Possible Realignment Talk

From yourfriendswoodnews.com's Ted Dunham:

How many bubbles are there in a bar of soap?

You'd have an easier time answering that question than trying to determine where Dawson and Friendswood will land in Class 4A realignment prior to Thursday's 9 a.m. unveiling of the University Interscholastic League's biennial reclassification.

"All I know is that our district won't stay the same," Eagle head coach Eric Wells said. "The Fort Bend schools have to go somewhere, and they have to go together.

"That puts a wrinkle in it when you say that Manvel's going up and La Marque's going down."

Steve Van Meter, athletic director of the Friendswood Independent School District, anticipates a drastic change.

"I'd like to see them just leave us alone, but I really don't see any way out of 9-team districts," Van Meter said.

Wells and Van Meter agree - if two 9-team districts are involved - how they'd like to see them split.

One 9-team district would feature Friendswood, Dawson and Santa Fe, the three Fort Bend schools (Willowridge, Marshall and Ridge Point) and the three Spring Branch ISD schools (Houston Stratford, Houston Spring Woods and Houston Northbrook).

The other 9-team district would feature four Lamar Consolidated ISD schools (Terry, Foster, Lamar Consolidated and George Ranch) along with Angleton, Brazosport, Bay City, Galveston Ball and Texas City.

"Looking at the map," Wells said. "The Fort Bend and Spring Branch schools should end up together. They have to cross each other to get somewhere else.

"But who knows? Proximity is what I like. To me, it makes sense to put us, Friendswood and Santa Fe with the Fort Bend and Spring Branch districts."

Dawson basketball coach Mark Barre doesn't have a preference on how the realignment unfolds.

"We've looked at several scenarios involving 18 schools," Barre said. "To me, it's all about the same as far as basketball goes.

"It'll be competitive any way you put it together. The travel would be a little bit more to the Lamar Consolidated schools, but not anything significant...not like two hours. I'm more curious than anything else."

Van Meter, Friendswood's outgoing football coach, said he hadn't really evaluated the situation from the standpoint of sports other than football.

"Football-wise, it would probably be more advantageous to us being with the Fort Bend and Spring Branch schools," he said. "Ridge Point and Stratford are solid teams.

"In baseball and volleyball, I think it would be advantageous to be in those school districts, also. If we're in with the Lamar Consolidated schools, they're very competitive in baseball, volleyball and basketball."

Friendswood has already scheduled Alvin in Week Zero of the football season, which leaves the Mustangs with one date to fill if 9-team districts are formed.

Wells said Dawson may be looking at a completely different non-district schedule, as Clear Springs and Conroe Oak Ridge have opted out of playing the Eagles this fall.

"Say what you want about what's going to happen, but this (District 24-4A) gets you ready as it is for the playoffs," Wells said. "We'll find out soon enough what's going to happen."