VPHS, Basile moving around in latest LHSAA redistrict plans

The LHSAA’s second redistricting proposal for high school athletics has changed districts for two schools from Evangeline Parish.
The LHSAA Executive Committee met on November 8 to discuss the initial draft of proposed new districts for athletics for 2017-19. In that first proposal Ville Platte High was dropping down in classification and was being placed in District 5-2A.
That proposed district would have featured VPHS, Ascension Episcopal, Catholic-New Iberia, Delcambre, Franklin, Jeanerette, Loureauville and West St. Mary.
In the LHSAA’s second redistricting proposal released over the weekend, VPHS has now been moved to District 5-2A, which will cut down on travel time for the school’s athletic teams.
That proposed district will feature VPHS, Bunkie, Kinder, Lake Arthur, Notre Dame and Welsh.
“It is going to be a plus for us,” VPHS boys basketball coach and athletic director Tommy Jones said. “On school nights your not traveling two hours or an hour and half one way. This will especially be better for baseball and softball.”
As for playing in a district that now features traditional football powerhouses in Kinder and Notre Dame, Jones said that will only help the Bulldog football team, especially when it comes to playoff seeding.
“It is going to be tough in many of our sports like football but it will help us with power rankings,” Jones said. “I think it will be a benefit to us for the playoffs.”
The other team that is on the move with the second proposal is Basile.
In the original proposal, Basile was to remain in District 5-1A with Catholic-Point Coupee, False River, North Central, St. Edmund, Westminster Christian while adding Slaughter Charter, Opelousas Catholic and Sacred Heart.
Basile football coach and athletic director though knew that was too many teams in one district, and saw an opportunity for BHS to return to its traditional western district.
“We had been talking about that ever since we got in this district in the east,” Bertrand said. “Our historical district has always been District 4 in the west. We always thought we would be making that move back one day.”
With Lake Charles College Prep moving up to Class 3A, Basile got its wish and is now slated to return to District 4-1A which will also feature Elton, Grand Lake, Hamilton Christian, Merryville, Oberlin and South Cameron.
“It is not only about the rivalries we had developed with these schools, many of them we have been playing since we went to 11-man football, but it was also about travel,” Bertrand said. “This will make it so much easier for all the sports.”
The proposed finalized districts will be placed on the agenda for the LHSAA’s General Assembly meeting held in January.