Athletic leagues retooled for 2002

The CCS, which is the governing body of high school athletics in Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, as well as some schools in San Francisco and Alameda County, examines realignment every other year. If administrators from schools in the three conferences -- the Northern, Central and Southern -- determine realignment is needed, they submit proposals that are put to a vote. The last major realignment was in 1998. Should there not be any appeals in Thursday's meeting -- and CCS assistant commissioner Steve Stearns said that as of Tuesday he hadn't heard of any -- the realignment will be instituted in the 2002-2003 school year.

Central Conference

Moving private schools out of the Blossom Valley and Santa Clara Valley athletic leagues has been talked about the past few years. Public-school coaches have complained they can't consistently compete with private schools because those schools have open enrollment and can attract athletes from all over. Public schools are confined to their neighborhoods or districts.

``I think it's great we're not going to have to compete against St. Francis in league,'' said Ami Williams, Palo Alto's girls volleyball coach. Palo Alto finished 34-9 last season, losing twice to the Lancers in the SCVAL De Anza Division, and in the finals of the CCS and NorCal Division II tournaments. ``We still hope to face St. Francis in non-league play, because we do enjoy playing them.

``I realize we'll still have to deal with them in the CCS playoffs, but we'll at least have a better chance to win a league championship once they're out of the SCVAL.''

Not all public-school coaches share Williams' opinion.

``I really kind of hate to lose Mitty out of our league,'' said Robb Karr, Leland's girls basketball coach and a former assistant at Mitty. ``I really enjoy the challenge of playing Mitty twice a year. It has been a great experience for our girls. Playing against Mitty has helped make us a better team in preparation for the CCS playoffs.''

West Catholic girls

The WCAL for girls will consist of Mitty, Presentation and Valley Christian from the Blossom Valley Athletic League, St. Francis from the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and St. Ignatius, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Sacred Heart Prep and Notre Dame-Belmont from the Girls Private Schools League. Seven of those eight teams advanced to the CCS basketball semifinals or beyond.

``This is going to be a powerful girls league, one of the toughest in the state,'' WCAL Commissioner Ed Ravenscroft said.

Another significant change in the Central Conference will be the Valley Christian boys moving to the WCAL from the BVAL, joining St. Francis, Bellarmine, Mitty, Serra, St. Ignatius, Riordan and Sacred Heart Cathedral.

The Valley Christian football team has improved dramatically the past five seasons, moving from the lowest division of the BVAL to second in the highest division of the BVAL this season and advancing to the CCS Division I semifinals. That makes the Warriors a good fit for the WCAL, St. Francis Coach Mike Mitchell said.

``Valley Christian has a quality football program that fits the philosophy of our league,'' Mitchell said. ``I think they will be a welcome addition.''

Northern Conference

The most significant and controversial change in the Northern Conference is moving Menlo, a private school of 550 students in Atherton, into the 17-member public school PAL. Many PAL schools opposed the Menlo move, but the motion passed 20-15.

``It wasn't so much the Menlo School boys as it was the girls,'' PAL Commissioner Gordon Young said. ``The feeling is that Menlo School is very strong in several girls sports, like volleyball and tennis, and that it's going to be difficult for the PAL schools to compete against them.''

Menlo already has boys teams in the PAL, including football, but it will be the first time the school's girls will compete in the league. Menlo's girls tennis team won the CCS championship this season, and its girls basketball team finished second in the CCS Division IV playoffs.

An alternative would have been to place the Menlo girls in the Private Schools Athletic League, Christian Private School Athletic League or the newly created Girls Private Schools League. The small private schools leagues aren't as strong as the PAL, and they felt Menlo would be a better fit for the PAL. The 20 votes in favor of the realignment came from the schools in the newly aligned PSAL, CPSAL and GPSL.

``It's something we didn't necessarily want, but it's something we're going to have to live with,'' said Pam Wimberly, Menlo-Atherton's athletic director and girls basketball coach. ``We realize Menlo is a small school, but they get some outstanding athletes from a wide area, many from public school districts in San Mateo County. It doesn't make for a level playing field.''

Menlo School Athletic Director and Coach Craig Schoof had a mixed reaction about joining the PAL.

``We're excited about playing in the PAL; it's a great league,'' Schoof said. ``But, at the same time, I was disappointed by the way the PAL voted, which I think was aimed against our girls.

``I can understand their position; I played and coached at Homestead, and I remember what it was like going up against the private schools. But we are all members of the same conference, and the PAL seemed to be the better way to go because it's a more equitable situation than having us compete against the smaller private schools. It was like we were between a rock and a hard place.''

Southern Conference

The issue in the Southern Conference was realigning schools into the new league from the established Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz Coast and Mission Trail athletic leagues because of the number of new schools expected to open the next few years.

The new league, yet to be named, will be made up of Monterey, North Monterey County and Alisal from the MBL, Monte Vista Christian from the SCCAL, Seaside from the MTAL and a school expected to open in Watsonville by 2003.

The MBL will become a seven-school league, with the addition of a new school in Morgan Hill, also with a proposed 2003 opening. The SCCAL will have nine schools, including a new St. Francis High in Watsonville and Mt. Madonna, neither of which will field teams in all sports.

The MTAL will have 10 schools -- including York, Anzar and Santa Catalina, an all-girls school -- that don't field teams in every sport.

``There were other proposals offered, but we ended up going with having four leagues,'' MBL and MTAL Commissioner Elgie Bellizio said. ``Not everybody was happy with it -- the final vote was 18-12.''

Bellizio said Salinas' public schools -- North Salinas, Salinas, Alisal and Alvarez -- voted against the proposal because they want to be in the same league. North Salinas and Salinas were left in the MBL; Alisal and Alvarez have been placed in the new league.

Pat Lovell, commissioner of the SCCAL, said most administrators from the schools in his league voted against the proposal. He said they felt realignment could be delayed at least two more years because of the uncertainty of when the new Morgan Hill and Watsonville schools will open.

``The proposal may not be ideal for every school,'' Bellizio said, ``but I think it's best for balance in the conference. As for realigning in 2004, that would have left us with the problem of what to do with the new schools opening in 2003. In my opinion, that could have created a mess.''

Stearns said the CCS doesn't have a position on the realignment.

``I'm not surprised by what's happening,'' Stearns said. ``There have been a whole lot of folks who have seen this coming for a long time, especially the new WCAL for girls. . . . It's going to be one heck of a league.''