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Thursday, September 24, 1998
Split of Valley 5A schools praised by coaches,
students
By MADELINE BARO Associated Press Writer
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Juan Guerra has the weight of his
school on his shoulders.
He's the starting quarterback for Brownsville Pace High School,
which snapped a 26-game losing streak last year but hasn't won
since. The last time the school made it to the playoffs, Guerra
was in diapers.
Still, the 15-year-old, who says the cheering of his fellow
sophomores helped him through his first start last week, wants
to put an end to all the jokes.
"I have confidence in myself and I'll try to take my team
to the playoffs," he said. "I'm going to prove a point."
With the help of realigned school districts, he just might.
Until this school year, the 19 Class 5A schools in the Rio
Grande Valley were crammed into the biggest districts in Texas
- District 31 with 10 schools and District 32 with nine.
In February, the University Interscholastic League divided
the schools into three 5A districts with six schools each. One
school was reclassified as 4A.
Coaches and school leaders who fought for the redistricting
say the increase in the number of Valley teams that will make
the playoffs - nine, up from six - is good for everyone.
"It's going to have a very positive impact," said
Chipper Zamora, administrative assistant for UIL student activities
for the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District.
The redistricting also means fewer must-win games for Valley
teams. Because of the nine- and 10-team districts in the past,
many started the year with crucial district games. Now they have
the luxury, like other teams around the state, of warming up against
non-district competition.
Pace, for example, has five non-district games. McAllen Rowe,
3-0 so far this year, has tried scheduling tough non-district
opponents.
"You're not afraid to play these types of games because
it has no bearing on whether you make the playoffs or not,"
said Rowe coach Bucky Rodriguez. "It's not a do-or-die situation."
At Pace, which has started 0-3, coach Rene Medrano is using
the extra games to try kids out in different positions, giving
them a chance to prove themselves.
"You still want to win the ball game, but you can try
something different that might work or might not work," Medrano
said. "Being my first year here, it gives me an opportunity
to mix and match to see whether we can do this or that."
Rodriguez said the old two-district system led to a lot of
good teams being left out of the playoffs.
"The big cities are always guaranteed to advance at least
to the third round and possibly fourth round," he said. "When
we would see that teams with records not as good as ours were
in the playoffs that's what made it frustrating."
Valley school leaders had to work for years to get the system
changed. They were disappointed when the 1996 realignment did
nothing to change the district makeup.
Then Zamora and others launched a lobbying effort to get the
UIL to change its mind. At one point, they considered a lawsuit,
but that became moot when this year's realignment was announced.
Medrano said morale now is great at Pace because players feel
they have a real chance to make it to at least one round of postseason
play. It also has given him a chance to put younger players such
as Guerra in key positions.
"Without a doubt, that would have been a bad situation
with two districts," Medrano said of his decision to start
a sophomore at quarterback. "He's growing up a lot."
Guerra says he hopes to restore respect for his school.
"I want people to talk about Pace again," he said.
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