The change of going back to classifications and districts that are strictly formed based on enrollment numbers, it has set up new districts, new opponents, and ultimately new opportunities for teams to see some teams they have not seen before.
We will dive into determining the best districts in the state going into the 2024 season based on the final classification and district assignments that were released last week by the FHSAA.
In this article, we will look at Class 5A and we ranked the districts from 1 through 16 using winning percentages of the last two years (2023 and 2024) to come up with our ranking.
1. District 5A-14
Teams: Atlantic (Delray Beach), Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach), Coconut Creek, Deerfield Beach
2 Year Combined Win %: .626
Skinny: Despite the struggles the last two seasons by Deerfield Beach, the strong efforts by Atlantic, Blanche Ely and Coconut Creek make this district one of the strongest in the state. This will be a fun district to watch in 2024 and 2025.
2. District 5A-4
Teams: Belleview, Mainland (Daytona Beach), Matanzas (Palm Coast)
2 Year Combined Win %: .600
Skinny: It is a three-team district and if you look closely, most of that winning percentage lies with an impressive 25-5 two-year record by Mainland with a state championship victory in the middle of all that. Matanzas adds in a little bit of reinforcement to make this one of the strongest districts in Class 5A.
3. District 5A-6
Teams: Kathleen (Lakeland), Lake Gibson (Lakeland), Lakeland, Sebring
2 Year Combined Win %: .591
Skinny: Take Kathleen out of the equation and really the rest of the district is going to be strong and going to fight each other to the very end. Lakeland, with two state championships in a row, only helped bolster the strength of the district despite Kathleen’s struggles as of late.
4. District 5A-9
Teams: Braden River (Bradenton), Manatee (Bradenton), Pinellas Park (Largo)
2 Year Combined Win %: .578
Skinny: If you look at the common denominator in this three team district, is these teams loke to win games and this will be surely a competitive district as all three will be seeking playoff berths in 2024.
5. District 5A-8
Teams: East Bay (Gibsonton), Leto (Tampa), Spoto (Riverview), Tampa Bay Tech
2 Year Combined Win %: .557
Skinny: Highlighted among between a one of the strongest programs, a middle tier type program and then a couple of programs that have struggled, some would be surprised to see this district ranked as high as it is, but Tampa Bay Tech’s playoff runs and winning ways along with East Bay’s improvements bolster the winning percentage.
6. District 5A-15
Teams: Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes), Hollywood Hills, McArthur (Hollywood), St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale)
2 Year Combined Win %: .556
Skinny: The overall winning percentage for district would be much lower if St. Thomas Aquinas was not by far the most strongest of the teams in the district and is the reason why it has nearly a 56% combined winning percentage with their record being 28-1 over the last two seasons along with two state championships.
7. District 5A-5
Teams: Edgewater (Orlando), Lyman (Longwood), Winter Springs
2 Year Combined Win %: .554
Skinny: Pull Winter Springs out of this and combine the two-year winning percentage between Edgewater and Lyman is 80%. However, now factoring Winter Springs in with their 0-20 record over the last two seasons, makes this district a bit weaker than it could have been had their been a decent fourth team in the mix.
8. District 5A-13
Teams: Fort Pierce Westwood, Heritage (Palm Bay), Martin County (Stuart), South Fork (Stuart)
2 Year Combined Win %: .549
Skinny: The strong season by Heritage last season and the fact Fort Pierce Westwood has made improvements helped the district come out stronger in the rankings. Martin County, which has been decent in recent years also added to the ranking being strong.
9. District 5A-16
Teams: Everglades (Miramar), Mater Academy (Hialeah Gardens), Miramar, North Miami, Pembroke Pines Charter
2 Year Combined Win %: .519
Skinny: A middle of the road type of district, the strongest team is Miramar which has gone deep into the playoffs the last couple of years. Improvements by Pembroke Pines Charter and Everglades also help pushed the winning percentage above 50%.
10. District 5A-1
Teams: Gulf Breeze, Milton, Mosley (Lynn Haven), Niceville
2 Year Combined Win %: .512
Skinny: Given the fact of what we saw this past season with Panhandle teams especially withy Mosley upsetting Niceville to take a district championship, this district will be one to watch even if it is not on top of being one of the strongest districts to watch in Class 5A.
11. District 5A-2
Teams: Chiles (Tallahassee), Leon (Tallahassee), Lincoln (Tallahassee)
2 Year Combined Win %: .508
Skinny: The traditional three-team Tallahassee district returns with the three of the five largest public high school now residing in the same district again. Lincoln has been arguably the strongest of the three teams, but Chiles appears to be on the way to improvement while Leon did show some improvement this past season as well.
12. District 5A-3
Teams: Beachside (St. Johns), Fleming Island, Middleburg, Orange Park, Ponte Vedra
2 Year Combined Win %: .505
Skinny: This district is propped up by Beachside’s incredible start out of the gate as a program with a 15-5 combined record over the first two seasons. Middleburg and Ponte Vedra have been playoff teams the past two seasons and they also strength the district some. If Fleming Island and Orange Park show improvement, this district could be much stronger by the end of 2024.
13. District 5A-7
Teams: Cypress Creek (Wesley Chapel), Gaither (Tampa), Springstead (Spring Hill), Wesley Chapel
2 Year Combined Win %: .460
Skinny: At first you look at the combined winning percentage and you scratch your head, but you look at Wesley Chapel and you see they drag the percentage down in strength here. However, Cypress Creek, Gaither and Springstead were all playoff teams over the last two seasons and Gaither’s run to the state semifinals last season after a slow start makes us believe this district will be one to watch even being in the bottom of this ranking.
14. District 5A-12
Teams: Golden Gate (Naples), Gulf Coast (Naples), Immokalee, Palmetto Ridge (Naples)
2 Year Combined Win %: .488
Skinny: Golden Gate saw its best season last year and that helps boost up the win percentage along with the improvements that are being seen by Immokalee over the last two seasons. What probably hurts this district the most is the struggles with Palmetto Ridge over the last two seasons who have won three games total.
15. District 5A-11
Teams: East Lee County (Lehigh Acres), Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, Riverdale (Fort Myers)
2 Year Combined Win %: .455
Skinny: You could pick Fort Myers out of this group and say they are the strongest of the four teams in this district and you would be right. East Lee County showed some improvement last year, but it did not do much for the win combined win percentage.
16. District 5A-10
Teams: Cape Coral, Charlotte (Punta Gorda), Ida Baker (Cape Coral), Mariner (Cape Coral)
2 Year Combined Win %: .387
Skinny: What you see is what you get sometimes and here what you get is a district that has seen all four teams struggle for the most part of the last two years. The only exception in the past year is Mariner but they were one-and-done in the playoffs while Charlotte was a district champion last season, but again through the roots of a very weak district.
