Gilroy
– By the end of tonight’s Central Coast Section (CCS) Southern
Conference meeting at Palma High School, the Gilroy and Hollister
athletic departments should have a pretty good idea of what schools
they will be competing against in the 2006-07 season.
Gilroy – By the end of tonight’s Central Coast Section (CCS) Southern Conference meeting at Palma High School, the Gilroy and Hollister athletic departments should have a pretty good idea of what schools they will be competing against in the 2006-07 season.
Representatives from the 38 member schools of the Southern Conference will meet at Palma to discuss and vote on three different proposals for realignment of the conference leagues.
In all three proposals, which had to be submitted by March 28, the Tri-County Athletic League (TCAL) would be structured the same. The league would include current members Gilroy, Hollister, Salinas, North Salinas and Palma/Notre Dame, and two new members, Salinas-area schools Alisal and Alvarez, which currently belong to the Monterey Bay League (MBL).
“On all the proposals, the new TCAL would be a viable league,” said TCAL president and North Salinas High School principal August Caresani. “So whatever passes would be fine. I think the league would be more competitive the way it’s going to be than how it’s been in the past.”
Live Oak and Sobrato’s decision to move to the Blossom Valley Athletic League (BVAL) in 2006 sparked the need for the Southern Conference to realign its leagues, including TCAL.
Though Sobrato will join TCAL just for the 2005-06 school year, it will depart with Live Oak to the BVAL in ’06-’07, leaving the TCAL with only five members.
“You end up losing a playoff berth because CCS would not allow a five-team league,” Caresani said.
The CCS–appointed realignment committee, which discussed different options and gathered feedback over a span of five months and seven meetings, decided to submit a final proposal that calls for a group of traditional leagues instead of creating an “equity” or “power” league.
An equity league, like the BVAL, has a larger number of schools that are split into divisions which can be changed from year to year, if necessary, to match the skill levels, geographical situation and program needs of the athletic departments.
“It was pretty much a feeling that people wanted to do a traditional-type proposal,” said Hollister assistant principal Duane Morgan, who chairs the realignment committee. “People were not ready to have an equity-type league.”
The proposals
CCS Commissioner Nancy Lazenby-Blaser said that in addition to the committee’s proposal, two other proposals, one from the Mission Trail and Santa Cruz County (MTAL and SCCAL) athletic leagues and one from Pajaro Valley and Watsonville high schools have been submitted for consideration.
Like the committee’s proposal, the MTAL/SCCAL proposal suggests a traditional league structure, but places a few schools in different leagues. The Pajaro Valley/Watsonville proposal, however, proposes a Monterey Bay County Athletic League (MBCAL) which would be a power league split into two divisions. The TCAL and MTAL would still be traditional leagues.
So will a final agreement over realignment finally be reached? Caresani, Lazenby-Blaser and Morgan are all optimistic, but still expect a lot of debate at tonight’s meeting.
“It’s hard to tell because the new (proposal) from Pajaro and Watsonville is a whole new thing,” Lazenby-Blaser said. “It’s a good idea, but it might be a good idea too late. There are also not a lot of details on how they would do this. It might be the best proposal but ultimately I’m not sure (the schools) are going to be ready to vote on something that different.”
Morgan said if an agreement isn’t reached, the CCS executive committee will have to make a decision, which is something he doesn’t want to happen.
“Then you’re letting somebody else dictate your future,” Morgan said.
According to Lazenby-Blaser, one additional proposal that will not meet any resistance in passing is from six independent schools that want to come together to form the Coastal Athletic League. Those schools are Anchorpoint Christian School (Gilroy), Calvary Chapel (Murrieta), Cypress Grove (Monterey), Pacific Collegiate School (Santa Cruz), Prunedale Christian (Prunedale) and Waldorf Charter (Pacific Grove).
Power vs. traditional
In a Jan. 22 Gilroy Dispatch story, Gilroy athletic director Jack Daley and San Benito athletic director Todd Thatcher expressed interest in being part of a power league. But if any three of the proposals are accepted tonight, the TCAL will remain a traditional league.
Speaking from the San Benito perspective, Morgan said the school and Thatcher would prefer a power league structure. But he said he also realizes compromise is an important part in reaching a final agreement.
“A lot of coaches in TCAL have been in a power league and they know how it works,” Morgan said. “The major advantage is you put like-schools with like-schools. If you’re a good team, you’re with good teams. If you’re a medium team, you’re with medium teams. You have a better chance to win a division league title, which is a big deal.”
Morgan said he hopes that all voting schools will keep in mind what is best for all student athletes in the Southern Conference, not just their own.
“It’s very easy to fall into the trap of ‘What’s best for me and my school?'” Morgan said. “But honestly, I think if everybody remembers that student athletes are the most important thing, everything is going to be all right.”
Meeting Info
Tonight at Palma High School, Salinas, doors open 4pm
Three proposals on the table
These three proposals for restructuring the CCS Southern Conference will be discussed at tonight’s meeting at Palma HS in Salinas:
Realignment Committee’s proposal
SCCAL: Scotts Valley, San Lorenzo Valley, Santa Cruz, Harbor, Soquel, Monte Vista Christian, St. Francis, Mt. Madonna
MBL: Monterey, Seaside, North Monterey County, Watsonville, Pajaro Valley, Aptos, Catalina
TCAL: Gilroy, Hollister, Salinas, North Salinas, Alisal, Alvarez, Palma/Notre Dame
MTAL: Carmel, Pacific Grove, Stevenson, Gonzalez, Soledad, Greenfield, King City, Anzar, York
MTAL/SCCAL proposal
SCCAL: Scotts Valley, San Lorenzo Valley, Santa Cruz, Harbor, Soquel, Aptos, St. Francis, Mt. Madonna
MBL: Monterey, Seaside, North Monterey County, Watsonville, Pajaro Valley, Monte Vista Christian
TCAL: Gilroy, Hollister, Salinas, North Salinas, Alisal, Alvarez, Palma/Notre Dame
MTAL: Carmel, Pacific Grove, Stevenson, Gonzalez, Soledad, Greenfield, King City, Anzar, York, Catalina
Pajaro Valley/Watsonville proposal
MBCAL (Power League):
North: Scotts Valley, San Lorenzo Valley, Santa Cruz, Harbor, Soquel, Aptos, Mt. Madonna
South: Monterey, Seaside, North Monterey County, Watsonville, Pajaro Valley, Monte Vista Christian, St. Francis
Traditional leagues:
TCAL: Gilroy, Hollister, Salinas, North Salinas, Alisal, Alvarez, Palma/Notre Dame
MTAL: Carmel, Pacific Grove, Stevenson, Gonzalez, Soledad, Greenfield, King City, Anzar, York, Catalina
