The Tennessee Secondary School Athletics Association has unveiled its preliminary district and region pairings across all sports for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, with plenty of changes looming for both Oneida and Scott High.
The alignments will not be finalized until later this month, after TSSAA has heard potential appeals from schools. However, there are likely to be few changes to the initial layout.
Some key takeaways:
• In football, Oneida will face a nearly all-new region alignment despite remaining in Class 2A. The Indians’ only current region opponent that will remain in the new Region 2-2A will be Wartburg. The new region will require much more travel for Oneida.
• Scott High will return to a football region that looks very similar to the last time the Highlanders were in Class 3A two years ago, with some notable exceptions. For one, the Sevier County teams will not be a part of the new Region 2-3A. For another, Union County will be a part of the region.
• The Highlanders and Union County will actually be paired in the same district or region across all sports.
• In basketball, baseball and softball, Oneida will move into District 2-2A. The proposed district is a large one, consisting of seven teams that play basketball, and will include considerable travel, with both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg-Pittman falling into the district. The alignment means the Indians will shift to Region 1 for those sports, pitting them against teams from upper East Tennessee in the postseason region tournaments.
• The district will not change much for Scott High in basketball, baseball and softball. The only changes include Halls leaving the district and Gibbs and Union County joining it. The Highlanders will also be paired in the same region as Fulton once again, as the Falcons shift from Region 3 to Region 2.
• For soccer, Oneida will move from District 3 to District 2. It’s a considerably larger district than before, consisting of seven teams. Most notably, the Indians lose Cumberland Gap as a district foe.
• Scott High will move from District 5 to District 4 for soccer, along with Anderson County and Clinton. Joining the Highlanders will be Gibbs and Union County, meaning the soccer district will look the exact same as the basketball district. The Highlanders will no longer compete in Region 3-AA in soccer, moving instead to Region 2-AA.
The new districts and regions look like this:
Football
Region 2-2A
Oneida
Bledsoe County
Polk County
Tellico Plains
Wartburg
Region 2-3A
Scott High
Alcoa
Austin-East
Kingston
Union County
Basketball, baseball and softball
District 2-2A
Oneida
Alcoa
Austin-East
Cumberland Gap
Eagleton
Gatlinburg
Pigeon Forge
District 1-2A
Chuckey-Doak
Hampton
Happy Valley
Johnson County
South Greene
West Greene
District 4-3A
Scott High
Anderson County
Clinton
Gibbs
Union County
District 3-3A
Carter
Cocke County
Fulton
Northview Academy
Seymour
Soccer
District 2-A
Oneida
Eagleton
Greenback
Harriman
Kingston
Oliver Springs
Rockwood
District 1-A
Chuckey-Doak
Cosby
Cumberland Gap
Gatlinburg
Pigeon Forge
University School
West Greene
District 4-AA
Scott High
Anderson County
Clinton
Gibbs
Union County
District 3-AA
Austin-East
Carter
Cocke County
Fulton
Northview Academy
Seymour
