New Realignments May Have Fans Breaking Out the Maps
While most of the state was preparing for an ice storm Thursday, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) was announcing the high school athletic realignments statewide for the next two school years.
Here’s a recap: La Grange football
La Grange football
For the Leps, their new football district is mostly unchanged, except they said goodbye to Navasota (which moved up to 4A Division I) and welcomed Caldwell (which moved back up to 4A after two years down in 3A).
Here’s the entire new District 12-4A:
Caldwell
Cuero
Giddings
Gonzales
La Grange
Smithville
“You never know what’s going to happen (in realignment),” said La Grange head coach Matt Kates. “But this was the easiest solution for them.”
One big change for La Grange football, however, is that the entire district has shifted back to Region III from Region IV. So come playoff time, the Leps will line up against East Texas schools instead of South Texas foes. Teams from East Texas have historically been better than the ones from Region IV.
“When you are in a district with Gonzales and Cuero you figure you’d be in Region IV, but that’s not the case,” Kates said. “That was the biggest surprise of realignment day for us. We know there’s some unbelievable competition over there in Region III.”
Following the release of realignment information, Kates was able to finish out his nondistrict football schedule for the next two years.
Prior to district play in both the fall of 2022 and 2023 the Leps will face, and in this order:
Bellville
Columbus
La Vernia
Lago Vista
Splendora
“It’s a test every week, that’s what you want,” Kates said.
And then La Grange will face those five district foes in this order this fall:
Here vs. Smithville
Here vs. Caldwell
At Giddings
Here vs. Gonzalez
At Cuero
LG Volleyball and Basketball
For volleyball and basketball the next two years La Grange will be in District 22-4A which includes:
Austin Achieve
Caldwell
Giddings
La Grange
Manor New Tech
Smithville
Taylor
This new district drops Austin Eastside and Austin LBJ but adds Caldwell and Taylor.
Spring sports districts have not been finalized by the UIL yet, but they usually mirror the volleyball/basketball districts.
Flatonia & ‘Horns football
Realignment day really threw the Flatonia and Schulenburg football teams for a loop.
Those Fayette County 2As will be in the new District 13 which looks like this:
Flatonia
Hearne
Holland
Schulenburg
Thorndale
Thrall
Weimar
Gone are defending state champ Shiner and last year’s district runner-up Ganado, but in their place are a quartet of north central Texas foes in Hearne, Holland, Thorndale and Thrall, who all had winning records last year, and three of them won eight or more games.
“I thought we might go northeast but I didn’t think we’d go all the way to Hearne and Holland,” Schulenburg head coach Walt Brock said. “Our fans are going to be doing a lot of driving.”
Brock knows those northern towns well, his dad coached at Thorndale and that’s where Walt graduated from.
Brock’s non-district football schedule the next two years will include, in this order:
San Antonio Randolph
Rogers
Burton
Poth
“It’s a tough non-district that gets us ready for district,” Brock said. “Staying healthy will be the key because we had a brutal non-district last year and didn’t get healthy until the playoffs.”
Meanwhile, Flatonia’s nondistrict schedule the next two years shapes up like this:
Shiner St. Paul
Hallettsville
Nixon-Smiley
Falls City
More New Districts
Here’s a look at some other new districts for the next two years:
Volleyball
District 28-1A
Fayetteville
McDade
Prairie Lea
Round Top-Carmine
Waelder
District 27-2A
Flatonia
Ganado
Louise
Schulenburg
Shiner
Weimar
Basketball
District 29-1A
Buckholts
Calvert
Dime Box
Fayetteville
McDade
North Zulch
Richards
Round Top-Carmine
District 28-2A
Bloomington
Flatonia
Ganado
Louise
Schulenburg
Shiner
Weimar