Mansfield joins Arlington schools; Abilene in with Keller schools

For the first time in seven years, Mansfield returns to the Arlington district, and Abilene will compete in a Metroplex district.

Monday’s UIL realignment announcement, watched by area coaches at Birdville’s Fine Arts Athletic Complex, sent athletic directors and campus coordinators scrambling to complete schedules and plan district games.

Abilene joins the Keller ISD schools — Keller, Fossil Ridge, Central and Timber Creek — as well as Haltom and Weatherford in District 3-6A. The Eagles were last in the Metroplex during the 2009 season, the same year they won a state championship.

“Their burden of travel is going to be there no matter what. No matter if we send them toward the Metroplex or we keep them where they’re at,” said Susan Elza, the UIL Director of Athletics. “West Texas is losing 6A schools a little bit more each year, with Lubbock dropping Coronado and Monterey and Amarillo High dropping. We’ve got to disperse that travel without it just being in that one district. With Abilene being in proximity to the Metroplex, we thought it was a good fit.”

The UIL, which organizes all the major extra-curricular activities for the state’s approximately 1,500 public and charter schools, conducts a biennial realignment of competition districts in football and basketball to account for population shifts and the opening of new schools.

Mansfield returns to Arlington competition after its first state semifinal appearance in 2015. The Tigers leave 8-6A with powers Cedar Hill and DeSoto and move to 4-6A with Arlington schools Martin, Bowie, Sam Houston and Lamar, as well as Fort Worth Paschal and North Crowley.

“We’ve been with Arlington before. I think the biggest surprise is that I haven’t played against North Crowley or Fort Worth Paschal before, but it’ll be fun, change is good,” Mansfield coach Jeff Hulme said. “It’s going to be fun. Great coaches, great athletes; it’ll be a heck of a district.”

“Mansfield is coming off the best year they’ve ever had,” Martin coach Bob Wager said. “They’re a solid athletic program across the board so it’ll be a great rivalry game in all sports.”

Also in 6A, Southlake Carroll, Euless Trinity and Hurst L.D. Bell remain in the same district, and are joined by Trophy Club Nelson and Lewisville schools Lewisville, Flower Mound, Hebron and Marcus in a new 5-6A this fall.

In 5A, the new 9-5A — Cleburne, Crowley, Everman, Granbury, Joshua, Burleson and Burleson Centennial — is the current 8-5A, with the addition of Arlington Seguin and the departure of Aledo.

Seguin coach Carlos Lynn was surprised because the Cougars had been paired with Mansfield 5A schools since 2008.

“I never thought we wouldn’t be in a district with the four Mansfield schools,” Lynn said. “Timberview has the same zip code. I didn’t see that coming at all.”

Mansfield 5As Timberview, Legacy, Lake Ridge and Summit, join Waxahachie, Red Oak and former 6A Midlothian in 10-5A. Summit, with an enrollment of 2,147, is the largest 5A school in the state.

“All those deals, what region you’re in, it doesn’t matter because we’re just trying to get to the playoffs,” Lynn added. “We get an opportunity, and no matter what district you’re in, you just hope to improve as a football team.”

Aledo, also a state-semifinalist last year, joins Azle, Saginaw, Saginaw Boswell, Saginaw Chisholm Trail, White Settlement Brewer, Justin Northwest (from 6A) and new varsity program Haslet Eaton, in 6-5A.

“Aledo coming in was kind of a surprise, but we’ve been in their district before,” Saginaw coach Mike Peters said. “I’m very ready. That anticipation of knowing who you’re going to be with is great, but now you can go into the off-season and prepare exactly for who you’re facing.”

In the Fort Worth ISD, Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Benbrook will also field new varsity teams.

Benbrook is in District 4-4A Division II for football, 7-4A for basketball. YMLA and the Fort Worth Women’s Leadership Academy were also listed in 4-6A (basketball only for YWLA), but Fort Worth ISD officials expect to file appeals to move them into 7-5A.

“Now comes the hard part: the athletic director has to find stadiums,” Fort Worth South Hills coach J.J. Resendez said. “Fort Worth ISD has 15 teams for three stadiums, finding home and away, and homecomings.”

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Mansfield joins Arlington schools; Abilene in with Keller schools."