Crayton, the former Eastside Memorial coach, said he would like to see a separate championship for urban schools because he wants every school to have a shot at winning the big game.

Other states have grouped high-poverty schools into seperate divisions, but multiple Central Texas coaches said it would be difficult to implement in Texas because of the state's size.

Currently, all Texas high schools are grouped in divisions based on their enrollment and geographic location. Coaches said they fear by playing teams based on socioeconomics, teams would have to travel far for games, which would be costly.

Students who attend high poverty schools also don’t like the idea of being lumped together.

Lopez, the quarterback at Travis, said he doesn’t want to feel like he’s not as good as the players at wealthier schools.

Joe Lopez, quarterback at Crockett High School, with 67% of students from low-income families, agrees.

“There’s no team that I would say, ‘Hey, don’t put us against them,’” he said. “I believe that with the work I put in, my team and my coaching staff has put in, there’s no team that I look at and have a shadow of a doubt that we can win.”

Martinez and Fenner said it would be nice to win all the time, but they instead try to focus on factors they can control, like instilling positive values and ensuring players become productive adults.

“Obviously, nobody enjoys losing, but I think there’s different ways that we can all grow and be winners,” Fenner said.

Multiple coaches also say improvements to the school finance system could level out the resources of sports teams.

Martinez blames the lack of resources at many Austin schools on the state school finance system that forced the district to pay an estimated $670 million to property-poor districts last school year. While neighboring districts like Del Valle and San Marcos have passed bonds to build modern stadiums, the cracked tennis courts at Travis are barely useable, the air conditioning breaks down in his athletics department, and the practice field doesn’t have lights, forcing players to sometimes practice in the dark later in the season, Martinez said.

House Bill 3, passed by the Legislature this year, is expected to decrease the Austin district’s recapture payment by $193 million in 2020. The district also is proposing closing schools in part to save money.

“When we’re sending over a two-year period a billion dollars … to other school districts that are considered needy and we have our schools that there are times we can’t have hot water for our kids and the A/C has been broken for three days … it’s a major disadvantage to our kids,” Martinez said. “I’m not a politician and I don’t have an answer, but that’s definitely not it.”