Open Division MUST Go

[JimRocky]

What is the purpose of the Open Division? At one point it was to separate public from private. It was the goal of many to throw the WCAL teams and the powerful public schools together and allow the other publics to compete in the other divisions. How is that working out with St.Francis, Mitty, and St. Ignatius in the finals at the lower divisions?
I do not know what will happen tomorrow with the vote to see who gets to represent Div 1 in the play in game but if SHP is left out.....which is a strong possibility because the small school would have a very hard time matching up to Folsom...it will be a TRAGEDY If they do not get to go on. WHAT A GREAT D-3 TEAM SHP WOULD BE THIS YEAR!!! The Open Division would prevent that from happening.

CCS officials must acknowledge that teams want to be able to extend their seasons and play in the play-in games and possibly the state title game. Below are some very interesting comments from some very well respected public school coaches that feel the time is now to eliminate the open and go to enrollment based playoffs. The article was on Prep2Prep's website.


Milpitas
coach Kelly King did not return a call left on his cell phone seeking
comment, but Trojan assistant coach Vito Cangemi did. Cangemi said the
issue is less about injuries and a forfeit and more about the Open
Division itself which he thinks should not exist. His contention is the
Open Division cuts down on the number of CCS teams that can possibly
make the CIF-State bowl derby when compared to other sections that don't
have an Open Division and go simply by enrollment.
"I
heard (Serra) canceled and decided to forfeit," Canjemi said shortly
after noon today. "I think it all stems from the decision to have a
consolation round. The Open Division needs to go away."
Canjemi
thinks having strictly enrollment-based divisions with no Open makes
sense because some public schools are as at least as strong as the best
of the WCAL and that having strictly enrollment divisions might have
produced some compelling game pitting WCAL and public schools. The
results partially bear Canjemi out as Milpitas defeated two of the three
WCAL teams it played season and Los Gatos knocked off three WCAL
schools.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"I was part of the
committee that voted for enrollment-based playoffs," Krail said. "But it
didn't make it through the Board of Managers. They decided to tweak the
Open Division and come up with something to help teams forced into the
Open Division qualify for NorCal games (in future years). But the flawed
idea to me was the trial run (this season). That was unsettling to
me."

 

[colhenrylives]

Thank you.

 

[DLSPop1314]

Agree 100%

There's only so far you can go with "Hoosiers" in football

 

[ds1968]

jimrocky,
the open division is here to stay for now, unfortunately. last year, the football committee recommended to remove the open. BUT, the board of managers vetoed that recommendation [here is the list of members http://www.cifccs.org/Directory/EX%20COMM%20&%20bom13-14roster.pdf

the current ccs culture is to protect the autonomy of the central coast section. based on the voting records, the board does not want to be aligned with current SBG protocol, nor putting the best teams foward for SBG is not the forefront.

what really changed this year was the cif removed the regional game of the open division (the "folsom rule")
if the game was intact, shp would definately be in a regional game.

 

[ThunderRam]

I don't think I've read a single comment on the board, the past year or two, defending the CCS Open format. I think we'd all like to see it eliminated. However, I'd love to see a Regional Open that invited teams could bypass their Sectional playoff for. Fantasy land, yes .. but I'd still like to see it

 

[ds1968]

thunderram,
i totally agree with you. seeing regional open games would be awesome, instead of going through sectional games.

 

[JimRocky]

ds1968,
I read an excellent article by Darren Sabedra from the merc who said the Board of Managers voted against the elimination of the Open Division in spite of the fact that the football committee voted to abolish it. This is puzzling to me. The BOM is made up of mostly school principals. With all due respect.....they just don't get it. They are not football people. The Commissioner is a very influential person who can influence the BOM toward making the "right" decision. A paradigm shift is what is needed.

 

[ds1968]

This post was edited on 12/6 1:25 PM by ds1968

 

[SCherundolo]

Patricia Tennant is on that list.. that's all you need to know about it. She has ZERO understanding of athletics especially football.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

Why was the State Bowl Regional Open Division play-in games eliminated? Thought that format was the best.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

With approximately 20% of the Board coming from private schools and most from smaller non-WCAL schools, one can understand why they haven't gotten rid of the division. They are the reason that the division came about in the first place and mainly to get as many of the WCAL teams into one playoff.

 

[dcpanda]

I believe the reason Nancy gave for keeping the Open was that is generates more money for CCS than an enrollment-based format. I'll see if I can find the quote. Hasn't she been around for 25 years? At some point she needs to think about moving into a Del Webb community.