CYPRESS — Four years after Cypress-Fairbanks ISD high school athletic teams were split into separate districts for the first time in history, CFISD’s two leagues will remain unchanged as a result of the University Interscholastic League’s biennial Reclassification and Realignment on Feb. 3, 2022.
The UIL announced the 2022-2024 realignment for football, basketball and volleyball programs.
CFISD’s 12 high schools will again compete in District 16-6A and 17-6A.
Bridgeland, Cypress Falls, Cypress Lakes, Cypress Park, Cypress Ranch, Cypress Springs, Cypress Woods and Langham Creek high schools remain in District 16-6A for the second consecutive reclassification and realignment cycle.
“There weren’t any changes, and that is what we expected,” said Ronald Patton, Cypress Lakes head football coach and campus athletic coordinator. “This makes the next process a whole lot easier, when you’re talking about scheduling and other things. So, it’s a huge benefit when it stays the same from that standpoint.”
The remaining four CFISD schools remain in Region III and in 17-6A. Cy-Fair, Cypress Creek, Cypress Ridge and Jersey Village high schools remain with the four Spring Branch ISD schools (Memorial, Northbrook, Spring Woods and Stratford) for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years.
“Because our district stayed the exact same, we don’t have to redo the district minutes and policies. They’ll stay consistent,” said Greg McCaig, Cypress Creek High School head football coach and campus athletic coordinator. “We can go back and tweak them, but with schools we already know we won’t have to arrange for new things. It just makes it so much easier.”
The opening of Cypress Park (2016) and Bridgeland (2017) gave CFISD 12 high schools. As a result, the school district split into separate leagues for the first time during the 2018 reclassification and realignment.
Before the split, CFISD was its own self-contained league for a decade to coincide with Cypress Woods beginning varsity play in 2008. Before the campus opened, CFISD schools spent time aligned with Bryan and A&M Consolidated (2002-2004), Tomball and Magnolia (2004-2006) and Houston Strake Jesuit (2006-2008).
District 17-6A remains in the Houston-centric Region III and will again have its bi-district playoff opponents coming from Houston ISD schools Bellaire, Chavez, Heights, Lamar, Sam Houston, Westbury and Westside in 18-6A.
With 16-6A, postseason qualifiers will also see Houston-area schools in the bi-district round as District 15-6A includes Klein ISD’s Klein, Klein Cain, Klein Collins, Klein Forest and Klein Oak; Tomball ISD’s Tomball and Tomball Memorial; and Waller High School.
“UIL Reclassification and Realignment day is always an exciting time for all of our coaches in CFISD. This is the day that determines their ‘home’ for competition for the next two years,” said Ray Zepeda, CFISD director of athletics. “We feel very fortunate that we were minimally impacted this cycle. Spring Branch ISD has been a great partner to us over the past four years and we look forward to continuing to compete with them in District 17 in Region III.
“The last four years have seen our program have a great deal of success in many sports and activities and to retain the same competitive structure will hopefully allow us to continue to have that same type of success. The UIL has a challenging job in assigning all of its member schools in competitive districts. We appreciate its team and the way that it tries to be as equitable as possible to all concerned.”
For more information, visit www.uiltexas.org.