The definition of what a 5A school is, has changed. 5A no longer means huge schools like Allen, Plano and McKinney Boyd. Instead, those schools are now in 6A, while the Leopards will move from 4A to 5A. It’s the result of the UIL’s reclassification that has most schools in the state moving up in class so

The majority of teams that will be 5A were previously 4A schools.

Even though this is a change, most coaches on campus don’t think the move to 5A will have a very big impact on their teams.

“Overall I don’t think that moving up a classification will be a huge difference,” head basketball coach Kyle Herrema said. “We have been playing a lot of 5A competition over the last 3 years and so that won’t be a huge adjustment.”

The competition will change, but for basketball, it may not be tougher.

“In truth there are some 3A districts that are stronger than some 5A districts, and there are plenty of 4A districts that are stronger than some 5A districts,” Herrema said. “Just depends on who you get aligned with from year to year. That being said, we have always had high expectations and always expect to be good each year.”

There are many things that could come out of this new classification for the boys basketball program.

“I think the biggest change is that it will bring in a different pool of schools that we haven’t played in the past and might bring about some new rivalries based on location,” Herrema said.

Not only will this not affect basketball, but baseball as well. But like the affect this change will have on the basketball team, it will minimally affect head coach Russell Reichenbach and the baseball team.

“It really won’t have much of an effect on us,” Reichenbach said. “We approach every game the same way: to win. So whether we are playing bigger schools or smaller schools, the only thing we can control is how we play. Whatever class we are in, we will play the game as hard as we can.”

Reichenbach believes that the level of competition will be similar to previous years.

“Our competition should be about the same,” Reichenbach said. “Most teams that are in 4A with us right now, are moving to 5A with us next year. We could see a few more competitive teams throughout the year, because some of the smaller 5As this year could still be in 5A next year. We are in a pretty competitive district already, and I don’t expect that to change next year.”

While all sports on campus are important, 5A can seem the scariest when talking about football. However, head coach Matt Green isn’t concerned.

“Moving into class 5A is not necessarily a big change for the Leopards in my opinion,” Green said. “One change is that there will be some schools dropping down from the highest classification to join us in the new 5A (an example would be McKinney High School). Overall though, I don’t see much difference. I think the competition will be tougher because there are some larger schools that will move down into our classification, but I don’t think it will be unbearable.”

The Red Ledger’s Haley Deschenes interviews students and faculty about their opinions on next year’s change to 5A.