High school athletic subdivisions, specifically districts, are created by the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which re-evaluates its districts every two years. Rankings are based on student populations and re-evaluations are conducted to pair schools with similar populations together within their districts.
There are six classifications of sports districts, ranging from 1A at the smallest to 6A for the largest schools. LASA is currently a 5A school. Other schools included in LASA’s district include Crockett, McCallum, Navarro, Bastrop, Elgin, Liberty Hill, Pflugerville, and Pflugerville Connally.
Vincent Cruz, the current Defensive Coordinator for the LASA football program, is working with his players to prepare for next season. He plans to employ different strategies to deal with the more competitive schools introduced into their district after realignment, and he believes that playing these teams will make LASA’s football program stronger.
“We [will] have a new Head Coach and a new offensive scheme… we will definitely look and play differently,” Cruz said. “I think it will make us grow, the season we have set for the next two years is a tough one, and it will make us a better football team.”
Football is not the only sport affected by the district re-evaluation. Genesis Flores, a LASA sophomore on the JV girls basketball team, expressed concerns about how the realignment will make it more difficult to progress next year.
“Cedar Creek is really good, and a lot of the teams we play will be bigger than us next year,” Flores said. “We’re getting pushed harder, you know, [our coach] is pushing us really hard. For tryouts, she decided to make us run suicides with medicine balls.”
According to Flores, one challenge that the girls basketball team faces is the fewer number of players compared to other 5A teams. Flores attributes this to LASA’s unique athletic credit requirements.
“Other schools have required PE and more athletics classes … they have at least an hour and a half extra when it comes to practice,” Flores said. “In athletics [at LASA], there’s not enough people joining sports.”
According to the updated UIL districts, the LASA soccer teams will also be affected by the district reshuffle. Varsity girls soccer coach Chloe Cardinale still feels confident about next season after this year’s season success.
“It was awesome,” Cardinale said. “It was the best season we’ve ever had since I’ve been coaching. And that includes all the time I spent coaching soccer at LBJ.”
The changing sports districts for the 2024-25 sports season will pit soccer teams against different schools, which Cardinale expects to be a unique challenge for the girls soccer teams. However, Cardinale believes that the district reshuffle will be beneficial to athletes.
“LASA has a very uneven district right now,” Cardinale said. “It’s either really hard games or not very competitive games, which doesn’t do us any favors. So to have the consistency of mostly competitive games throughout the regular season, I think it will definitely help us go further in the playoffs.”
LASA’s athletics program is open to students of all different skill levels, and a half-to-one physical education credit can be obtained through playing a sport. More information is available on the AISD LASA athletics website.
