North County Conference realigns members of leagues

Every two years the North County Conference realigns the members of its leagues, and for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons Mission Vista High School will join Fallbrook, Escondido, Ramona, San Pasqual and Valley Center high schools in the Valley League.

“I think it’s going to be a competitive league,” Fallbrook athletic director Patrick Walker said. “I think it’s a good place for us to stay, and I think Mission Vista is a good addition to it.”

Only 19 of the 23 North County Conference schools have football teams, and the realignment of the football leagues returns Ramona into the Valley League which also includes Fallbrook, Escondido, Rancho Buena Vista, San Pasqual and Valley Center high schools.

“It’s going to be very competitive,” Walker said.

The North County Conference principals and athletic directors work on the realignments which are based on competitive balance, traditional rivalries and geographic proximities. The North County Conference consists of public schools from 10 different districts, seven of which have multiple teams.

For the 2016 and 2017 football seasons, the Valley League consisted of Fallbrook, Escondido, San Pasqual, Rancho Buena Vista and Valley Center high schools. The Avocado West League was comprised of Carlsbad, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, Mission Hills, Oceanside, San Marcos and Torrey Pines high schools. Del Norte, Mount Carmel, Poway, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo, Vista and Westview high schools were in the Palomar League. The transfer of Ramona to the Valley League was the only football league change.

For the sports with 23 participating member schools, the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Valley League members were Fallbrook, Escondido, Ramona, San Pasqual and Valley Center high schools. The Avocado West League teams were Canyon Crest, Carlsbad, La Costa Canyon, Sage Creek, San Dieguito Academy and Torrey Pines high schools. El Camino, Mission Hills, Oceanside, Rancho Buena Vista, San Marcos and Vista high schools comprised the Avocado East League. The Palomar League consisted of Del Norte, Mission Vista, Mount Carmel, Poway, Rancho Bernardo and Westview high schools. In addition to the transfer of Mission Vista from the Palomar League to the Valley League, Sage Creek and San Dieguito Academy move from the Avocado West League to the Avocado East League for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, while Mission Hills and San Marcos change from the Avocado East League to the Avocado West League.

Field hockey is played by 19 North County Conference schools, and for 2016 and 2017 the Valley League had four teams while the other leagues had five members. The league alignment reflects the league alignment of the 23-team sports other than the absence of Carlsbad, El Camino, Oceanside and Ramona high schools. Mission Vista will join Fallbrook, Escondido, San Pasqual and Valley Center high schools in the Valley League, while the Avocado East League will be the four-team field hockey league for 2018 and 2019.

Mission Vista currently does not have tennis, and Oceanside currently has girls’ tennis but not boys’ tennis, so the Valley League will continue to be a five-team circuit for both boys’ and girls’ tennis.

Four schools in the Coastal Conference, which does not have aquatics, are North County Conference members for water polo and swimming. The City Conference does not have gymnastics, so the Academy of Our Lady of Peace is in the North County Conference for that sport.

Fallbrook and Mission Vista were together in the Valley League for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons.

“I think that’s a great potential rivalry,” Walker said.

The Valley League was created in 1998, which was the year Valley Center High School opened, and the North County Conference expanded to 17 teams. The creation of that third league resulted in two North County Conference leagues having six teams and one league having five teams until Westview High School opened in 2002 to give the North County Conference 18 teams. The Valley League had five teams for 1998-1999 and 1999-2000, and the realignment for 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 shifted the burden of the five-team league and the associated byes to the Avocado League which included Fallbrook.

The 2016 realignment initially included six Valley League schools, but Orange Glen High School was transferred from the North County Conference to the Coastal Conference, and the Valley League had five teams for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. The return of Mission Vista to the Valley League places the burden of the byes on the Palomar League for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 while the Avocado League will be the football league with seven teams.

The three school districts with only one comprehensive high school are in Fallbrook, Ramona and Valley Center. Ramona and Valley Center were original Valley League members, and Valley Center has been in the Valley League ever since. The 2010 realignment placed Ramona into the Palomar League; the Bulldogs were returned to the Valley League for all sports except football in 2012. Fallbrook was in the Avocado League from 1998 to 2010 and the Avocado East League in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The 2012 realignment placed the Warriors in the Avocado East League for football and the Avocado West League for other sports. Fallbrook was moved to the Valley League for all four-league sports in the 2014 realignment.

