This year’s district alignment is by far the biggest change Devine coaches can recall when it comes to our Basketball and Volleyball programs. The Football district will see one major change as well.
“We were thrown a big curve ball this year,” said Athletic Director Chad Quisenberry, who said the Basketball/Volleyball district is the most shocking realignment he’s seen in his 27 years in Devine.
“And it’s not over yet!” Quisenberry adds, “In fact I’ve been on the phone with UIL today about our Spring sports, because a lot of these new teams we are playing in Volleyball and Basketball, don’t even have Baseball or Softball teams. Only Devine and Somerset do. So they did assure us that we will be in a different district for those Spring sports.”
The Spring sports like Baseball/Softball/Track districts won’t be released until mid-March, so there are more alignments still to come. The district for Cross Country is still undecided as well.
Basketball/Volleyball
There will be five schools in our district for Basketball/Volleyball, most of which we’ve never or seldom ever played. They are: Devine ISD, San Antonio Brooks Academy, San Antonio Young Men’s and Women’s Leadership schools, San Antonio Fox Tech, and one familiar competitor–Somerset ISD.
Meanwhile, our more familiar district foes will remain together for the most part. In District 30 nearby, will be Carrizo, Crystal City, Hondo, Pearsall, and Uvalde.
“I think the reason we got moved out is that Uvalde went down from 5A to 4A, and they are closer to Hondo, so they put them together, along with the districts south of us,” Quisenberry said.
Could it get any more confusing? It looks like Devine sports teams will compete in at least four different districts this year.
“We are in several different districts for different sports and grade levels,” Quisenberry pointed out, “We are in one district for Volleyball/Basketball, a separate district for junior high teams (because some of the teams in our district don’t even have junior high teams), and another district for Spring sports like Baseball/Softball/Track/CC, and also a different district for Team Tennis.”
“But this is where UIL put us for Basketball and Volleyball, so we’ll go do the best we can and be the best we can be,” Quisenberry adds.
“We are meeting with these school next week to see if they have freshman and JV teams, and where they play games,” Quisenberry said.
2020-21 Basketball & Volleyball District Alignment
Conference 4A
District 29
Devine
San Antonio Brooks Academy
San Antonio Young Men’s Leadership+%
San Antonio Young Women’s Leadership#
San Antonio Fox Tech
Somerset
% Basketball Only
+ Boys Only
# Girls Only
Arabian Head Basketball Coach Jim Sessions was definitely caught off guard by the new alignment as well.
“You never know what to expect of the UIL alignments, but I was surprised to see we weren’t in a district with any of the teams we are familiar with,” Coach Sessions stated. “Some of these schools had a drop in enrollment, and some of them are new schools that have opened in the past couple years.”
In his 23 year of coaching, Sessions said he can’t even recall coming up against any of the 3 San Antonio schools in our new district, except a playoff or preseason game on the boy’s side.
“But it’s an opportunity to play some new teams and I think it’s a district we can be very competitive in. It’s always exciting to get the new alignment, and it is what it is. We stayed in District 29, so we will still come up against some familiar teams in Bi-District play.”
And of course, a pre-season match-up against the Hondo Owls is already in the works.
Head Arabian Volleyball Coach LeighAnne McIver stated, “I was a little shocked when I saw the realignment. It wasn’t what we thought was going to happen. We are still going to keep doing what we have always been doing here, no matter what district we are in. We are going to come in each day and work to get faster, stronger and better. Our goals will still be the same: district championship and a long run in the playoffs. We may have to face a couple of different situations that we haven’t seen in the last few years, but I’m sure the girls will be able to handle them and still be successful.”
Warhorse football welcomes Bandera to district
The Football district will stay relatively close to the same as last year, with one new change. We will welcome a tough Bandera into our district this year, while saying goodbye to Poteet.
“As far as Football goes, Bandera replaced Poteet this year, and what happened there is Poteet went down to 3A,” said Quisenberry.
Head Football Coach Paul Gomez commented, “Bandera had a very successful season last year during their district run beating Cuero and Llano. Adding Bandera will definitely make our district more competitive. Bandera has been in our district in the past, and they bring a great winning tradition with them…I think it will make our district stronger. We look forward to competing in this 15-4A Div 2 district ( Devine, Hondo, Bandera, Crystal City, Pearsall, Carrizo Springs) the next couple of years. Our district looks to be very competitive next year.”
Football
4A Division 2- District 15
Devine
Bandera
Carrizo Springs
Crystal City
Hondo
Pearsall