Dripping Springs High on Breazeale Cup List
A couple of weeks ago we reported the results of the UIL's Lone Star Cup which recognized total programs sponsored by the UIL. There is another similar honor for the Central Texas area UIL schools that are covered by the Austin American-Statesman. It is known as the Breazeale Cup. It uses much the same criteria as the Lone Star but only takes into account the results of the sports programs and ranks all schools regardless of classification.
A little background on the honoree George Breazeale. If you were not living in the Austin area before the 1990's you probably never heard of him. He was a sportswriter for the American-Statesman beginning in 1950. He retired in 1995 but continued to have a column until just a few years before his death in 2010. His main forte was high school sports, most particularly, football, where he was the encyclopedia for its history. In those days, before the Statesman became a mostly UT paper, it really covered all the local schools well. He was known by his friends as “Breezy” and anyone that coached during his years can probably remember getting a phone call from him late at night trying to get scores and stories before press time. After his death, naming this Cup after him was the paper's way of honoring all those years of service and rightfully so.
The lead-in story to the 2021 ranking discusses what all sports-minded, especially coaches, already knows. The important question for success is what classification are you in, the school's enrollment and the district and region you are assigned by the UIL. They pointed out schools like Anderson, Liberty Hill and Hutto had a change in classification. Anderson moved down to 5A and immediately won many district titles and moved up in rank to fifth place instead of in the 40's. Liberty Hill moved up to 5A and Hutto to 6A and took a hit in the rankings as well with LH earning the top ranking several years while in 4A. The best position for a school to be in is to be among the top enrollment in your classification and not the low end. For football, the UIL has alleviated some of this by dividing each classification in half to narrow the difference. Other sports are aided by getting assigned to districts that have poorer programs.
This year Lake Travis was ranked No. 1 with 81 points. Close behind were Dripping Springs and Cedar Park tied for second with 77 points. Last year the Tiger program was ranked 6th with 54 points. As we mentioned, each sports' success is awarded points. This is how DS amassed their 77. Girls soccer 19, Volleyball 12, Boys soccer 11, Baseball 10, Girls cross country 6, Tennis 6, Softball 5, Football 4, Boys basketball 4.