Realignment produces little change for Valley schools

EDINBURG - When REM wrote the song “Shiny, Happy People” the rock band could have had Friday’s cattle call-like gathering of Rio Grande Valley football coaches at the Region One Center in Edinburg in mind. When the University Interscholastic League’s biennial district realignment was unveiled in the Starr Meeting Room, everyone in attendance seemed quite pleased with the result.

Mission High is staying in Class 4A, and with the exception of the addition of new school La Joya-Palmview to District 30-5A, the area’s three Class 5A districts remained the same. Each of those districts now house eight schools.

Speculation entering the realignment was that Mission High was a candidate to move up to 5A, creating the possibility of a nine-team Valley 5A district.

“We’re happy. We’re definitely happy,” Mission CISD Athletic Director Joe Sanchez said. “I thought maybe the 5As might have been different there with the Weslaco and Donna area, but it all stayed the same.”

Weslaco High stayed in District 32-5A and Donna remained a member of 30-5A. In fact, the only real hint of change came in 3A where Raymondville and Lyford returned to District 32-3A after two years in 31-3A. One surprise in 32-3A is the addition of Zapata, that school’s first appearance in the Valley-heavy district.

Even the Harlingen schools remained in District 31-5A for another two years. Harlingen High and Harlingen South have bounced between lower Valley and upper Valley districts in the past few realignments, and Harlingen High even spent two years as part of a Corpus Christi district. The Cardinals and Hawks will enjoy an extended stay in 31-5A with the Edinburg and PSJA schools.

“I’m not one to speculate. I was under the impression it was going to stay the same,” Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez said. “We’re going to play hard wherever we’re at. It’s going to be real competitive, no doubt. Any Friday night that we play any of these schools it’s a playoff game. We’re going to strap it on and have some fun, no doubt, in the 31-5A district.”

Another coach who is happy to stay put is Los Fresnos’ Scott Ford. His Falcons remain in District 32-5A with the five Brownsville schools, San Benito and Weslaco.

“I’m real happy with it because we keep the exact same district for us, everything’s balanced and obviously everybody knows each other pretty well so we have some familiarity there as far as game-planning and personnel and playing everybody on the lower levels, so I’m real pleased with it,” Ford said. “I think it’s fair for everybody, three eight-team (Class 5A) districts. I have no complaints at all.”

Raymondville coach Alex Leal realized his hope of returning to the Valley’s District 32-3A after his school spent the past two years in 31-3A with trips to Falfurrias, Zapata and San Diego. The Bearkats, as well as Lyford and Zapata, are moving to 32-3A with Hidalgo, La Feria, Lyford, Port Isabel, Progreso and Rio Hondo.

Lyford, despite an enrollment figure of 435, remains in 3A, moving to 32-3A. Coach Jaime Infante on Thursday expressed hope his school would drop to 2A, and he was stationed in Corpus Christi preparing to finalize a 2A schedule there.

Todd Mavreles covers District 31-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451.