The Herald-Zeitung

Smithson Valley and New Braunfels have a lot in common at this stage of the football season. Both teams are in the playoffs, having began the campaign by scrimmaging each other, and both seem destined for deep postseason runs.

Come February, however, it’s entirely possible they might have something else in common — the same competitive district.

As it does every two years, the University Interscholastic League will release its division and district realignments on the first Wednesday in February. Indications are that the Rangers will remain in Class 5A, and the Unicorns will rejoin the state’s highest division — perhaps in the same district as Smithson Valley — it exited after a four-year stint from 1996-2000.

There’s no chance Canyon will join those schools in 5A, as the Cougars submitted an average daily membership (ADM) that falls well into the 4A ranks. Coach Les Davis didn’t have the exact figures, but it’s estimated Canyon’s numbers won’t go much past the 1,651 figure it submitted two years ago. And, over at Canyon Lake, Matt Monzingo believes his Hawks will fit somewhere in either 3A or 2A — hopefully the latter. But that will depend on where the UIL draws the demarcation line on Feb. 6.

However, New Braunfels’ ADM number — estimated to be around 2,140 — certainly falls above the current 5A cut off of 1,985 students. Smithson Valley is expected to slightly exceed the 2,405 it gave the UIL a few years back and is in no danger (or has no hope) of returning to Class 4A, which it departed beginning in the 2002-03 school year.

Larry Hill and Chuck Caniford have much more pressing things on their minds right now, as both are preparing their teams for the area football playoffs. Both coaches accept the competitive challenge of playing in the same 5A district, however neither has any idea if that will happen.

For one reason or another, there are going to be at least five new 5A schools in the greater San Antonio area. Boerne will be one; there’s New Braunfels and South San (because of the closure of West Campus), which will join new high schools in the Northeast (Lady Bird Johnson) and Northside districts.

“There’s five more in the cast of characters, so it stands to reason that the districts won’t be the same,” Hill said. “There has been some talk that there might be a little loop league going, with Boerne, San Marcos, Seguin, us, the two Judsons and East Central, but someone (will have) to play with (the) Northeast (schools), too.”

Hill said the possibilities are endless. Will Smithson Valley wind up with the seven NEISD schools in one district, or could the Rangers join the Judson schools, Seguin, San Marcos, New Braunfels and Boerne in another?

“It’s the question of who goes in with the Northeast schools or who goes into a league by themselves,” Hill said. “Northside has nine with their new one opening up. I don’t know if it could go any other way.”

Hill said it’s all speculation at this point. He really doesn’t see any competitive advantages or disadvantages to playing either a “loop league” or with the Northeast schools. However, he admits the time and travel dollars saved competing in a league closer to home might work to Smithson Valley’s advantage.

“It depends on your viewpoint. For us, it would work out if we were in (an area league),” he said. “We’re all sort of out there, and we all are (in the) one-school, one-vote sort of thing when it comes to (district) meetings. There would be a lot of Friday games and not so many Thursday and Saturday games, sometimes even Wednesdays when it comes to volleyball. Things like that would be nice, but on the other hand, it would be a highly competitive district.

“There’s a lot of ways to look at it, and I really don’t have an opinion on it at this point.”

Over on The Hill, Caniford says he’s not worried at all — not by New Braunfels’ possible return to 5A nor by the competition or other issues it may present.

“We kind of knew (New Braunfels moving into 5A) would be coming,” he said. “We decided long ago not to worry about things that are out of our control.”

The Unicorns and Canyon are caught in the middle between Austin and San Antonio, which is the make-up of District 26-4A, which includes schools from both areas. But all could change, from there to here, resulting from changes spurred on from elsewhere. Caniford guesses that Del Valle turned in an ADM of 2,200, Pflugerville Connally’s numbers close to that and Cedar Park’s new school will number around 2,300.

That’s bound to have a domino effect somewhere, and it might well be here. After all, with all the new schools springing up here, there and all around — the Class 5A cut off number is sure to rise. Question is, by how much and how many schools will be involved?

“The growth in the state of Texas has been unbelievable,” Caniford said. “We’re expecting we’ll be in 5A, but crazier things have happened.

“But the most important thing to me is which district you wind up in. There are a lot of 5A districts I’d rather be in than the one we’re in right now.”

He’s right about that, as District 26-4A has competitively morphed into a smaller version of 26-5A. No one around here’s thinking a lot about this at this point — other than a few journalists whose minds work into overtime — it’s now all about the playoffs.

However, two and a half months from now everyone will be discussing it — and the ramifications that’ll come with it.