UIL District realignments for 2022-2024 were announced last month and some area teams saw changes in the schools they compete with for football and basketball season. While for most teams that means adding a few more miles to game day trips, for Forsan and Stanton ISDs it meant possible safety issues for athletes and fans so both chose to appeal.
Forsan ISD Athletic Director Jason Phillips told KBest News that the new alignment for basketball had the Buffs listed in District 6 with Anthony, Ft. Hancock, McCamey, Midland Texas Leadership, and Wink. A one-way trip to Fort Hancock is over 4 hours long, and a one-way trip to Anthony is over 5 hours. Coach Phillips stated that asking athletes and fans to travel that far twice in a season is a safety issue, and would impact the academics of the students with the amount of travel time they would incur.
Although Anthony is listed in Forsan’s district for football, it’s easier to have only 1 trip to Anthony once in two years that landed on a Thursday or Friday, as opposed to two trips per season that land on a Tuesday or Friday.
Forsan appealed the decision and requested to move from District 6 to District 7, which would include the teams of Big Lake Reagan County, Christoval, Eldorado, Ozona, Sonora, Sterling City, and Water Valley. In order to have a successful appeal, they needed approval from all teams in District 6, and approval from all teams in District 7. Phillips told KBest News they had approval from all teams from District 7, but only received approval from 4 of the 5 teams needed from District 6. Ultimately they appealed the decision to the UIL and were approved to change districts.
Stanton ISD also appealed their alignment decision for basketball. Stanton ISD Athletic Director Cody Hogan told KBest News that they had been placed in District 3 with Brownfield, Denver City, Dimmitt, Friona, Lamesa, Littlefield, and Muleshoe which would cause their basketball teams to have 8 away games with drive times of 2 ½ hours or longer.
He stated that they decided to make an appeal on the alignment because he felt that it would be a safety issue for their students and families as well. They requested to move to District 4 with Alpine, Crane, Kermit, Odessa Compass Academy, Presidio, and Tornillo. Even though District 4 still had trips with similar drive times, Coach Hogan stated that the difference was having only 5 long drives in District 4, instead of 8 long drives in District 3. According to Coach Hogan, all teams in both District 3 and 4 approved his request and they had no issues changing districts for basketball.
Forsan and Stanton ISDs told KBest News that these district changes would only be applicable for basketball season at this time.
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