Kudos to Aragon

[colhenrylives]

The Dons and their industrious head coach, Sam Manu, are taking it up a notch in 2019-20. They have scheduled a very difficult non-league slate this upcoming season. Included are: Mitty, Presentation, Pinewood, St. Francis and participation in a competitive upper bracket of the West Coast Jamboree. There will be few, if any, CCS public schools (maybe Aptos?) that will take on so many rugged private/parochials. Aragon, a defending CCS Division II champion, will be one of the favorites to capture the PAL-South title in 2020, along with Sequoia, a defending CCS Division I (and PAL-South) champ. Both return a slew of key starters and strong reserves. Those two pulled off the CCS-double as the one-two teams out of the PAL-South, a first for that public school league.

 

[alwayslearning]

Kudos to Aragon......but when your league isn't very good it is a must to go schedule some tougher pre-season games. Sequoia and Aragon in PAL South in a battle for first. BUT compared to Sequoia Aragon's pre-season schedule is much tougher.

 

[colhenrylives]

Kudos to Aragon......but when your league isn't very good it is a must to go schedule some tougher pre-season games. Sequoia and Aragon in PAL South in a battle for first. BUT compared to Sequoia Aragon's pre-season schedule is much tougher.

The league was certainly more than decent last season. Might be a bit less than that in 2020, with Aragon and Sequoia the obvious exceptions. In CCS, the yearly gap between the private/parochials and the publics is as wide as the Grand Canyon. It's apples and oranges. Select WBAL/WCAL teams vs. neighborhood public teams.

 

[OnBall8]

Like we have talked about before, its easier to schedule a tough preseason schedule when you are confident you will be over .500 in your league. So good for them for seeking out (or accepting offers) to play some of the top teams in the area. On the flip side of that, Presentation has a less than impressive preseason schedule, playing plenty of public schools in the south bay and peninsula. They have to make sure they avoid what happened to SHC because going .500 in the WCAL is far from a given for them.

 

[colhenrylives]

Well said.

 

[alwayslearning]

OnBall8,
You are right Presentations weak schedule is true as are Valley Christian, St. Francis, St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral who will all be battling for 2nd-6th place. The .500 rule really only affects the WCAL schools, not the top public schools.
My prediction is Presentation will be out of the WCAL in a few years similar to ND Belmont's exit and the league on the girls side may go away very soon after.

 

[colhenrylives]

OnBall8,
You are right Presentations weak schedule is true as are Valley Christian, St. Francis, St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral who will all be battling for 2nd-6th place. The .500 rule really only affects the WCAL schools, not the top public schools.
My prediction is Presentation will be out of the WCAL in a few years similar to ND Belmont's exit and the league on the girls side may go away very soon after.

If the WCAL girls' side closes shop, where do they go? No public school league will want them. Perhaps the WBAL will expand to three divisions, like the PAL _ A,B,C leagues. Not sure.

 

[OnBall8]

OnBall8,
You are right Presentations weak schedule is true as are Valley Christian, St. Francis, St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral who will all be battling for 2nd-6th place. The .500 rule really only affects the WCAL schools, not the top public schools.
My prediction is Presentation will be out of the WCAL in a few years similar to ND Belmont's exit and the league on the girls side may go away very soon after.

My first reaction was going to be "well they may not make a decision like that solely based on basketball.." only to check the current fall sports WCAL standings.. between varsity volleyball, water polo, golf, and tennis Presentation has exactly 1 win in league play... not good. In actuality, it has been basketball, soccer, and softball teams that have held recent respectability with 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd place finishes in league last year. Along with strong showings in cross country and track & field, it could take more than a few years for this to happen. The volleyball team used to be very strong in the past, not sure how they dropped off so much, but if they were in the mix, I'm not sure this is even a conversation. Only time will tell, but I can guarantee the WCAL will do as much as they can to get them to stay

 

[SouthBayHoopFan]

Do schools get to decide what league they're in, or does CCS decide that?

 

[colhenrylives]

CCS decides. Hence the presence of all Valley Christian sports, male and female, in the MCAL, the Mostly Catholic Athletic League.

 

[ClayK]

At least in NCS, schools can petition to the section to switch leagues. Then there's a process that winds up at the Board of Governors. If Presentation is competitive in a third or more of the sports, it wouldn't seem they need to leave -- but I don't know how other schools stack up. There might even be a school that does worse overall ...

 

[OnBall8]

Yea I would think that there would have to be a lot of compliance from the school and both leagues, not just the CCS dictating who goes where. Lets not forget that before Notre Dame Belmont left the league, Sacred Heart Prep was the first to do so. They had just their girls sports in the WCAL. That only lasted a couple years. As of now I don't see Pres going anywhere.

 

[observer22]

Yea I would think that there would have to be a lot of compliance from the school and both leagues, not just the CCS dictating who goes where. Lets not forget that before Notre Dame Belmont left the league, Sacred Heart Prep was the first to do so. They had just their girls sports in the WCAL. That only lasted a couple years. As of now I don't see Pres going anywhere.

Just this summer the NCS dictated that Clayton Valley Charter move into the EBAL Mountain division for football, even though neither CVC or the league wanted that move. Their prior league the DAL had petitioned that they be removed, and the NCS made it happen.

 

[OnBall8]

Just this summer the NCS dictated that Clayton Valley Charter move into the EBAL Mountain division for football, even though neither CVC or the league wanted that move. Their prior league the DAL had petitioned that they be removed, and the NCS made it happen.

shows what I know.. but it still took a group of schools to petition for removal. Pres can ask to leave and I'm sure they could make it happen, but I see no reason for the rest of the WCAL to ask for their removal or another league requesting for Pres be moved to theirs. So in this case can't see the CCS stepping in and doing anything without consent from Pres and at least one league

 

[ClayK]

The Clayton Valley move made sense from a competitive and geographic standpoint ... at the same time, I don't know if a league would welcome Presentation with open arms. They might be a power against lesser competition ...

 

[colhenrylives]

The Clayton Valley move made sense from a competitive and geographic standpoint ... at the same time, I don't know if a league would welcome Presentation with open arms. They might be a power against lesser competition ...

When Mitty, Presentation and St. Francis girls were in public school leagues back in the day, it wasn't pretty. The publics were thrilled to be rid of them.

 

[alwayslearning]

Presentation is the only single sex school in the WCAL. Take note of that. They are not Carondelet and it isn't NCS. I don't think they would mind being in the still very competitive WBAL Foothill division where Sacred Heart Prep went after departing the WCAL and ND Belmont (single sex) and ND San Jose (single sex) also is. Geographically it might not be better for them, but they already travel to SF, SI, and SHC.

 

[OnBall8]

And then the WCAL disbands.. SF and AM may have to end up in the WBAL too.. or public school leagues.. the city schools end up in those leagues.. and we have created an even bigger mess and Pres possibly ends up in a similar spot anyway... doesn't seem like a viable solution at the time

 

[alwayslearning]

OnBall8 you are right......or CCS changes up and allow schools to play in a league as a single sport like NCS and SJS.

 

[OnBall8]

OnBall8 you are right......or CCS changes up and allow schools to play in a league as a single sport like NCS and SJS.

true! but basketball at pres has been a bright spot in the last 2 years. A 2nd and 3rd place finish sure beats St Francis who has finished 5th and 6th in that time.. and hasn't finished in the top 3 since 2013..