After releasing proposed district lineups for the 2026-28 football seasons on Dec. 8, the Florida High School Athletic Association finalized them Wednesday, making a few changes that affected Osceola County's teams.
The eight teams are still spread among five districts and four regions — in an odd twist, Poinciana and Celebration are about 10 miles apart as the crow flies but are in different regions of Class 6A.
All eight are playing in districts this year; Gateway and Liberty were independents the last two years, and Poinciana the last four.
Here are the new districts, with notes on how they're different from what was proposed last week:
Class 3A, District 7: Liberty, Avon Park, Hardee, Lake Placid, Mulberry, Tenoroc — It's the same as Dec. 9 but with DeSoto County removed, meaning the Chargers can schedule an addition in-county game among five dates. The one saving grace is that none of these teams have had recent sustained success.
Class 5A, District 6: Osceola, Auburndale, Bartow, Lake Gibson, Lakeland, Sebring — with Gateway taken out to play up and Sebring added, this has a lot of "District of Death" tones to it, with Osceola, Auburndale and of course Lakeland playoff stalwarts.
Class 6A, District 5: Gateway, Harmony, St. Cloud, Tohopkeliga, Lake Nona — The Panthers return to district play by petitioning to "Play up" out of that 5A-6 organ grinder and join local rivals who stayed in the same district, won by St. Cloud in 2025.
Class 6A, District 7: Celebration, East Ridge, Horizon – This included Windermere on Dec. 9, but the Wolverines chose to remain independent. The Storm come over with East Ridge from their last district, which doesn’t have Dr. Phillips.
Class 6A, District 9: Poinciana, Davenport, George Jenkins, Haines City, Ridge, Winter Haven – This district that stayed exactly the same from Dec. 9 would put the Eagles in a district for the first time since 2021. They split with Haines City last two years. It’s competitive for the Eagles.
