CIF to shift North County leagues - Fallbrook may be moved to Valley League

On April 30 the CIF Board of Managers held a first reading for the North County Conference league realignment.

The releaguing will require a second reading and approval vote which is scheduled for the June 4 Board of Managers meeting. Fallbrook would be moved to the Valley League under the proposed realignment.

“Great league for us. I think it will be very competitive,” said Fallbrook High School athletic director Patrick Walker. “I see a really nice future for us.”

The North County Conference includes 24 full members, four of which do not field football teams. Four schools in the Coastal Conference, which does not have aquatics, are North County Conference members for water polo and swimming. The realignment is the first involving Sage Creek High School, which opened in 2013 and is in the Carlsbad Unified School District (the Bobcats did not field varsity sports during 2013-14).

The North County Conference principals and athletic directors worked on the realignments which were based on competitive balance, traditional rivalries, and geographic proximities. “I think the principals around the table at North County Conference are thoughtful,” said San Pasqual High School principal Tom McCoy, who is currently the North County Conference president.

“I think competitively speaking it’s more appropriate for us,” Fallbrook High School principal Rod King said of being placed in the Valley League.

Fallbrook will be joined in the Valley League for football by Escondido, Orange Glen, San Pasqual, and Valley Center. The upcoming season’s Avocado East League will consist of Del Norte, Mission Hills, Rancho Buena Vista, San Marcos, and Vista. The Avocado West League football teams will be Carlsbad, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, Oceanside, and Torrey Pines. Palomar League football will be played by Mt. Carmel, Poway, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo, and Westview.

For sports with 24 North County Conference participants, the Valley League will consist of Fallbrook, Mission Hills, Oceanside, Orange Glen, Ramona, and Valley Center. The Avocado West League members will be Carlsbad, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, Rancho Buena Vista, Sage Creek, and Vista. Avocado East League play will see matches involving Del Norte, Escondido, Mission Hills, San Dieguito, San Marcos, and San Pasqual. The Palomar League members for those sports will be Canyon Crest, Mt. Carmel, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Torrey Pines, and Westview.

“We have the opportunity to fight for a league championship in all sports,” Walker said.

Fallbrook spent the 2012 and 2013 football seasons in the Avocado East League with Escondido, Mission Hills, Rancho Buena Vista, and San Pasqual. The Warriors were in the Avocado West League with Carlsbad, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, Rancho Buena Vista, and Vista for the 23-team sports.

The existence of Sage Creek leaves three remaining North County Conference school districts with only one high school: Fallbrook, Ramona, and Valley Center. The opening of Valley Center High School in 1998 made the Jaguars the North County Conference’s 17th team and resulted in the creation of a third North County Conference league. Ramona and Valley Center were original members of the Valley League and have been in that league ever since with the exception of the realignment which placed Ramona into the Palomar League for 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District superintendent Lou Obermeyer, who will be retiring this summer but who is currently that district’s representative on the CIF Board of Managers, welcomes being in the same league as Fallbrook. “They’d be a little bit closer to our community characteristics and our high school,” she said.

Field hockey, gymnastics, boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, and boys volleyball have fewer than four leagues. Santa Fe Christian, Army-Navy, Classical Academy, and Escondido Charter are the Coastal Conference members who join the full North County Conference schools for aquatic sports. The alignments for those sports are still to be determined.

“We’ll see what next year brings. Hopefully our coaching staff will have everybody prepared no matter what,” King said.