UIL's Realignment Mystery To Be Revealed Friday

When the University Interscholastic League announces the 2008-2010 realignment Friday morning, Canton High School Athletic Director Lance Angel knows his program will be somewhere in Class 3A.

Which other schools will be in Class 3A — and the ones that will be Canton’s district mates for the next two years — is another story.

Angel said there is much speculation as to where the maximum student enrollment number for Class 3A will fall.

"I’ve heard rumors this year of 3A being just over 1,000 students, but then another rumor the other day was that the number was going to drop," Angel said Tuesday morning.

"You never can tell how it will wind up, but if they (UIL) do raise the number, it would greatly affect Class 3A in East Texas. You could see Henderson and some similar-sized schools come down to 3A and that will change things up."

In the last realignment in 2006, the Class 3A top enrollment number was 949.

Football coaches will often talk to those at other schools to arrange game agreements before the realignment announcement is made. Angel said that is done to minimize the number of non-district games a coach must try to find once the new districts are revealed.

"You have to do that, at least talk and get people into the schedule. You just can’t sign a contract until after the realignment is announced," he said.

And if you need to speak to a football coach about something, Friday won’t be a good day for it.

"Most coaches already have what they believe will be their schedule, but it will be a mad scramble Friday to make sure," Angel said. "We try to plan non-district games with schools not currently in our district, but if you move into another district it will be a scramble Friday to fill some spots."

However, Angel and other high school athletic directors in Texas know nothing is certain until 9 a.m. Friday.

"It’s hard to predict what they will do and everybody is a little nervous about Friday. If our district is the same, that will be fine, but if they move us, we will accept that and go on with what needs to be done," Angel said.