{"id":478295,"date":"2026-10-27T16:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T16:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/478295\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T16:24:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T16:24:33","slug":"three-big-changes-could-be-coming-to-texas-high-school-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/478295\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Big Changes Could Be Coming to Texas High School Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you have kids playing high school sports in Lubbock or at another school in the South Plains? Then, heads up: some big changes may be coming your way.<\/p>\n

Depending on who you ask, the changes could either be fantastic or just a big headache for schools that are already juggling a billion other things.<\/p>\n

The University Interscholastic League (UIL) Legislative Council just approved several proposals <\/a>that may change how Texas high school athletics operate.<\/p>\n

So, What’s Changing?\"aPhoto by Gene Gallin<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>a close up of a basketball on a basketball court<\/p>\n

First, there’s the possibility of a 35-second shot clock for varsity basketball. It will begin with larger schools, no earlier than the 2028-28 school year. Smaller schools will get additional time before it is actually implemented.<\/p>\n

Translation? You won’t be able to hold the basketball hostage for an eternity.<\/p>\n

Probably a solid idea, but I’m no authority on sports. I can barely tie my shoes.<\/p>\n

Another big change involves playoff games.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 2027-28, teams may receive home-field advantage during the first round based on their district finish.<\/p>\n

And one last possible change I find pretty exciting: girls flag football could become a UIL pilot program as early as the 2028-29 school year.<\/p>\n

How totally rad is that?!<\/p>\n

LET’S GO, GIRLS!<\/p>\n

Will Small Schools Still Benefit From These Changes?\"blackPhoto by Mark Fletcher-Brown<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>black pencil on white printerpaper<\/p>\n

That’s the biggest question, really.<\/p>\n

Big schools have big money and staff to handle changes without much fuss.<\/p>\n

Tiny schools on small budgets<\/a> don’t have the same wiggle room.<\/p>\n

New equipment, extra coaching responsibilities, and potentially longer playoff trips certainly aren’t free…<\/p>\n

These proposals still have to be approved by the state, so don’t worry, nothing is changing overnight.<\/p>\n

What do you think about the changes? <\/p>\n

Reach me at Chrissy.Covington@townsquaremedia.com and tell me all about it.<\/p>\n

Lubbock Area Public School Ratings: Excellent A Through Dismal D<\/p>\n

The latest Texas public school rating scores\u00a0reflect the\u00a02022-23 school year. They are the first released in 5 years after legal battles delayed this information from being made public. Here is a look at how Lubbock area schools fared. <\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Renee Raven <\/p>\n

Lubbock Parents & Students Share STAAR Test Frustration<\/p>\n

We asked some Lubbock parents, teachers and former students to tell us about their experience with STAAR testing. Here are some of their stories.<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Chrissy Covington<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you have kids playing high school sports in Lubbock or at another school in the South Plains?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169,223],"class_list":["post-478295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}