Navarro
Blount did not mince words when the*Gazette*talked to him Monday afternoon about the realignment.
“It’s tough on us being in that district,” Blount said. “I think it’s going to hurt us this year and the effects of it will be long term.
“It’s hard to find games for your junior highs and sub-varsity teams.”
Wimberley is the one holdover from Navarro’s previous district, while Manor Tech, Austin Eastside Memorial, Austin Achieve and SA Young Men’s Leadership were added to the new district.
“Manor said they would have a JV, but that’s it,” Blount said. “Eastside is not going to have a JV, freshman or junior high and Achieve Academy and SA Young Men’s Leadership is going to be the same way.
“So we’re going to be scrambling to find games for our sub-varsities and having to send them every which way — and a bunch of 4A schools are going to be dealing with the same issue we are.”
That the UIL put those four schools all in the same district, rather than splitting them up, creates an issue for a large part of the district season.
“It’s hard enough when you’re trying to find them for one game or so,” Blount said. “But to look during everybody’s district play for a minimum of three games — it’s going to be hard to do.”
Blount wasn’t sure exactly why the UIL chose to group the four schools together, but said it probably came down to location.
“I guess just looking geographically that the UIL placed it like that,” he said. “I don’t think it was anything intentional, but those guys are kind of in the same area.”
Blount is also concerned with the level of competition that those schools can provide for the Panthers.
“That’s what prepared us for a good playoff run every year, to be battle tested and having to play hard every single week — that’s not going to be the case any more,” Blount said.
Blount had some idea that at least a couple of those schools would be in the new district, “but I did not think it would be all four of them,” he said.
“Manor Tech is coming up from 3A, it’s going to be Achieve Academy’s first year of playing football and it’s the same with SA Young Men’s — that’s three brand new schools.
“But the main concern that I have is for our younger kids on our sub-varsities, who are we going to schedule?” Blount said. “You aren’t going to be able to play 4A’s because they aren’t going to be looking for games.”
Blount was not sure what, if any, recourse the school might pursue with the UIL.
In non-football sports, the foes are more familiar, as the Panthers will play Gonzales, Pleasanton, La Vernia and Cuero.
I would assume the Wimberley and Navarro sub-varsities will play home-and-homes at a minimum.
Matt Stepp
@Matt_Stepp817
Wimberley and Geronimo Navarro are planning an appeal to the UIL on their placement in District 14-4A Division II #txhsfb
@dctf
https://twitter.com/Matt_Stepp817/st...746068994?s=20
I had heard this. Good.
The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have..... Vince Lombardi
Great news
There's not a solution. I think this is just sabre-rattling to let the UIL know that there's a big problem with this and that it had better not happen again with the 2022 realignment.
The UIL will tell both programs to grin and bear it for two years and promise that 2022 won't be a repeat.
What the UIL needs to do is spend the two years coming up with a fair, consistent policy on how to classify charter schools. That's a tough problem because you have charter schools like the ones in this district that don't even have subvarsity programs, but you also have charter schools like that one Deion Sanders started that exist solely for football.
Manor to Giddings, Smithville and La Grange not that far use to travel to those towns back when i lived in Austin when it was much easier to get around in that hectic traffic city but Navasota is a bit far but Hwy 290 lines most of them. Cuero and Gonzales back with Navarro and Wimberley. Eastside and SA Young Men's Leadership get to stay.
That will work better because in D13 two good teams stay home if left the way it is.
Or we could be an independent like Notre Dame and have our own TV contract...