Ramona head football coach and athletic director Damon Baldwin had enjoyed Palomar League football competition for the Bulldogs after the school returned to the Valley League for other sports, but enrollment considerations led Baldwin to support Ramona’s return to the Valley League for football. Ramona High School itself has approximately 1,450 students although Mountain Valley Academy students are eligible to play for the Bulldogs under the same CIF Multi-School Teams Status policy which allows Oasis High School athletes to play for Fallbrook. Many Ramona football players were on the field for both offense and defense in 2017, which is more common among Valley League schools than for Palomar League teams.

Mission Hills High School opened in 2004 to give the North County Conference 19 teams. In 2008 Canyon Crest Academy, which is in the San Dieguito Union High School District, joined the North County Conference for aquatics.

Mission Vista High School and Del Norte High School opened in 2009 with freshmen only and were admitted to the North County Conference in 2010. That year a fourth league was created by replacing the Avocado League with the Avocado West League, and the Avocado East League. Canyon Crest became a full nonfootball member in 2010 along with fellow San Dieguito Union High School District high school, San Dieguito Academy. The 2010 realignment also added Santa Fe Christian and Army and Navy Academy for aquatics. The 2012 realignment added Classical Academy and Escondido Charter for aquatics. Sage Creek opened in 2013 with freshmen only, and the Bobcats became the 24th full member of the North County Conference in 2014.

Orange Glen High School is in the Escondido Union High School District, and students who lived in Valley Center attended Orange Glen before Valley Center High School opened. The Patriots won the 2014-2015 Valley League boys’ basketball and boys’ soccer championships but won few if any league games in other sports during their final years in the North County Conference. The realignment for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 originally included Orange Glen, but in January 2016, the CIF Board of Managers approved the transfer of Orange Glen from the North County Conference to the Coastal Conference. The 2016 transitions regarding Coastal Conference members for aquatics added Pacific Ridge High School for boys water polo. The Firebirds currently do not have a girls’ water polo program, while moving Santa Fe Christian moved to the City Conference for water polo although retaining the Eagles in the North County Conference for swimming.

CIF Board of Managers approval for conference realignment is needed only if new leagues are added since league champions automatically receive playoff berths, if leagues are consolidated or if schools are added or removed from a conference. The 2016 realignment reduced the number of football leagues from four to three and increased the number of field hockey and boys volleyball leagues from three to four, so the realignment for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 was approved at the January 2016 Board of Managers meeting. No board of managers approval was required for the 2018 realignments.

The three Vista Unified School District members – Vista, Rancho Buena Vista and Mission Hills – do not have boys’ volleyball. The four boys’ volleyball leagues are aligned on competitive balance. Fallbrook played the 2017 season and will play the 2018 league season in the Valley League which also currently includes Mission Vista, Sage Creek, San Dieguito and Valley Center. The 2019 and 2020 Valley League will consist of Fallbrook, Escondido, Mission Vista, San Pasqual and Valley Center. Escondido and San Pasqual are currently in the Avocado East League which also includes Mission Hills, Ramona and San Marcos. San Dieguito will move to the Avocado East League, as will current Avocado West League member El Camino. Sage Creek will join the Avocado West League which will retain Canyon Crest, Carlsbad, La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines. The Palomar League membership of Del Norte, Mount Carmel, Poway, Rancho Bernardo and Westview will not change.

Mission Vista does not have aquatics, Sage Creek has swimming but not water polo, as is also the case with Escondido Charter and Army-Navy is an all-boys school. The North County Conference alignments for aquatics were not changed. The Valley League water polo and swim teams are Fallbrook, Classical Academy, Escondido, Ramona, San Pasqual and Valley Center.

Gymnastics, boys’ lacrosse and girls’ lacrosse still have fewer than four North County Conference leagues, and none of those league alignments were changed. For boys’ lacrosse, Fallbrook is in the Valley League with El Camino, Sage Creek, San Dieguito and Valley Center. The Valley League for girls’ lacrosse consists of Fallbrook, El Camino, Mission Hills, Ramona, San Marcos and Valley Center. Del Norte, Mount Carmel, Poway, Rancho Bernardo and Westview are in the Palomar League for both boys’ lacrosse and girls’ lacrosse. The boys’ lacrosse Avocado League members are Canyon Crest, Carlsbad, La Costa Canyon, San Marcos and Torrey Pines while the Avocado League girls’ lacrosse teams are Canyon Crest, Carlsbad, La Costa Canyon, Sage Creek, San Dieguito Academy and Torrey Pines.

Fallbrook, Mount Carmel, Poway and Westview are in the Avocado League for gymnastics while Del Norte, La Costa Canyon, Academy of Our Lady of Peace, Rancho Bernardo and Torrey Pines are in the Palomar League.