A Modest Proposal to Rectify Imbalance
It's no secret that WCAL football suffers from a distinct and marked lack of competitive equity. There are haves and have-nots. The PAL is in much the same shape, if not worse.
The WCAL's Sacred Heart Cathedral and Riordan continue to struggle. The PAL has at least four current programs that are barely above water: South SF, El Camino, Woodside and, now, Aragon. That last school is going to forfeit its varsity contest with Bay Division foe Menlo-Atherton this Friday, an unprecedented and shocking move by the Dons. South City has forfeited its remaining JV games. Woodside forfeited a non-league varsity game to Burlingame. Between them, the two South City schools have a single win. The Warriors have not won a game since 2017. A football-only realignment involving both leagues could provide some relief all around. We have mentioned it previously. So here it is again:
Create two equity-based, six-team divisions in the WCAL by bringing Palma over from the PCAL and shifting The King's Academy, Menlo School and Sacred Heart Prep from the PAL to the WCAL as well. Marin Catholic has been mentioned as a potential football-only member of the WCAL (MC was part of the old CAL 60 years ago) but it's part of the NCS.
The sprawling PCAL could handle the loss of Palma with relative ease and the Chieftains would have to travel outside the coastal area only three times at the most annually. The PAL would be left with 15 schools, all of them public. However, there is no guarantee that all 15 schools will continue to field a football team over the next five or so years. Roster numbers are down, coaches are bailing and administrative support is waning. Westmoor dropped football decades ago. So did Oceana. It would not be a surprise to see at least one more school give football the heave-ho at some point. The challenge would be how to create two equity-based PAL divisions. One could argue that, sans the three private schools, the PAL would be reduced to Menlo-Atherton and everyone else. That's a problem.
Oh, and there's one more thing: Perhaps some PAL schools should consider 8-man football in the future. It's not an outrageous notion. If a lack of roster numbers and forfeits persist, why not take a look at the 8-man alternative? There are a number of 8-man programs within CCS already. Downsizing the sport might make sense in some cases.
It's no secret that WCAL football suffers from a distinct and marked lack of competitive equity. There are haves and have-nots. The PAL is in much the same shape, if not worse.
The WCAL's Sacred Heart Cathedral and Riordan continue to struggle. The PAL has at least four current programs that are barely above water: South SF, El Camino, Woodside and, now, Aragon. That last school is going to forfeit its varsity contest with Bay Division foe Menlo-Atherton this Friday, an unprecedented and shocking move by the Dons. South City has forfeited its remaining JV games. Woodside forfeited a non-league varsity game to Burlingame. Between them, the two South City schools have a single win. The Warriors have not won a game since 2017. A football-only realignment involving both leagues could provide some relief all around. We have mentioned it previously. So here it is again:
Create two equity-based, six-team divisions in the WCAL by bringing Palma over from the PCAL and shifting The King's Academy, Menlo School and Sacred Heart Prep from the PAL to the WCAL as well. Marin Catholic has been mentioned as a potential football-only member of the WCAL (MC was part of the old CAL 60 years ago) but it's part of the NCS.
The sprawling PCAL could handle the loss of Palma with relative ease and the Chieftains would have to travel outside the coastal area only three times at the most annually. The PAL would be left with 15 schools, all of them public. However, there is no guarantee that all 15 schools will continue to field a football team over the next five or so years. Roster numbers are down, coaches are bailing and administrative support is waning. Westmoor dropped football decades ago. So did Oceana. It would not be a surprise to see at least one more school give football the heave-ho at some point. The challenge would be how to create two equity-based PAL divisions. One could argue that, sans the three private schools, the PAL would be reduced to Menlo-Atherton and everyone else. That's a problem.
Oh, and there's one more thing: Perhaps some PAL schools should consider 8-man football in the future. It's not an outrageous notion. If a lack of roster numbers and forfeits persist, why not take a look at the 8-man alternative? There are a number of 8-man programs within CCS already. Downsizing the sport might make sense in some cases.
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