Newest UIL realignment, reclassification shakes up districts for several San Antonio-area schools

SAN ANTONIO – The new districts for Texas high school football, basketball and volleyball were released on Thursday morning by the University Interscholastic League (UIL) as part of a biennial tradition that takes changing enrollment into consideration for its member 6A-1A schools.

With the UIL’s latest classifications, divisions, regions and districts several San Antonio-area teams find themselves with a new path to get to AT&T Stadium — some more or less favorable.

“We think it’s a great day. We think this turned out as well as it could have. You just never know when you come to realignment, what to expect. But if you’re, if you’re hoping for the best case scenario for your program and your athletes, I think it happened today for us,” Ron Rittimann, athletic director and head football coach for Alamo Heights said.

Here’s a look at the biggest takeaways from the UIL realignment, as it pertains to the San Antonio-area’s football teams:

Class 6A, Region IV

Source UIL: (https://realignment.uiltexas.org)

Comal Canyon moves up from 5A to 6A, where they’ll join a District 29 group that features Buda Johnson, Cibolo Steele, Converse Judson, San Antonio East Central, San Marcos, and Scherz Clemens.

San Antonio Marshall moved from District 28 to District 27, while Northside Brandeis and Northside Clark remain in District 27.

Castroville Medina Valley is now in 6A from 5A and joins District 30, where they’ll compete with the Laredo schools along with Del Rio and Eagle Pass.

Conference 5A, Division I, Region IV

New Braunfels on the other hand has been bumped down from 6A to 5A, where the Unicorns will take on District 13 opponents the likes of Boerne Champion, Comal Pieper, Comal Smithson Valley, San Antonio MacArthur, San Antonio Wagner, Seguin, and Victoria East.

Also notable is that state-semifinalist Smithson Valley returns to Region IV.

Class 5A, Division I, Region IV

Northside John Jay has been knocked down to 5A from 6A. Jay will compete amongst District 14 with Eagle Pass Winn, Laredo Cigarroa, Laredo Martin, Laredo Nixon, San Antonio Southside, San Antonio Southwest, South San Antonio, and Southwest Legacy.

John Jay won’t be the 6A school everyone knows it to be, but the move could be seen as a more favorable landing spot.

Class 5A, Division II, Region IV

In District 13, San Antonio Alamo Heights is entered into a loaded district with powerhouse Boerne, Kerrville Tivy, San Antonio Veterans Memorial, San Antonio Harlandale, San Antonio McCollum, and Victoria West.

This means Alamo Heights will no longer face SAISD schools. The Mules went 9-0 in District 14-5A-II last year with a 12-1 overall record.

Class 4A, Division II, Region IV

San Antonio Memorial moved to Division II, out of 14-4A-D1 with San Antonio Kennedy.

These alignments are just the first step in the reclassification and realignment process. The landscape won’t yet be finalized until the appeals process is complete — which allows teams to appeal their district placements.