Citrus Belt League releaguing proposal deserved consideration

Earlier this week, the Citrus Belt Area, held its releaguing vote with few changes.

But there was a radical idea on the table, from the Citrus Belt League. The Citrus Belt League’s proposal, which Miller athletic director John Romagnoli said finished third, would’ve had a 10-team “conference” with an East Division of the three Redlands schools, plus Yucaipa and Riverside Poly, and a West Division of Cajon, Carter, Miller, Eisenhower and Oak Hills.

While the 10 teams involved might not have been ideal, I think the idea deserves consideration. It would almost be like it used to be in the High Desert with Mojave River and Desert Sky Leagues, two leagues that were five teams before Adelanto High opened.

But the MRL-DSL deal only provided for cross-scheduling with teams on their bye weeks. What the CBL proposed (probably not necessary to include in the releaguing vote) would’ve been to have a championship game between the two divisions. The last week of the season the No. 1s from the two divisions would face each other, and so would the No. 2s, and so on.

I think it’s an idea before its time, but I think it’s an intriguing one. It would cut down on the number of league games now in the eight-team league, and cut down travel in league and keep schools with similar demographics playing against each other. They could still schedule the other “division” but wouldn’t be required to except for possibly the bye week.

Why were there few changes? First, there were no new schools to incorporate into the area, which includes schools from Riverside County and San Bernardino County east of the I-15. The only change, according to San Gorgonio athletic director Matt Maeda, was moving Indio Shadow Hills from the De Anza League to the Desert Valley League. They are being replaced in the De Anza League by Thermal Coachella Valley, which is coming from the Desert Valley League.

There had been talk that several schools might look for relief, including Miller, which has struggled in recent years in the Citrus Belt League.

“We talked about it, but we don’t want to just be thrown into another league,” Romagnoli said. “The last time we did this, they talked about putting us in a league with (Moreno Valley) Vista Del Lago.”

Romagnoli said ideally, if Miller would move, it would be to a league where they would have some natural rivals, like the Sunkist League.

But the Sunkist wasn’t looking to expand.

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New league alignment for 2014-16 for Citrus Belt Area

At Monday’s meeting at Arroyo Valley, proposal No. 19, one submitted by Riverside Norte Vista, was the winning bid.

Here’s a look at how the leagues will look for 2 years beginning in the fall of 2014, beginning with leagues that have San Bernardino County schools. New schools in that league in bold:

CITRUS BELT LEAGUE
Cajon, Carter, Citrus Valley, Eisenhower, Miller, Redlands, Redlands East Valley, Yucaipa.
DE ANZA LEAGUE
Big Bear, Desert Hot Springs, Desert Mirage, Rancho Mirage, Shadow Hills, Twentynine Palms, Xavier Prep, Yucca Valley.
DESERT SKY LEAGUE
Adelanto, Barstow, Granite Hills, Silverado, Victor Valley

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Will the San Andreas League as we know it cease to be?

If you thought it was a major change for Cajon to be moved from the San Andreas League to the Citrus Belt League, get ready for some bigger changes.

Three current San Andreas League schools, Pacific, San Bernardino and Arroyo Valley, plus one new school, Indian Springs, are looking to break from the SAL and form a new league. I wrote about it in my Prep 5 that appears in The Sun in Thursday’s editions.

That would leave Carter, Rialto and San Gorgonio to form what is left of the SAL.

The Sunkist League, by all accounts, wants to remain intact. But the Mountain Valley League, with Riverside Notre Dame moving to a different area, will break up. That could put the Mountain Valley League’s Citrus Valley and Jurupa Hills into the SAL with Carter, Rialto and San G.

Who would join the new league? Apparently at least two Moreno Valley schools have been talked about possibly joining the schools splintering off from the SAL.

What do you think? Who should be in the new leagues?

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San Andreas League says no to Indian Springs High School

Indian Springs, the newest school in San Bernardino, was rejected for early admission into the San Andreas League on Wednesday.

The school which has only freshmen and sophomores this year and won’t have play a varsity sport until the fall of 2013, was asking the San Andreas League for admission next fall, a year before the new league alignment goes into effect in the fall of 2014.

In a meeting of San Andreas League principals and athletic directors, the league voted 6-0 to deny Indian Springs admission for next fall. As a result, unless Indian Springs can find another league to accept them, the school will have to play a freelance schedule for the 2013-14 school year.

Pacific Athletic Director Carmel Brand said there were several reasons why the league denied Indian Springs entry into the league.

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