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| SISD AD answers behind-the-scenes sports queries Wednesday, June 20, 2012 Mark K. Campbell Ever wonder about the uniforms and equipment Springtown ISD players use?
What about how the UIL decides realignment and how that affects SHS and SMS sports?
Or how Texas Football Magazine gets its information on the Porcupines. Let SISD athletic director Brad Turner tell you. How will 3A be different from 4A? I coached in 3A until 1996. I think the biggest difference will be in numbers, squad numbers. In 4A, most everybody had a JV, a sophomore, a freshman A, a freshman B and 40 or 50 on the varsity. Most people play one side of the ball.
I’ve watched some film on our 3A opponents. There’s a lot of 3A schools that don’t look like 3A schools; Kennedale looks like a 4A school. So there are exceptions. Facilities in 3A are not quite as fancy. We will play on more grass fields than we’ve played on. How does the UIL realignment process work? Every biennium – every two years – there’s a realignment. In October prior to the realignment, they take a “snapshot” [of enrollment] – often the first or second Thursday. The UIL determines what the day will be and we know what day it will be. It’s how many kids are enrolled in your school on that day, not how many are present or at school. It’s how many are enrolled. That’s what they base it off of. The actual process is as well-kept a secret as there is. I don’t know that anybody really knows how they do it. I know they have a certain number of schools they have to have in 5A. They start with 5A; they put all the schools in the state of Texas in order of enrollment from smallest to biggest. They take the top 145 schools and draw a line. Around there will be 5A. They have to have so many in each classification and each region to make districts. Everybody puts out their predictions and that’s exactly what they are: guesses. On realignment day, you can look at it on the UIL website. You can go to the regional educational service center. They usually have a coaches gathering at Birdville ISD. That’s good, because as soon as it comes up, you can start working on your non-district schedule. We knew we had a shot at being 3A, but there was no guarantee. So what you do is build a non-district schedule Zero Week through Week Five. If you’re in an eight-team district, you have seven district games and three non-district. If you’re in a six team district, you have five non. There’s even some five-team and seven-team districts. So, you build your non-district schedule for the worst-case scenario, the most non-district games. Then, when it comes out, you have to cancel. I had to add a scrimmage opponent. I had gotten rid of Decatur, thinking they would be in our district. They weren’t, but we ended up getting them as a game. It’s kind of first-come, first served. You’re lucky to have your non-district schedule made and it’s not messed up in any way; most of the time, that doesn’t happen. If district comes out and two are in your district, now you’re scrambling. District scheduling is usually done as quickly as possible. You have a meeting that first week. It’s usually ADs and head coaches. You draw numbers to get your district schedule set so you can get your home and away set so you can get your non-district schedule done. Contracts aren’t official until May. You get it tentative that first day. The longer you wait on non-district, you end up playing somebody you don’t want to play. It’s a very hectic and interesting few days. To read the rest of the article, subscribe or purchase a copy of The Springtown Epigraph. |