As expected, Boerne remained in Class 4A following the University Interscholastic League’s latest biannual realignment last week. The enrollment ceiling for Class 4A this year was 2,085. Boerne’s official enrollment was 2,026.

But while sports teams at the new Boerne Sam Champion High School will avoid moving up a class in competition, they will also begin play in what may well be the most competitive Class 4A district in the state.

The new, expanded District 27-4A includes Boerne and traditional rivals Kerrville Tivy and Alamo Heights. Fredericksburg, which always plays Boerne tough in basketball, football and track, fell to Class 3A. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the newest additions to the eight-member district are all strong playoff contenders. Instead of playing perennial doormats Kennedy and Memorial, Boerne will have to beat out New Braunfels Canyon, Clemens, San Marcos, Steele and Seguin for one of four playoff berths next season.

“It’s a good thing four teams get to go to the playoffs,” Boerne Athletic Director and men’s basketball coach Stan Leech said. “It’s a very good thing.”

“You don’t have any chance to take a deep breath,” Boerne Head Football Coach Danny Threadgill said. “Night in and night out anybody will be able to beat anybody. We were happy to stay in 4A, and then you turn around and look at the district we’re in and it’s not any easier than any 5A district around.”

Champion High School will field all of Boerne’s varsity team’s next season. The old Boerne High School will undergo renovation, and is expected to play in Class 3A once its doors are reopened.