Fort Worth YMLA drops football for 2018 season
Just three weeks after being placed in Class 6A during the UIL realignment, Fort Worth Young Men's Leadership Academy has decided to drop football for the 2018 season.
The fate of head coach Joseph Heath and his staff is uncertain. Efforts are being made for comment from Fort Worth ISD.
"All the statements we proved this year were for nothing," senior quarterback Draylon Roberson said.
After a 1-9 season in 2016, YMLA went 4-7 and made the Class 5A playoffs in 2017.
"So dropping football is heartbreaking, we all worked hard all year," Roberson added.
On Feb. 1, the UIL placed Trimble Tech and YMLA — schools without attendance zones — in 6A with Fort Worth Paschal, North Crowley, Arlington, Martin, Lamar, Bowie and Sam Houston.
Sam Houston has an enrollment of 3,651 students, followed by Martin (3,456), Lamar (2,852), Arlington (2,777), Bowie (2,728), Paschal (2,559), North Crowley (2,475) and Trimble Tech (1,699).
The same thing happened to YMLA — which has 177 students — in the 2016 UIL realignment, but the Wildcats then were moved to all-FWISD District 7-5A.
On Tuesday at a hearing in Round Rock, the UIL District Assignment Appeals Committee denied the Fort Worth school district request.
"The timing on this decision is going to make it extremely tough to fill our schedule," Bowie coach Danny DeArman said.
This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Fort Worth YMLA drops football for 2018 season."