MIDLAND, Texas — The UIL announced the newest classifications and district alignment for the 2024-2026 seasons for football, basketball and volleyball. Click here to view the full list of realignments.
There were a few key questions answered Thursday morning. First, the District 2-6a, which includes Midland High, Midland Legacy, Odessa High, Odessa Permian, San Angelo Central and Wolfforth Frenship, will stay exactly the same in all three sports. The familiar foes will still represent the "Little Southwest Conference."
Another move that jumped off the page impacted a number of local 4A teams. Midland Greenwood made the move to District 1-4A Division 2 and will now be in a league with a handful of area opponents.
"Obviously, we're very, very excited. I think for the people in the community, our players, our coaching staff, I think we all wanted to see some regional rivalries, especially in district play. That's what we got with Fort Stockton, Monahans, Snyder and Seminole," Greenwood head coach Bryan Hill said.
"You pull up the map and there's really only 10 schools in West Texas that are going to be 4A Division 2," Hill continued. "I think it was the natural split with five of them being more Panhandle teams and five of us out in the Permian Basin area, so I think we all kind of expected it, but you never know until 9 a.m. on realignment day,"
This means that fans of Ranger football will not have to spend as many long hours on the road over the next couple of seasons and Coach Hill is excited to see these changed reignite some historic clashes.
"I think it really is important," Hill said. "A lot of members of our community played at Greenwood and some of these rivalries are two, three, four decades old, and so to get back to a schedule where some of the player's parents played against some of these schools, I think it will be good for the community and make the Friday night games a little more special because there is more history with these opponents."
The Greenwood football team is entering a league with some regular season and postseason threats too. Monahans and Seminole, fellow newcomer to the district, made it a few rounds deep into the playoffs in 2023. Plus, Fort Stockton only lost two games all season.
Coach Hill is headed into year two as the head coach of Midland Greenwood. The Rangers finished the season 3-8 but made it to the playoffs.
"We know it's going to be a challenge," Hill said. "It's going to be tough every single week, but we like the team that we have coming back. Our coaching staff is really, really excited about it. I think the future of Greenwood football is really bright. We're definitely gonna have to come to play every single week."