NBL/SCL/MCAL REALIGNMENT MEETING.....ALL SPORTS!!!!!

[northbaybbguru]

Was not at meeting, had a friend who was....

couple interesting tidbits ....

1....Casa Grande, Petaluma and Sonoma are out of NBL and SCL...(I'm assuming they will be in the MCAL?) can anyone confirm?
***UPDATE...apparently all 3 will be joining the new NAPA league.


league options for NBL/SCL

A. NBL/SCL super league.... each sport is separate entity.....prior to each sport season it is determined who is in NBL and SCL based on Comp equity. votes: 25-0 yes...3 abstains...

The better teams will make up the NBL and not so good the SCL


B. Ukiah and SR to SCL....Analy to NBL votes 18 yes....STRONGLY OPPOSED BY UKIAH

c...there was a third option but don't have info on it....sorry didn't get any info on this one...


As I said this is all 2nd hand info....Im sure all the info will be published over the next few days



**** IM PERSONALLY HOPING THE SUPERLEAGUE COMP EQUITY RE-ALIGNMENT IS WHERE THEY ULTIMATELY GO WITH ALL THIS!!!

 

[ClayK]

It looks like competitive equity is trickling down into league competition as well as postseason. The Diablo Athletic League is doing the same thing, and in basketball, the boys' and girls' leagues are different, meaning on some nights the girls will play one opponent and the boys another.

I think it's a great idea, and they should do it sport to sport every year. Nobody gains from blowouts, but I think the coaches need to be involved in the process because they know much more about their sport and their league than ADs.

 

[colhenrylives]

Over on the west side of the bay, the sprawling PAL, with 17 basketball schools, tried this for a number of years. It didn't work well, mainly because Friday night quadruple headers lost much of their luster. Having a home team's boys and girls playing different schools was confusing, odd and counter-productive. Crowd counts and revenue were down and interest waned. A move to get rid of the "power division" concept was started and eventually the PAL returned to its former format. Traditional rivals, both boys and girls, became Friday night staples once more. It's not perfect, but it seems better than what went before. The students appear to be much more satisfied now. And that certainly ought to be the driver in the decision. There are some coaches who yearn for a return to the power concept. But they seem to be in the minority. Other PAL sports do utilize the power notion. But basketball is different because of the Friday quads.

 

[ClayK]

Interesting point ...

In this area, there are a few traditional rivalries that will draw well, but only on Friday nights -- and the girls' game is pretty much irrelevant, either if it precedes or follows the boys, or played at an alternate site.

For example, these rivalries will draw well on Friday (but not necessarily on Tuesday):

Miramonte/Campo/Acalanes -- but not Las Lomas
San Ramon/Monte Vista
Foothill/Amador
Granada/Livermore
College Park/Alhambra

East County is hard to figure, as Pittsburg/Antioch has faded a bit, but hasn't really been replaced.

But the bottom line is this: Those few Friday night games don't offset the negative impact of blowouts on other Friday nights -- and really, it's more about the athlete's experiences than the gate in high school sports. And really, the only two sports where the gate matters are football and boys' basketball, so all the others should definitely be aligned by competitive equity.

 

[colhenrylives]

It's important to note that prep sports involve more than the coaches and athletes themselves. Entire student bodies much prefer traditional rivalry basketball contests on Friday night. Cheerleaders, band members and students at large tend to look forward to those games more than others (unless there are title implications, of course). So do the JV kids who play in the prelims. PAL policy-makers definitely took the broader view when they went back to a traditional schedule.

 

[colhenrylives]

The San Mateo Union High School District, with six schools ranging in age from well over 100 to 55, has been especially adamant about keeping those Friday night hoops rivalries alive and thriving. That district has a strong sense of history and much prefers to maintain its traditions. The idea that San Mateo might not play nearby Burlingame in league basketball games is not something the district cottons to. Those two schools have been facing off since 1927.

 

[ClayK]

What's interesting is that in a larger league, you can wind up with the rivalry games not on Friday night. Every school wants Friday night home games, and wants those against teams that draw. (And again, cheerleaders, students, etc., look forward to Friday night boys' games, not Friday night girls' games -- does San Mateo play girls and boys back to back or opposite sites?)

My point would be that there are many more sports than just the two that draw (football and boys' basketball) and all those athletes are much better served by balanced leagues than imbalanced traditional rivalries that draw no fan interest.

Maybe just keep the traditional alignment for the two big sports and let the others be determined by competitive equity?

 

[colhenrylives]

The PAL makes sure its traditional rivalry hoops contests (which draw well and are preferred by students, alumni and fans) are held on Friday nights. For example, Burlingame plays Mills, Capuchino and San Mateo on six Friday nights. All Friday affairs are quads. Midweek, early evening games (doubleheaders, boys-only, girls-only) are played at separate sites. Most other PAL sports are handled via power divisions, sometimes two, often three. That's been the case for years. That is especially wise in football where there is a vast disparity in strength of league programs (i.e., Menlo-Atherton and Mills _ it's apples and oranges). However, the league makes sure that, even in football, a final rivalry game (i.e., Aragon vs. Hillsdale or Sequoia vs. Carlmont or Half Moon Bay vs. Terra Nova) is set no matter what divisions the two foes might be in at that point. So far, that has worked out pretty well. But basketball is a different duck, as far as the PAL authorities are concerned. They tried the hoops power plan and it was not satisfactory.

 

[ClayK]

It's nice that the other schools in the league would allow those traditional rivalries to get all the Friday night dates. I don't think that would happen out here.

 

[colhenrylives]

It's nice that the other schools in the league would allow those traditional rivalries to get all the Friday night dates. I don't think that would happen out here.

To sum up: For basketball, the San Mateo Union High School District, with the help of the PAL, has committed itself to maintaining Friday night rivalry games as an integral part of the total student body/community experience which includes athletic competition, school spirit, food, music, etc. It works.

 

[northbaybbguru]

Over on the west side of the bay, the sprawling PAL, with 17 basketball schools, tried this for a number of years. It didn't work well, mainly because Friday night quadruple headers lost much of their luster. Having a home team's boys and girls playing different schools was confusing, odd and counter-productive. Crowd counts and revenue were down and interest waned. A move to get rid of the "power division" concept was started and eventually the PAL returned to its former format. Traditional rivals, both boys and girls, became Friday night staples once more. It's not perfect, but it seems better than what went before. The students appear to be much more satisfied now. And that certainly ought to be the driver in the decision. There are some coaches who yearn for a return to the power concept. But they seem to be in the minority. Other PAL sports do utilize the power notion. But basketball is different because of the Friday quads.

in the NBL and SCL they don't do boys/girls doubleheaders. They play on different nights.
So perhaps it may work up here in the Northbay.

 

[colhenrylives]

Yes. That makes sense. Are there Friday quads there?

 

[northbaybbguru]

Yes. That makes sense. Are there Friday quads there?

as in frosh/JV/Varsity? yes

 

[northbaybbguru]

Kerry Bennefield's articling on the meeting is now posted on the PRESS DEMOCRAT'S website if anyone cares to read it.