Recently in Jurupa Hills High School Category

The best part of being in the second year of a new program is that the first year is over. Jurupa Hills coach Edward McMillon definitely agrees with that point of view.

"It's a lot different this year compared to last year," McMillon said. "The kids have been in the program for over a year and know what to expect, which allows us to work on some more things and really concentrate on getting better rather than teaching. Having juniors and sophomores gives you more options than having sophomores and freshmen."

While the Spartans are a year bigger, a year smarter and a year more mature after their 1-7 debut of a year ago, size is still a bit of an issue at Jurupa Hills. The Spartans are pretty deep at the skill positions, but they are lacking for size in the trenches.

"We just don't have that many big guys," McMillon said. "We have a lot of athletes, but they all seem to be a little small. Hopefully we'll get some bigger guys in time, but we are a pretty small team right now."

That very well could be the case tonight, as the Fontana Unified School District school board will meet in a closed-door session tonight to discuss the cutting of $8 million from the district's budget. That could include the entire athletic department, as stated in Referendum E.

"Suspension of All Athletic Programs (Ref. E).
This item is for consideration by the Board of Education to take action to suspend all Athletic Programs and eliminate the Athletic Directors ..."

I'm no economist and I won't pretend to have the slightest idea of all of the factors that presently has FUSD drowning in red tape. And I definitely am not going to advocate the resumption of athletics in FUSD sports at the expense of other extracurricular programs or teacher jobs. But it would just be an absolute shame if athletics were taken out as a response to the budget crisis.

Athletics are not only a fun extra-curricular activity, but a source of pride for the community and a diversion for the athletes from negative outside influences. They also provide a form of academic support, as an athlete has to make certain grades to be able to play athletics. It would be sad to see hundreds of students be deprived of that outlet. And it would stink as a sportswriter to miss out on the Summit football and basketball programs, the Kaiser football program, the Fontana boys soccer team, the Miller football program and see the development of Jurupa Hills cut off at the knees.

I'm not sure what is going to happen. But this could drastically change the landscape of Inland Empire and Southern California athletics permanently.

The newest league is last but certainly not least. Like the Ambassador, the automatic playoff berths and seedings have been decided.

1. Rubidoux (6-2-1, 4-0): The Falcons have clinched a playoff spot and the No. 1 seed out of the Mountain Valley League regardless of what they do Friday against Banning due to its head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over Notre Dame.

2. Notre Dame (6-3, 3-1): The Titans have clinched a playoff spot and the No. 2 seed out of the Mountain Valley League regardless of what they do Friday against Citrus Valley due to losing the head-to-head to Rubidoux and owning the head-to-head over Rim of the World.

3. Rim of the World (3-6, 2-2): The Fighting Scots are eliminated from automatic playoff consideration due to losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Notre Dame. However, a win over Jurupa Hills Friday might put it in consideration for an at-large playoff berth.

4. Banning (3-6, 2-2): The Broncos are eliminated from automatic playoff consideration due to losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Notre Dame. A win over Rubidoux could help toward an at-large berth, but Banning would probably need Rim to lose as well, as the Scots defeated the Broncos earlier in the season.

5. Citrus Valley (3-6, 1-3): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

6. Jurupa Hills (1-6, 0-4): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

Jurupa Hills coach Edward McMillon spent most of the summer trying to find some sort of stability with his brand-new Jurupa Hills program. Considering that he was dealing with a group of inexperienced freshmen and sophomores and practicing at a junior high, that wasn't an easy thing to find.

"There's a lot of stuff you just don't anticipate that you have to take care of as a new program," McMillon said. "We were practicing at Southridge Middle School on a field without hashmarks, which was a challenge. You are constantly unwrapping stuff in plastic. It's different."

McMillon is invigorated by the task, which is to get a Spartan team that barely has any personnel that can drive legally to compete in a Mountain Valley League schedule with the likes of Rim of the World and Riverside Notre Dame right away. The enormity of that task has the Spartans looking to accomplish simplistic goals.

Got back from the releaguing meeting at Norte Vista High School a couple of hours ago and here are the new leagues. A detailed story of the proceedings can be found in Saturday's paper.

Here are the schools that moved:
Banning - Mountain Pass League to a brand-new league
Carter - Citrus Belt League to San Andreas League
Hemet - Sunbelt League to Mountain Pass League
Hemet West Valley - Sunbelt League to Mountain Pass League
Menifee Heritage - Mountain Pass League to Sunbelt League
Rialto - Citrus Belt League to San Andreas League
Rim of the World - Mojave River League to a brand-new league
Riverside Notre Dame - Mountain Pass League to a brand-new league
Riverside Rubidoux - Mountain Pass League to a brand-new league
Temescal Canyon - Southwestern League to Sunbelt League

Brand-new schools:
Citrus Valley - brand-new league
Jurupa Hills - brand-new league
Mesa Murrieta - Southwestern League
Oak Hills - Mojave River League

And now, the actual leagues:

BIG XII (remains the same)
Corona Centennial
Corona High
Corona Santiago
Eastvale Roosevelt
Norco
Riverside King
Riverside North
Riverside Poly

CITRUS BELT LEAGUE (drops from 8 teams to 6)
Eisenhower
Fontana
Miller
Redlands
Redlands East Valley
Yucaipa

DE ANZA LEAGUE (the same)
Big Bear
Desert Hot Springs
Desert Mirage
Twentynine Palms
Yucca Valley

DESERT SKY LEAGUE (the same)
Barstow
Granite Hills
Ridgecrest Burroughs
Silverado
Victor Valley

INLAND VALLEY LEAGUE (the same)
Moreno Valley Canyon Springs
Moreno Valley High
Moreno Valley Rancho Verde
Moreno Valley Valley View
Moreno Valley Vista del Lago
Riverside Arlington
Riverside La Sierra
Riverside Ramona

MOJAVE RIVER LEAGUE (Oak Hills for Rim)
Apple Valley
Hesperia
Oak Hills
Serrano
Sultana

MOUNTAIN PASS LEAGUE (8 teams to 6)
Beaumont
Hemet High
Hemet Tahquitz
Hemet West Valley
Perris Citrus Hill
San Jacinto

NEW LEAGUE (6 teams)
Banning
Citrus Valley
Jurupa Hills
Rim of the World
Riverside Notre Dame
Riverside Rubidoux

SAN ANDREAS LEAGUE (6 teams to 8)
Arroyo Valley
Cajon
Carter
Colton
Pacific
Rialto
San Bernardino
San Gorgonio

SOUTHWESTERN LEAGUE (Mesa Murrieta for Temescal Canyon)
Mesa Murrieta
Murrieta Valley
Vista Murrieta
Temecula Chaparral
Temecula Great Oak
Temecula Valley

SUNBELT LEAGUE (Temescal Canyon and Heritage for West Valley, Hemet)
Lake Elsinore Lakeside
Menifee Heritage
Menifee Paloma Valley
Perris
Temescal Canyon
Wildomar Elsinore

SUNKIST LEAGUE (same)
Bloomington
Kaiser
Riverside Jurupa Valley
Riverside Norte Vista
Riverside Patriot
Summit