East Austin Memorial Joins District 14-4A In Football

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- Untouched by biennial UIL reclassification since 2011, Eastside Memorial was moved Monday to District 14-4A in Division I, alongside such teams as Boerne, Canyon Lake, Fredericksburg and Taylor.

The football team has had a lack of sufficient players for some time now, as the Austin American-Statesman noted in a post-classification analysis. As a result, the Panthers have played a non-honors varsity schedule since 2011.

Against a backdrop of enrollment drops for a school in a fast-gentrifying part of the city, an exodus of student athletes could yield an interesting overall result in terms of playoff spots in District 14-4A.

At one point, the school was even on the verge of closing due to various factors, as the Texas Observer and other media outlets previously reported.

“If Eastside Memorial is unable to field a team this season, the development would clear the way for each of its new district’s teams to clinch a playoff spot before district play even begins,” the Statesman observed.