Burnet soccer announces new district for next two years

CAPTION: Head coach Doug Ketcham believes the new district will pose challenges to his program that returns several experienced and explosive players. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Burnet High School soccer programs will spend the next two years in District 23-4A, which is in Region III.

The University Interscholastic League announced realignment April 1.

Burnet will face Florence, Gatesville, Jarrell, Lampasas, Little River Academy, McGregor and Salado.

Florence and Jarrell spent the last two years with Burnet in District 25-4A in Region IV and Burnet has played Gatesville, Lampasas and Little River Academy in non district. Sports fans recognize Salado, which is in every non-football district with the Bulldogs and Lady Dawgs except soccer the last couple of years.

Salado (27-1, 16-0 District 24-4A champion) is facing Celina for the Class 4A Division I state championship after beating San Antonio Davenport 2-1 April 2 in a state semifinal.

“Salado for sure is going to be a really tough opponent,” Lady Dawgs head coach Doug Ketcham said. “I think for everybody else, we’re all pretty similar, which should be a pretty competitive district. We’ve played just about all of them, and we’ve beaten all of them, the ones that we have played. So I’m pretty confident going forward.”

Academy (15-9, 4-4 District 5-4A third place) and Lampasas (12-10, 2-6 District 5-4A fourth place) were in the same district and while neither team won a playoff match, Ketcham believes those programs will pose challenges.

“Academy is going to be really good, I think Lampasas is going to be really good as well,” he said. “And obviously I feel like we’re going to be really good even though we graduated a few.”

Those five soon-to-be graduates include Brook Oliva, who was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player in District 25-4A in 2026.

“We’re replacing Brook, and that’s going to be tough, but we have our second leading scorer back with Avery Barth,” Ketcham said. “So I feel pretty confident with her. For a long time this season, we played without most of those seniors at one point or another until we got to the playoff game. We only had two of those seniors on the field, so it gave younger kids a lot of opportunities to play.”

The district will shrink in size from what District 25-4A had. During the 2026 season, it had 11 programs. In 2025, it had 10. Officials decided to play each other once and then break off into Division I and Division II for the second round. That meant that Burnet played schools closer to its enrollment in the second round.

But with only eight programs in District 23, every member should play twice to decide playoff berths.

“I think it’ll be more competitive than what we’ve had before,” Ketcham said. “I don’t think there’s as big a disparity from top to bottom as there was in the district we just came out of. I think it’s better for us. It doesn’t feel as big because in Region IV, you’re going all the way to the valley. In Region III, we’re going to Houston, so I feel like it’s a better fit for us. I feel like that’s where we should be.”