THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Competition May Suffer If Catholic Schools Releague

Centralizing high school sports is normally a good idea.

Having teams from the same geographic area in the same league heightens fan interest and also saves on travel expenses.

Sometimes, however, too much of a good thing can be detrimental.

Seven Valley-area high schools could be affected when releaguing is discussed at the Catholic Athletic Assn. meeting next month. Paul Muff, Crespi High athletic director, said that the creation of a new parochial schools league will be proposed.

Crespi, Alemany, Notre Dame and possibly St. Francis of the Del Rey League would join Chaminade, St. Genevieve and Bell-Jeff of the Santa Fe League in a new boys league beginning in 1987.

The advantage of the grouping: all seven teams in the league would be within a 25-mile radius. A number of problems, however, seem to outweigh that benefit. They start with a gap in the level of competition.

Del Rey League teams play against the best competition in Southern California in every major sport. In basketball, the Del Rey League is in the Big Five Division--a step above 4-A. The Santa Fe League is 2-A. In baseball, the Del Rey League is 4-A and the Santa Fe League is 1-A.

And what happens to the teams left in the Del Rey and Santa Fe leagues after the proposed split?

The remaining schools from the Santa Fe League--Cathedral, La Salle, Daniel Murphy and Pater Noster--could be coupled with two members of the Camino Real League, which is competitive in every sport but basketball. The Camino Real would still have seven teams, and the Santa Fe would have six.

Loyola, St. John Bosco and Bosco Tech, the other three members from the Del Rey, would be left without a league, however.

Muff doesn’t want to see that happen. “I like the configuration of the Del Rey League,” he said. “Sure, we’re a little spaced out geographically, but the level of competition is good and even in every sport. We have a good working relationship with all the schools. Our philosophies are much the same.”

Crespi would be the only all-boys school in the league, which is another of Muff’s concerns.

Crespi’s place would probably be taken by Louisville High, an all-girls school, in girls sports. That’s an easy enough switch, but what would happen to Immaculate Heart and Corvallis? Those two schools are currently grouped with Alemany, Bell-Jeff, Chaminade, Louisville, Notre Dame and St. Genevieve to form the San Fernando Valley League for girls sports.

To the CAA, therefore, goes the following advice:

Sometimes, the best moves are the ones that are never made.

The Southern Section Council will recommend to the State Federation Council that the use of metal baseball cleats become optional beginning in the 1987 season.

The national federation outlawed the use of metal cleats before the 1984 season, but in a meeting Thursday, the Southern Section Council voted to back a proposal by members of the Rio Hondo League eliminating those restrictions.

Mickey McNamee, Rio Hondo League representative, said that baseball coaches are concerned about injuries that have been attributed to the poor footing provided by the plastic cleats.

The council also voted to change the playoff format for boys tennis and add the discus as a Southern Section track-and-field championship event.

Boys tennis playoffs will be changed from a 4-2 to a 3-3 format (three singles matches, three doubles matches). The switch, which will go into effect this spring, allows greater player participation--nine players instead of eight--and lessens the impact of a dominant player.

The discus will be added to the Southern Section championship meet in 1987. It is already a scoring event at the state meet.

The council also laid out guidelines for its new “R and R Week,” which will take effect next school year.

No after-school activity will be permitted during the weeks of Nov. 3-8, Feb. 16-21 and May 18-23 unless a team is entered in playoff competition.

Coach Jim Harris, 12 of his Ocean View High players, and the school’s booster club are seeking an injunction against the Huntington Beach High School District, the Southern Section and its executive council. They wish to be allowed to take part in the Southern Section basketball playoffs next month.

Last April, Ocean View was forced to forfeit its Sunset League championship and two players--Ricky Butler and Desi Hazely--were declared ineligible after a three-month long investigation by the school district. Butler and Hazely transferred to Ocean View from Lynwood High and lived with Harris during the school year. That constituted “undue influence,” according to the district.

Butler and Hazely are eligible to play for Ocean View this season, according to the Southern Section and the school district, but the Seahawks are on probation and ineligible for the playoffs because of the alleged improprieties that took place last season.

On Friday, an Orange County Superior Court commissioner set a hearing date of Feb. 10 for the case. Playoff selections are made on the 15th and announced the following day.

Ocean View, 15-4, is ranked second in the Southern Section’s Big Five Division.