Marmonte League invites Oaks Christian to join league

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In a breakthrough development, the Marmonte League officially extended an invitation today for football power Westlake Village Oaks Christian to join the league for all sports beginning with the 2010 season.

The league had been adamantly opposed to allowing Oaks Christian to join the Marmonte but faced the possibility of having Oaks Christian placed into the league by the Southern Section. Oaks Christian has not decided whether to accept the invitation.

‘We’re very pleased with the goodwill gesture by the Marmonte League,’ Oaks Christian Headmaster Jeff Woodcock said. ‘They were cordial, they wanted to ask questions, they wanted to know our desires.’

Oaks Christian still faces a dilemma, however, because it would prefer to become a member of the league only for football. School officials are worried about the inability to fill rosters for about 15 lower-level teams because their enrollment is so small.

Rob Dearborn, athletic director at Moorpark, said Oaks Christian officials appeared at a Marmonte meeting Tuesday.

‘It was a great meeting,’ Dearborn said.

Oaks Christian must decide whether to accept the invitation, which could be finalized next month by Northern Area representatives. Calabasas would leave the league under the proposal, something it might not support since it wants to remain a league member in every sport except football.

-- Eric Sondheimer