The realignment of the Tri-County Athletic League for the
2006-2007 school year yields some pros and cons for local
schools
By Ana Patejdl and Scott Campbell
They may be new. But don’t call them unfamiliar.
When the Tri-County Athletic League’s newest members, Salinas-based schools Alisal and Alvarez, take part in league play against Gilroy and San Benito this fall it will be almost like the old days.
“It’s basically the old MBL (Monterey Bay League), with Monterey, Seaside and North Monterey County that aren’t in it,” said Alvarez athletic director Chuck Noroian. “It’s been a good thing for us.”
As decided in Spring 2005 after Live Oak and Sobrato announced they would be moving to the San Jose-based Blossom Valley Athletic League (BVAL), the 2006-2007 version of the TCAL will include Alisal, Alvarez, Gilroy, San Benito, North Salinas, Palma, Notre Dame and Salinas. One of the main driving forces behind deciding on the new alignment was the Salinas schools’ desire to play in the same league, according to Elgie Bellizio. Before he retired a year and a half ago, Bellizio was the commissioner of the area leagues for 30 years. It has been at least a decade since all of the Salinas schools have played in the same league.
“The schools in Salinas all wanted to be together and that was part of the reason the proposal went through. They really didn’t have much opposition,” Bellizio said. “It had opposition two years ago.”
Gilroy High athletic director Jack Daley likes that the new alignment will bring back tradition to league play, even though he originally hoped a power league would be formed. During the 2005 realignment meetings, San Benito athletic director Tod Thatcher also preferred a power league structure.
“I think it’s good,” Daley said. “It gets us back to close to the old MBL like we were a couple years ago. I still thought power leagues would have been a better way to go, but that got knocked down pretty resoundingly.”
Not surprisingly, area coaches have expressed that Live Oak will be a tough rival to replace, and many plan to play the Morgan Hill school in non-league competition. Live Oak, which turned Division II when Sobrato opened, was traditionally strong in the TCAL in most sports. As expected, Sobrato struggled in its first and only TCAL season. Live Oak and Sobrato’s replacements, Alvarez and Alisal have had some success with their athletic programs recently in the Monterey Bay League (MBL). But in terms of wins and losses, the two can’t compare with the recent success of Gilroy, Notre Dame, Palma, San Benito and Salinas in many sports – especially at the Central Coast Section playoff level. Furthermore, the Eagles and the Trojans will be taking a step up from the ‘B’-league MBL to the ‘A’-league TCAL.
And that isn’t lost on Alvarez athletic director Noroian.
“It’s going to be definitely bigger schools we are playing. We’ve got to step up and play to the caliber we’re going to be facing,” he said. “In some sports, we’re competitive. Obviously, football has got some work to do. But so do some other people.”
In the end, Noroian believes playing tougher competition will only help Alvarez, which is in its 11th year of competing at the varsity level, be more competitive.
“We’re going to get better and better and because of the competition, we’ll have to step up to the challenge,” said Noroian, whose school produced one league champion this past school year in softball.
On the flip side, Thatcher wonders if the TCAL will be bumped down to a ‘B’-league if its teams don’t do well in the CCS playoffs over the next few years. In baseball, the TCAL already has been changed to a ‘B’-league for the 2006-2007 season. Bellizio also felt the TCAL’s ‘A’-league status could be put in jeopardy.
“Each of the leagues has its advantages and disadvantages,” he said. “It may cause the TCAL to become a ‘B’-league if a couple schools don’t perform. It’s foreseeable in the future.”
Another concern is that moving further away from San Jose – where the CCS power schools lie – will hurt the TCAL’s reputation within the section. Daley said scheduling San Jose competition in non-league games will be key in maintaining that area’s respect.
“Unfortunately, San Jose is already biased,” Daley said, laughing. “I think football is not a concern and I think we’ll continue to be well-respected in football. In basketball, they played a lot of the tougher San Jose teams (this past season) and I think that helped. The girls are doing the same thing and competing well against San Jose programs.”
Then there’s the issue that shifting the league’s weight even more toward Salinas might mean some home cooking for the city’s schools in league play against their northern neighbors.
“Most officials are from the Salinas area,” Thatcher noted.
But for the most part, the schools involved seem to be supportive of the realignment. The Salinas teams are particularly happy they won’t have to put in as much travel time. For San Benito, travel will be about the same, though Gilroy will experience a little more time on the road.
But despite all the preseason weighing of pros and cons, only actual competition will show just how the new TCAL will work out.
“On paper, it may not be as strong,” Thatcher said. “But It’s more the quality of the opponent that’s going to have a bigger impact.”
