100% agree! I was speaking with a Lincoln supporter on the sidelines during the SM vs Lincoln game last Friday and we both agreed Edison should have been allowed to move to TCAL (as an Edison fan/coach shared they were denied with their request). But, the Lincoln supporter also suggested St. Mary’s be moved out of TCAL and there should be a formed Catholic league with St. Mary’s, De La Salle, Central Catholic, Jesuit, and BOD be the teams included. I shared that would be a good idea and it could be called the ECAL (East version of WCAL). But, I also suggested St. Mary’s return to the VOL league where Central Catholic is currently part of. Some strong teams like CC, Manteca, and Oakdale currently exist. I think the Lincoln guy was much frustrated with the losing streak. There was a time that Lincoln, Edison, and St. Mary’s would all three teams be very competitive, early 2000’s. He recalled as well. But, now he says it’s unfair and questioned what changed. I shared one reason for improvement was St. Mary’s having their own feeder program with the Junior Rams program. But, like De La Salle and Folsom, parents in the area want their kids to play for St. Mary’s because of the success it has had. Parents gravitate to sending their kids to schools where there is success and want to be a part of it. To be honest, when I sent my kids to St. Mary’s starting in 2003, I had no clue about their football program and really didn’t care. I sent my sons to St. Mary’s because of academics and because of enriching their Catholic faith, sports was a lower priority. My eldest son was actually aiming to join the St. Mary’s water polo team because his swim coach pre-high school was a St. Mary’s alumnus and thought my son would be playing varsity water polo as a freshman. He did not pursue water polo mainly because of logistics. He would have to practice at UOP and would need transportation. Also, everyone was saying if you want to get to know the fellow freshman boys, sign up for football. Also, he was having a good time/experience playing for the South Stockton Vikings, where another player from that team joined him at St. Mary’s. But, now I believe it has been the success at St. Mary’s that has done its own recruiting (not coaches like many think). Maybe it’s fallen it a slight bit at DLS because coaching has changed, especially with the retirement of Terry Eidson (completing the coaching transition)? But, many think Covid has attributed to the decline due to tuition cost and economy. Even St. Mary’s enrollment is down quite a bit due to tuition cost and economy. When my sons were attending SM, they had around 1200 enrollment. Now it’s around 700-800 students. Also, how much more time before Coach Franks retires? What happens when he does retire? Coach Tony Franks is a SM alumnus and has been their head coach since my eldest son attended the school. So, maybe St. Mary’s may be soon on the decline. At least the schools such as Edison and Lincoln hope so. So, maybe no need to kick SM out of TCAL, just yet. Lol.
