Orange County May Add Suburban League

The six high schools in the Suburban League are expected to move into the Orange County geographical area in 1990 under any of three proposals announced Thursday by Dean Crowley, the Section’s associate commissioner, at a general council meeting in Buena Park.

Artesia, Bellflower, Glenn, La Mirada, Mayfair and Norwalk high schools would be placed in the county’s geographic area, following a vote of the representatives of 21 San Gabriel Valley area schools next Thursday.

The Suburban, San Gabriel Valley and Whitmont leagues will disband, with their member schools moving to three geographic areas--Coastal (South Bay), Foothill (Glendale, Pasadena) and Orange County.

Under each proposal, the six schools in the Suburban League--each with an average enrollment of 1,415 students--who now play in a Division VI conference for football, would be aligned in the Orange County area for the 1990-91 school term. Fifty-seven schools now comprise the area.

In one proposal, the Suburban League schools would be moved into the area along California, La Serna, Pioneer, Santa Fe and Whittier high schools, with the remaining 10 schools being equally mixed into the Coastal and Foothill areas.

The other two proposals call for the 15 schools other than those in the Suburban League to be divided differently into the Coastal and Foothill areas.

Representatives from each school will vote for one of three proposals, with a simple majority carrying the measure.

“We’ve got to come to a conclusion by next Thursday in order to begin the releaguing cycle for 1990,” Crowley said. “Of the three proposals, I think the schools favor the two in which (only) the Suburban League schools would move to the county area.”

La Habra Principal Tom Triggs, a former chairman of the county’s releaguing committee, said county principals favored admitting 6 schools from the San Gabriel Valley area rather than 11.

“The Suburban League would remain intact and that would be better received in the county,” he said. “Most principals favor six-team leagues. I don’t see five additional schools coming into the county area.”

Other council meeting items included:

--The expected adoption of an experimental 6-foot coaching box on a one-year basis beginning in the 1988-89 basketball season. The move would eliminate the National Federation’s 10-5 (seat-belt) rule in which coaches are required to remain seated except for timeouts or substitutions.

--Games in the girls’ and boys’ 1989 soccer playoffs will be decided by two 10-minute overtime periods to break any ties. If the score remains tied, the teams will play two additional 10-minute overtime periods with the added element of sudden death. If it’s still tied, penalty kicks will decide the outcome. The rule will not apply to championship games.