State will allow appeals to 2026-28 assignments
The Florida High School Athletic Association released proposed district lineups for the 2026-28 football seasons Monday.
In some cases, they stayed exactly the same for Osceola County’s teams.
In other cases, they changed — a lot.
The state has spread the teams across five districts in three classes from Class 3A to 6A, now the largest class as the FHSAA has trimmed down from seven classes to six plus the Rural division.
Most notably, Gateway, Liberty and Poinciana played as independents the last two seasons and are now in tentative districts.
Keep in mind these may not be the finished product. Unlike the past two cycles where the state gave a “take it or leave it” edict — which prompted many schools like Gateway, Liberty and nearly a dozen Orange County schools to play as independents the last two seasons — the FHSAA noted Monday that corrections or appeals could be sent by Monday, and that, “Teams should not begin scheduling until the final classifications are released on Dec. 17.”
Here's those districts:
Class 6A, District 5: Harmony, St. Cloud, Tohopkeliga, Lake Nona – This stays exactly the same. The Bulldogs won this district this year, but lost to Lake Nona in their playoff opener.
“Things for sure can change, but it makes it easy to schedule,” St. Cloud Coach Mike Short said.
Class 6A, District 7: Celebration, East Ridge, Horizon, Windermere – the Storm cover over with East Ridge from their last district, which doesn’t have Dr. Phillips. Windermere was one of those Orange County independents.
Class 6A, District 9: Poinciana, Davenport, George Jenkins, Haines City, Ridge, Winter Haven – This would put the Eagles in a district for the first time since 2021. They split with Haines City last two years. It’s competitive.
Class 5A, District 6: Gateway, Osceola, Auburndale, Bartow, Lake Gibson, Lakeland – This is nothing like state website FloridaHSFootball.com projected on Monday. Instead of matching with Oak Ridge, Lake Buena Vista, Melbourne and Viera, and get perennial playoff teams Auburndale and – well, you know Lakeland.
“We’ve played (Lakeland) in the regular season and the postseason,” Osceola Coach Eric Pinellas said. “We look forward to the challenge and the competition.”
Class 3A, District 7: Liberty, Avon Park, Desoto County, Hardee, Lake Placid, Mulberry, Tenoroc – This would put the Chargers back in a district for the first time since 2023; and would feature a lot of travel as they’d be in a northern outpost. The one saving grace is that none of these teams have had recent sustained success.
Other fall sport classifications for the next cycle (volleyball, cross country, swimming, golf) will be released in the spring.