Officials are expected to appeal move that would place Gilroy
High into the MBL
HOLLISTER
School officials are expected to appeal a realignment that would move Gilroy High School from the Tri-County Athletic League to the Monterey Bay League beginning in the 2010-11 season, and also place Christopher High into the MBL as well.
As for 4 p.m. on Monday evening, Central Coast Section Commissioner Nancy Lazenby Blaser said she was expecting an appeal to be filed, although the official paperwork had not been submitted at that time.
Palma High School Athletic Director Steve Clayton said Palma Principal David Sullivan was expected to be filing an appeal, although Sullivan could not be reached for comment by the end of the school day to confirm this.
Only school principals can file an appeal.
Monday was the deadline for schools to submit any appeals to the CCS regarding the realignment, which was voted upon March 9 among the 36 Southern Conference schools. The vote passed 20-16 in favor of moving Christopher High, scheduled to open in September, and the TCAL’s Gilroy High into the MBL.
The 16 votes in opposition were in favor of an equity league, which would have combined the TCAL and MBL into a two-division “super” league, the same format of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and two others in Northern California.
A third proposal, which received no votes, would have moved only CHS to the MBL, while keeping GHS in the TCAL.
Both Gilroy and Christopher high schools voted in favor of the equity league.
“We’re happy to join the MBL, but we’re hoping the equity league had caught on,” CHS Athletic Director Darren Yafai said following the March 9 vote.
“Our goal should be to allow all of our athletes and all of our sports teams to be competitive,” he added.
“I think it maximizes the competitiveness for your team and it gives all your teams the best chance to compete.”
In the equity league format, teams would be placed into specific divisions based on the skill and strength of the team itself. The divisions would be reevaluated every two years, at which point the divisions could be reshuffled based on the strengths of individual programs.
Lazenby Blaser said any appeals filed would go in front of the CCS Board of Managers on April 29. At that meeting, officials would state their reasoning for an appeal, then present an alternative option.
“It would certainly be detrimental to one of the strongest leagues in the CCS because that would drop us down to six schools,” Clayton said of the TCAL.
With Gilroy leaving, the TCAL would be just six schools strong, the necessary minimum as recognized by the CCS. If, for instance, any team were to drop a particular sport during any given season, the TCAL would include just five teams and any automatic qualifiers toward the postseason in the TCAL would be lost.
Teams still competing toward the postseason would need to qualify through at-large bids.
In terms of wrestling and other individual sports like track and field – sports that don’t qualify competitors toward the postseason through at-large bids – Lazenby Blaser said the CCS would look to find an alternate route in order to supply every athlete with a chance, perhaps even moving the remaining teams into a supplemental league.
“But we can’t always do that,” she said.
