Settle It’s the biannual event that high school athletic directors across the state watch with focused attention -- realignment of competition districts up and down the spectrum.

Locally, Brownsboro High School saw its district change from its present, six-team makeup to a rare, five-team circuit.

“It’s a nightmare for scheduling,” said Brownsboro athletic director John Settle. “And, since I just drew and got a Week 10 bye, it’s not at all my favorite (setup) right now.”

Brownsboro’s new district (District 17- 3A) will include Athens, Rusk, Bullard, and Chapel Hill. Athens is the only school from Brownsboro’s present district, moving over into the new group of schools.

“Other than being in a five-team district, I like (the makeup),” Settle said. “It’s balanced and it’s competitive.”

File Photo Brownsboro A.D. John Settle (left) and his Bears and Bearettes athletic teams will face a new, smaller district starting next year, the 2010-2011 school year. As for the scheduling, the AD said it will get handled.

“But, we’ll get it worked out,” Settle said. “We have to play somebody.”

With a five-team district, the schools in the new District 17-3A will have only four district contests for football in the 2010 season.

“Two wins and you’re in (the playoffs),” Settle noted. In Texas, three teams from each district advance to the playoffs.

But a five-team district with four district contests means Settle will have to schedule six games before district play commences in order to fill out a normal, 10-game schedule. In a sixteam district, non-district games usually number five, while an eight-team district (seven district games) sees only three scheduled games not in district play.

At the moment, Settle said he is in talks with the Van Alstyne Panthers for a Week 6 game to fill out his pre-district schedule. Van Alstyne went 10-1 last year, but notched its only loss in the first round of the playoffs.

Formal contracts to fi- nalize games on a team’s schedule can’t be completed until Feb. 19 or later, according to information on the Texas UIL Web site.