Changes are expected to be made to Texas high school sports championships in volleyball, basketball, soccer, softball and baseball starting with the 2024-25 season.
The Collegiate High School Association Legislative Council met Tuesday to decide on proposed rule changes, passing amendments for split divisions in the postseason for volleyball, basketball, soccer, softball and baseball. The changes to the current playoff structure for some sports would allow for split divisions in the postseason for 2A-6A volleyball, softball, baseball, 4A-6A soccer and 1A-6A basketball.
This change will create two state championship brackets for conferences in the above sports to advance to the postseason. This amendment follows the format used in the current 6A football championship structure. All schools in the conference will remain in the districts they were assigned to per their 2024-26 alignment.
What will the playoff format be?
Each district will still send its top four teams to the playoffs, but of those four, the two programs with the highest enrollments will be placed in Division I and the remaining two in Division II.
What people are saying
“There’s a lot of excitement about this change,” Socorro Independent School District Athletic Director James Nunn said. “The biggest thing is getting used to the format.”
“There are good and bad things, but we’ll just have to embrace it and see what happens,” Eastwood boys basketball coach Peter Morales said. “We still have to get five guys out there and compete, but I think El Paso has a chance to do more in the postseason by playing against schools at a similar level in enrollment.”
“In softball, if you have good pitchers, you can compete with bigger teams,” said Kevin Mills, softball coach at Chapin High School, whose school reached the Elite Eight in 2017. “But we understand that split divisions can help teams and impact our chances in the postseason.”
“For our soccer kids, I think this change will help them grow,” said Del Valle girls soccer coach Stephanie Sazo, whose team competes in Class 5A. “The road has gotten tougher in this area over the last few years, so it’ll be interesting to see if we can find some more success here in 6A as well.”
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Can El Paso find more success in the postseason?
The move to split the division could help El Paso schools compete for state titles on a broader level. In recent years, San Elizario and Bel Air have won boys state titles, while boys teams such as Riverside, Burgess and Eastlake have also made high playoff runs. In the past two years, Chapin’s boys basketball team has made it to the Elite Eight and Americus has made it to the Final Four in Class 6A softball.
However, with the team now in a split division, El Paso’s team should be able to do better against schools with similar enrollments.
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com or @Fchavezeptimes on X.
