Northern Area high school athletic directors passed a proposal to move Oaks Christian into a new league for all sports and create another league that will include Oak Park with five schools from the Marmonte League.
The moves were made at a releaguing meeting on Thursday at Bishop Diego The Northern Area ADs needed to meet again to releague for the 2014-2018 sports cycle after Oaks Christian and St. Bonaventure won their case against CIF-Southern Section, which sought to move the Ventura County private schools into a grouping with other private schools in the L.A. area.
St. Bonaventure will join Oaks Christian, Camarillo, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake for football only in the new league. The Seraphs will compete in the Tri-County Athletic Association (TVL and Frontier Leagues) for all other sports.
The other new league will consist of Agoura, Calabasas, Moorpark, Royal, Oak Park and Simi Valley. Oak Park was a longtime member of the Tri-Valley League.
“Oak Park has also outgrown the TCAA and will now compete in the Camino League with schools that are closer geographically and more competitively equitable,” said Carpinteria Athletic Director Pat Cooney.
The makeup of the TVL in football will be Carpinteria, Bishop Diego, Nordhoff and Fillmore.
For all other sports in the TCAA, the leagues are set according to the TCAA constitution, Cooney said. “This is the body of work that has been disrupted and will be redone to accommodate St. Bonaventure’s return to the TCAA for all sports except football.”
The TCAA has grown to 12 schools with the addition of Cate and Thacher from the Condor League and a new school, Foothill Tech, from Ventura.
Wade Ransom, AD at Cate, said Cate and Thacher — along with Villanova — will continue to play 8-man football in the fall.
The Condor League adds Garden Street Academy of Santa Barbara. The other members are Laguna Blanca, Besant Hill (Ojai), Dunn (Los Olivos), Midland, Oak Grove (Ojai), Ojai Valley and Providence (Santa Barbara).
The loss of Camarillo leaves the Pacific View League with five schools: Oxnard, Pacifica, Rio Mesa, Channel Islands and Hueneme.
The Channel League remains with five schools: Buena, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos. The ADs approved three football-only leagues for Northern Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County.
The Los Padres League for football will include Cabrillo, Lompoc, Pioneer Valley, St. Joseph, Santa Ynez. The Pac 5 has Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles, Righetti, San Luis Obispo. The Northern League has Mission Prep, Morro Bay, Nipomo, Santa Maria, Templeton.
There will be two leagues for all other sports. The Los Padres will consist of Cabrillo, Lompoc, Morro Bay, Nipomo, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, Templeton, Orcutt Academy.
The Pac 7 non-football league has Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Mission Prep, Paso Robles, Pioneer Valley, Righetti, San Luis Obispo, St. Joseph.
“The process is interesting,” said Cooney. “It seems like schools tend to focus on their own situation first before looking at the big picture. Out of the 65 schools involved, there were a few that were clearly unhappy with the final outcome. The current Northern Area alignment seems to benefit the greatest number of schools and the greatest number of student athletes in the area.”
