Above: CIF assistant commissioner Rob Wigod
“At Chino Hills, we basically said, `Fine, let’s go see if we can play with the big boys. Rob Wigod knows what he’s doing. If that’s where he feels we belong, then that’s where we belong. We do have the smallest enrollments of any league in the division, so we’ll see what happens.” — Chino Hills athletic director Jeff Stevens.
“At some point, it’s a compliment. Maybe it’s a bigger compliment than we deserved, but this is proof the whole Valley feels this way about us. They set it up; they didn’t want any part of this league, so they put us in there. Maybe we’re wrong and they (CIF) just have a deep respect for us and how much we can do with a thousand less kids.” — South Hills coach Steve Bogan.
By Aram Tolegian
The deadline to file an appeal with the CIF- Southern Section in regard to the new playoff grouping proposals came and went Thursday, and the big surprise wasn’t the handful of local high school football leagues that filed an appeal, but the one league that didn’t.
The new-look Sierra League, which will house Ayala, Charter Oak, Chino, Chino Hills, Damien and South Hills, didn’t protest being placed in the Inland Division, which will happen should the proposals become official.
The Sierra League would arguably be the weakest league in the Inland Division, which houses many of the Inland Empire’s top programs. When schools received the unofficial proposals in January, several coaching staffs from the Sierra and Baseline leagues met to conjure up a proposal of their own that was submitted to CIF in February. Under the Sierra and Baseline proposal, both leagues would be in the Central Division.
CIF assistant commissioner Rob Wigod didn’t budge, though, and when the official proposals were sent out in March, the Sierra League remained in the Inland Division. Same with the Baseline. The hearing date for all appeals is April 13.
“At Chino Hills, we basically said, `Fine, let’s go see if we can play with the big boys,’ ” Chino Hills athletic director Jeff Stevens said.
“Rob Wigod knows what he’s doing. If that’s where he feels we belong, then that’s where we belong. We do have the smallest enrollments of any league in the division, so we’ll see what happens.”
Chino Hills was the league representative, but individual schools were also allowed to file appeals. The new division will last two years before being reassessed and then changed if needed.
At South Hills, the ramifications of being in the Sierra League comprise a double whammy: not only are the Huskies being switched to a much tougher league, they’ll also be competing against schools with much larger enrollments such as Redlands East Valley, Norco and Rancho Cucamonga.
“At some point, it’s a compliment,” South Hills coach Steve Bogan said. “Maybe it’s a bigger compliment than we deserved, but this is proof the whole Valley feels this way about us. They set it up; they didn’t want any part of this league, so they put us in there.
“Maybe we’re wrong and they (CIF) just have a deep respect for us and how much we can do with a thousand less kids.”
There were plenty of appeals in the Mid-Valley Division, where the thought of two guaranteed playoff entries per league and four at- large berths was too much to take for some schools.
The new-look Mid-Valley, which San Dimas won last year, is now a six-league division. That means fewer guaranteed playoff spots to go around.
Leading the charge is the seven-team Valle Vista League, which will see its top two finishers get playoff berths, then hope any at-large- eligible teams make it via CIF’s good graces.
“The league pretty much came to a consensus that we’d like another opportunity to re-evaluate this,” said Wilson coach Brian Zavala, whose school got relief by leaving the now-defunct Miramonte League and joining the Valle Vista.
“The whole idea with schools like us who got relief was to reap the benefits. Now, we’re going for two playoff spots and I don’t know what the criteria will be for choosing the at-large teams.”
aram.tolegian@sgvn.com
626-962-8811, ext. 2242
