It’s official.  The UIL is creating a class 6A. This new class will not be a ‘super-conference’ featuring the state’s biggest high schools but instead will see the majority of current 5A teams becoming 6A. This change simply moves each class up with 6-man football being the new 1A.

The new classes will be officially revealed in November, after the UIL measures enrollment for the schools on Friday, October 25.

“It will be interesting to see how the UIL divides the large schools (6A),” athletic director Jim Bob Puckett said. “They have reported that they will take the largest 245 to make 6A.”

Scheduling alignments are to be revealed on February 23, 2014 with some schools facing a big adjustment as they may either go up in classification or drop down.

That’s the case here as the 2012 realignment saw the high school move from 3A to 4A.  But with the addition of 6A, the school could find itself in a new division.

“They [UIL] plan on expanding the 4A (old 3A) division, and there is a chance that Lovejoy could fall out of 5A and into 4A,” Puckett said.

For most sports on campus a class division adjustment won’t make much of a difference.

“I think we have been very competitive in 4A to this point, so I would have to believe we would continue to be  competitive in 5A,” head football coach Matt Green said. “If we were to be a 4A team next year, I know that would not guarantee us increased success because current 3A teams with high enrollments can compete in 4A just like we have.”

Soccer is in a bit of a different situation, though.  When the school was 3A, it would have to play against 4A teams as there was no 3A division for soccer. It was tough sledding, but the teams were able to make the playoffs and have success.

“I’d like to stay up,” girls soccer coach Jeff Kear said. “If we dropped a classification our lives would get easier and we would win a lot of games, but we wouldn’t get any better,”

For most coaches on campus, better competition is the best way to get better.

“It’s by playing the best competition you can get that you improve,” Kear said.  “If that means risking losing a few more games then that’s a risk I’ll take.”