cooper's gain of 59.5 students will keep the school in Class 5A. (The minimum enrollment increased by 60 students in Class 5A, 50 in Class 4A, 25 in Class 3A, and 5 in Class 2A from 2004-06 to 2006-08.)

"We'll still be small," Gregg said, "but we should be well inside the numbers. We don't have control of where we are. Our goal is to compete and get better wherever we are. This is a prestigious district (District 3-5A, often called "The Little Southwest Conference" in reference to the forerunner of the Big 12 Conference). You have to play every week. There are no off weeks. We'll be content to play in this district."

Gregg said the two Midland high schools have enrollments of about 3,000 students each, and the two Odessa high schools have enrollments of about 4,000 students each, making the two Abilene high schools the smallest in District 3-5A.

"We're fine where we are," said Spradlin, who recently led the Cougars to their first playoff appearance since 2003. "We are where we want to be. We can compete and play at this level. We spent too much time worrying about the other."

Abilene High

Abilene High reported an enrollment of 2,404 students in 2007, down about 3 percent from its enrollment of 2,478 in 2005, according to Principal Terry Bull.

AHS football coach Steve Warren predicted "nothing will change" for District 3-5A in 2008, but he was disappointed that a recent proposal for a new formula for UIL realignment was postponed until at least 2010.

That proposal called for 16 districts of schools with the largest enrollments in Division I and 16 districts of schools with smaller enrollments in Division II in each of the five classifications (for football only). That plan is similar to the current practice of dividing qualifiers by enrollment into Divisions I and II after the regular season ends for playoff games, but the new plan would have separated the schools into two groups before the season started.

New formula

At its meeting Oct. 21-22 in Austin, the UIL Legislative Council decided to delay implementation of the new alignment proposal for at least two years. When the new alignments are announced Feb. 1, the UIL staff is expected to provide a mock-up of how alignment might appear under the new split class plan and also survey superintendents.

"I was disappointed that didn't happen," said Warren, who coached the Eagles to their ninth consecutive playoff appearance in 2007. "It would have benefited us at Abilene High School. I think they will revisit it. I think it's the right thing to do."

Like Warren, Sandifer and Spradlin also seem to like the new split class proposal.

"It's a legitimate proposal," Spradlin said. "It has some merit and will continue to be studied and looked at. There is a pretty large disparity now between the top of 5A and the bottom of 5A."

Sandifer, a former president of the Texas High School Coaches Association, has attended meetings in Austin where the proposal was discussed.

"It looked like a pretty good plan with a lot of merit," he said. "It was also presented at coaching school last summer, and the feedback was good.

"I really thought that it would come into play this year," he continued. "I was really surprised that it didn't go into effect. But they will continue to study it and get some more feedback."

Sandifer noted that six-man football already uses the split class concept, and it makes for more equitable competition in the district.

"It's interesting to see how the demographics and population change across the state," said Sandifer, who coached the Bulldogs to the Class 3A Division I state title in 2004 and runner-up in 2000. "The new schools in the (Dallas-Fort Worth) Metroplex, San Antonio and Houston are huge. We don't see that much growth out here. It's hard for us to fathom."

Sandifer said travel for schools in West Texas likely would increase for district games if the new split class proposal is adopted.

"Travel is always an issue in West Texas," he added.

Realignment factors

Dr. Charles Breithaupt, UIL director of athletics, said realignment is intended to reduce disparity in enrollment without adding excessive travel.

There currently are 245 schools in Class 5A, and UIL guidelines call for a minimum of 220 and maximum of 245 schools for 5A in 2008-10. At the same time they report enrollment, schools may also request to be elevated one class (Gregg said Cooper did not request to be elevated to 5A if it was placed in 4A for 2008-10), and schools may also appeal their realignment after it is announced.

UIL officials said they make "no attempt to perpetuate or avoid old rivalries" and that socioeconomic and ethnicity factors are not considered in realignment.

Breithaupt told coaches last summer the UIL will attempt to put more schools in Class 3A to eliminate four-team and five-team districts.

"We're going to try to do everything we can to have at least six schools in a district," he said.

In the current biennium, Class 3A is the smallest with 179 schools. There are 230 in 4A, 236 in 2A, and 623 in A (355 basketball only, 150 for 11-man football and 118 for six-man football).

ENROLLMENT

High school

Abilene

October 2005: 2,478

October 2007: 2,404

Brownwood

October 2005: 971

October 2007: 901

Cooper

October 2005: 1,989.5

October 2007: 2,048

Wylie

October 2005: 916

October 2007: 956

[Adidas410s]

yet again...Wylie turns in a number bigger than the previous 3A/4A cutoff. Too bad they'll stay down!!!

[charlesrixey]

brownwood in 3A?

wow

what great matchups that could create!

i would fly down from VA to watch celina play brownwood

[garciap77]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
yet again...Wylie turns in a number bigger than the previous 3A/4A cutoff. Too bad they'll stay down!!!

The will continue to play 4A to prepare!


Wyile 36 Frenship 7






Wylie 21 Brownwood 28






Wylie 61 Big Spring 14

[garciap77]

Originally posted by charlesrixey
brownwood in 3A?

wow

what great matchups that could create!

i would fly down from VA to watch celina play brownwood

That would be a heck of a game!

[Emerson1]

Thanks for that showing of ugly uniforms.

[thewyliefan]

i know right.....big spring needs some more color in theirs

[garciap77]

Originally posted by Emerson1
Thanks for that showing of ugly uniforms.

-Proud 3A Downlow Record Holder for Most Threads that Were So Bad They Had to be Completely Removed from the Public Forum-

Are you trying for the most posts now?

[alaskacat]

on a bit of a downside..that would send carter to 4A...talk about raise havoc there..

[NDFootball]

Originally posted by Emerson1
Thanks for that showing of ugly uniforms.

????

[michaelp23]

I wish Wylie would spring for some more modern unifroms. The white road jerseys with the purple pants have never been my favorite.

[garciap77]

Originally posted by michaelp23
I wish Wylie would spring for some more modern unifroms. The white road jerseys with the purple pants have never been my favorite.

What would you suggest?

[thewyliefan]

i dont think gold jerseys or pants would look very good. so i hope he's not suggesting that