Katy ISD has been the leader in Region III for a few years now.

The district has consistently put out some of the most talent in the state and produced teams that have advanced to the region and state tournament, including two state championships for Seven Lakes in the past two years.

But it hasn’t just been Seven Lakes, the talent has come from the entire district and this year was the biggest proof yet from the school district. Katy ISD sent both the Seven Lakes boys and girls teams to state, but also sent four teams to the reguonal tournament, the most a school district can send, with all four advancing to the regional final, with four Katy ISD teams facing off for two spots in the state tournament.

“Katy ISD soccer is something truly special,” said Seven Lakes head coach Jimmy Krueger after the Spartans regional final win. “We have talented players across the district, some of the best coaches you can find anywhere and a pretty cool environment where the players come in and experience what the game should be about.”

While that was the highlight of this year, it’s been one that is building from the talent and coaching all around the district. Over the last three years, Katy ISD has sent five teams to the state tournament, the Jordan boys in 2022, the Seven Lakes boys in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the Seven Lakes girls in 2024. Last year all four boys teams advanced to the third round of the playoffs, where there was an All Katy ISD regional quarterfinal and this year the boys advanced three teams to the third round while the girls advanced two teams, with two teams on both sides advancing to the regional final.

“I think this is going to be a common thing because the sport is still growing in our district and as the competition increases, it’s only going to make every team and player in our district better and prepare them for every playoff season," Krueger said. "It’s a testament to what we have in Katy ISD and it’s not surprising to me that we had the four teams left standing in the district. It’s a special place to be.”

It wasn’t an easy road for those teams either. The Jordan girls knocked off one of the top ranked team in the region, Stratford, in the third round before defeating Brazoswood in the regional semifinals and taking Seven Lakes to extra time in the regional final. The Seven Lakes girls beat a Memorial team that took down Ridge Point and beat both Pearland and Jordan, only giving up one goal through their playoff run before falling to Prosper in the state semifinals. On the boys side, Seven Lakes powered through the playoffs to win their second straight state tournament, the first ever for a Class 6A boys program. Cinco Ranch made it all the way to the regional final, only giving up two goals while scoring 13 goals in their first four playoff games and Jordan made it to the third round by upsetting District 20-6A Champion Ridge Point in the first round before beating Cy-Ridge in the second round. Jordan also gave Seven Lakes its hardest game of the entire playoffs, forcing the Spartans to a penalty shootout.

“This district has such a high level,” said Cinco Ranch head coach Ryan Searle. “We have players who are trialing in Europe all over the place and we have others that raise their level to compete even with those top guys. The talent across the board is ridiculous. You can see it through all levels, it’s great and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”

There’s no signs of Katy ISD slowing down. While the Seven Lakes boys will have turnover in the team next year and big shoes to fill, they have lots of up and coming talent, Cinco Ranch, Jordan, Tompkins and more will all be right there challenging for the throne as well. On the girls side, Seven Lakes took an extremely young team to the state tournament and will have even more room to build next season while Jordan also is a youthful team and other challengers including Tompkins and Katy will not be able to wait to try and prove they can compete for a district championship.

“It's playoffs every single night in 19-6A,” said Jordan boys head coach Jason Meekins. “There’s no getting ready for playoffs because you are already at that level. We take on a district champion in the first round but our kids handle it, they’re prepared for that type of thing because they face it every game. No matter who it is in our district, one through nine you can’t take the night off so it’s programmed into the kids in all our programs around the district. It just keeps making everyone better every single year.”