We were expecting a change, but is that what we got? Every two years, The UIL district realignment occurs. The UIL realignment arranges teams within the district and places some schools into new divisions and new districts as well depending on school enrollment numbers. From 2022-2024, our teams have gone against some of the best athletic schools in Texas including Westlake, Lake Travis, and Dripping Springs. Every year, our school competes in District 26, going against the best schools as they play to win 4th place.
Originally, District 26 included Austin High School, Anderson High School, Bowie High School, Lake Travis High School, Westlake High School, Johnson High School, Del Valle High School, Dripping Springs High School, and our school.This year hopes within Akins High School began to rise as many thought they’d be placed into a new division. The countdown towards February 1st began with the new year.
This change would not only affect the student-athletes, but it would also affect the coaches as they now prepare for less competition within the district and more non-district games. Each coach will now have to make adjustments in order to prepare for each school, however, they won’t have to change a lot. While the district originally consisted of seven schools, now Akins will face only seven opponents as Johson was moved to a separate district, and Anderson dropped to a 5A school.
The Eagle’s Eye interviewed different coaches before the realignment was published, and athletes on their thoughts about the realignment.
Coach Joey Saxe 
EE: What are your thoughts on the realignment?
JS: “A very exciting time, don’t know who you are getting but we must be prepared for whoever we face. It also sets the schedule for the next 2 years.”
EE: How do you think it will affect the future of Akins Football?
JS: “It aligns opportunities for the kid’s home/away games. It impacts how many district games you have depending on who you are getting.”
EE: Who are some new opponents you would like to face? What are some opponents we currently face that you would like to see drawn into another district?
JS: “Anytime you lose one of the lakes or springs, it’s a good time *laughs*. I prefer to have a smaller district such as San Marcos and Manor.”
EE: Do you think the realignment will be a good or bad thing for Akins Football?
JS: “Always a good thing you know football is fun, especially for the kids. It would be ideal to be placed in a smaller district which would mean fewer district games.”
EE: How do you think this will affect the players?
JS: “Mentally, we can and will face anyone in front of us. Juniors and above, these teams will be the ones they play until graduation.”
Coach Erica Routt 
EE: What are your thoughts on the realignment?
ER: “My thoughts are that we should be going against schools with our exact or close number of enrollment which makes it fair to us and who we are going against.”
EE: How do you think it will affect the future of Akins Girls basketball?
ER: “I believe that it will affect us positively and change our mindset in the sense that if we can put in the extra effort and know we can keep it close with the other schools, then we know we can win.”
EE: Who are some new opponents you would like to face? What are some opponents we currently face that you would like to see drawn into another district?
ER: “I’m looking for Westlake and Lake Travis to be placed into another district. A school that I would like to play is San Marcos.”
EE: Do you think the realignment will be a good or bad thing for Akins Girls Basketball?
ER: “I believe it will be a good thing because if we can keep games close with Lake Travis and Westlake, I know we will be competitive with whoever we place. In our last game, we missed 19 free throws so we must learn.”
EE: How do you think this will affect the players?
ER: “I think this will change our mindset going forward knowing that we can and we will be competitive with whoever we play.”
Coach Rashad Culver 
EE: What are your thoughts on the realignment?
RC: “Excited to see what the district will look like for the next 2 years and I’m looking for schools closer to Akins athletically.”
EE: How do you think it will affect the future of Akins Boys basketball?
RC: “I’m hoping for no negatives and also looking to develop my players into better players.”
EE: Who are some new opponents you would like to face? What are some opponents we currently face that you would like to see drawn into another district?
RC: “I would like to not face Westlake, Dripping Springs, and Lake Travis because of the travel.”
EE: Do you think the realignment will be a good or bad thing for Akins Boys Basketball?
RC: “Good thing in the sense teams added will be a good test for us and it will show what team we are.”
EE: How do you think this will affect the players?
RC: “It’s a positive thing because we are excited to face new teams and challenges. We can and will prove we can win against anyone.”
Junior Eloy Espresion
EE: What are you looking forward to next season now that there are 2 teams that are out of the district?
EE: “Mostly just looking forward to being able to compete more without like Anderson and Johnson on district. There’s gonna be less competition which is bringing a lot of fun to our team.”
EE: How is the team feeling about a bye week in the middle of the season?
EE: “I know that it will give us a lot more time to prepare because this year, and the year before our bye weeks around the end of the season. So we had to go back to back. No, no time to prepare. It was just rough.”
EE: Do you think there’s going to be better opportunities for the seniors next year because of the change in district?
EE: “Most definitely, because there’s gonna be less competition and even though we still have Travis and Westlake. We have four non-district games and I feel like it’s gonna be fun because they’re similar teams to our skill.”
EE: Do you think having more non-district games will help boost the team’s morale? If so, please explain.
EE: “I definitely think it would boost our morale because we would have a higher chance of winning and we’d be able to, if, as planned we’d be able to break the school record for wins.”
Junior Jamarion Carter
EE: What are you looking forward to next season now that there are 2 teams that are out of the district?
JC: “I’m definitely looking forward to play Travis and definitely looking forward to that Del Valle rematch. Yeah, that’s definitely going to be lit, we’re trying to give our best because last season, that game we definitely should have won. We definitely should have won it. Yeah.”
EE: How is the team feeling about a bye week in the middle of the season?
JC: “Well, I can’t speak for the team, but I can definitely speak for myself. And I think that it’s a good thing. It’s a breather, and like not having a bye week at the end of the season is good because, midway, we’re not going to be exhausted. So having that little week break and not being able to play a team is definitely going to be able to prepare and like, get us ready for our next games and halfway through the season.”
EE: Do you think there’s going to be better opportunities for the seniors next year because of the change in district?
JC: “I think there’s always opportunities waiting for like our seniors next year to get better to develop. I think that in the district change there’s opportunities to do better because, to be honest, I don’t think that the people that we’re playing are as skilled as their seniors that are going to be there next year.”
EE: Do you think having more non-district games will help boost the team’s morale? If so, please explain.
JC: “I think that it should because I think we’re a lot better than the teams that were playing. And then once we, if we win those games, then that will boost our morale and make it to where we’ll be able to go out there and perform. Not be nervous for the actual district games that we’re gonna be playing.”
EE: Do you think there’s going to be more confidence going into district playing against non-district teams?
JC: “Yeah, I do.”
JP Lopez contributed to this story
Art Courtesy of Akins Athletics
