It’s been an amazing run for the Campolindo football program since 2011. 86-13 and counting, averaging more than 14 games per season, including 4 state championship appearances in the past 6 years with the possibility of making it 5 out of 7 as they look forward to the NCS D2 finals Friday night. For a public school with an enrollment of approximately 1300 students, Coach Macy and his staff have found the magic formula to inspire and continue a football culture in an affluent community that doesn’t have any kids who play tackle football until their freshman year; save for the 2 week youth camp Coach Macy holds each summer.
All these good times are likely to come to an end, perhaps as early as next week. Competitive Equity has become the law of the land in NCS, unlike any other section in Northern California. A Division 3 school by enrollment, Campolindo was moved up to D2 in 2016, based on their continued success in the 3 preceding years. Now, after defeating Windsor last night, Campolindo will be required to play in the NCS D1 playoffs next season, for a minimum of 3 seasons. The irony for this season, of course, is Campolindo would have been no higher than a 6 seed in the D3 playoffs. Yet, the anomaly that is NCS D2, has Campolindo as the number 1 seed in a division with higher enrollments than D3.
Granted, the 3 catholic schools (O’Dowd, Marin Catholic & Cardinal Newman) skew the distinction of enrollment based divisions; after all, both Marin Catholic and Cardinal Newman played in D4 as recently as last season and two seasons ago, respectively. Clearly, all 3 catholic schools should be playing up higher than their enrollment dictates. In fact, O’Dowd, will join the ranks of Division 2 next season, and if Marin Catholic prevails in NCS D3, they will jump up to D2 as well; Cardinal Newman may not be too far behind them. In fact, one look at all the NCS divisions points out that Campolindo is the only public school that has been moved up a division (now two); all the other schools are catholics/charter schools.
The question on the minds of the community and likely the coaching staff (and what should be on the minds of the powers that be at the NCS) is the issue of safety. The Campolindo offensive and defensive lines routinely have only a few starters around 200 pounds. A quick glimpse at the 2017 starting lines show only 3 starters at 200 pounds or heavier; 215 max. It’s certainly a credit to the line coaches who have been able to scheme against teams that routinely outweigh their counterparts by more than 50 pounds across the line. The difference in the OL/DL lines during the Clayton Valley Charter games the last two seasons was striking.
So is Campolindo a victim of their own success? Clearly the answer is yes. Will they view this as yet another challenge? Most definitely; Coach Macy wouldn’t have it any other way. It seems rather clear Campolindo will struggle to play with the big boys of NCS D1 in future playoffs, starting next year. And as they do, they know they will be the only public school in all of Northern California forced to play 2 divisions higher than their enrollment. A badge of honor, indeed.
All these good times are likely to come to an end, perhaps as early as next week. Competitive Equity has become the law of the land in NCS, unlike any other section in Northern California. A Division 3 school by enrollment, Campolindo was moved up to D2 in 2016, based on their continued success in the 3 preceding years. Now, after defeating Windsor last night, Campolindo will be required to play in the NCS D1 playoffs next season, for a minimum of 3 seasons. The irony for this season, of course, is Campolindo would have been no higher than a 6 seed in the D3 playoffs. Yet, the anomaly that is NCS D2, has Campolindo as the number 1 seed in a division with higher enrollments than D3.
Granted, the 3 catholic schools (O’Dowd, Marin Catholic & Cardinal Newman) skew the distinction of enrollment based divisions; after all, both Marin Catholic and Cardinal Newman played in D4 as recently as last season and two seasons ago, respectively. Clearly, all 3 catholic schools should be playing up higher than their enrollment dictates. In fact, O’Dowd, will join the ranks of Division 2 next season, and if Marin Catholic prevails in NCS D3, they will jump up to D2 as well; Cardinal Newman may not be too far behind them. In fact, one look at all the NCS divisions points out that Campolindo is the only public school that has been moved up a division (now two); all the other schools are catholics/charter schools.
The question on the minds of the community and likely the coaching staff (and what should be on the minds of the powers that be at the NCS) is the issue of safety. The Campolindo offensive and defensive lines routinely have only a few starters around 200 pounds. A quick glimpse at the 2017 starting lines show only 3 starters at 200 pounds or heavier; 215 max. It’s certainly a credit to the line coaches who have been able to scheme against teams that routinely outweigh their counterparts by more than 50 pounds across the line. The difference in the OL/DL lines during the Clayton Valley Charter games the last two seasons was striking.
So is Campolindo a victim of their own success? Clearly the answer is yes. Will they view this as yet another challenge? Most definitely; Coach Macy wouldn’t have it any other way. It seems rather clear Campolindo will struggle to play with the big boys of NCS D1 in future playoffs, starting next year. And as they do, they know they will be the only public school in all of Northern California forced to play 2 divisions higher than their enrollment. A badge of honor, indeed.
