City Football Releaguing Plan Elicits Resistance From Coaches

Call it blind optimism. Call it naivete. Or call it a bad piece of guesswork.

When City Section Commissioner Hal Harkness predicted that he wouldn’t receive much feedback from football coaches in the Northwest Valley Conference regarding the proposed league alignments for the 1992 season, he must have had his fingers crossed.

“Knowing our conference, I’m pretty sure there will be some objections,” Chatsworth High Coach Myron Gibford said.

Gibford’s prediction, it turns out, was a bit more enlightened.

In keeping with the City Section’s plan to shuffle football conferences annually into 3-A and 4-A division leagues based on team records from the previous season, three teams in the conference--El Camino Real, Taft and Chatsworth highs--tentatively are scheduled to change leagues.

The trio of coaches affected by the proposal are not particularly receptive to the idea.

According to the plan, the North Valley (3-A) next fall will be composed of Cleveland, El Camino Real, Reseda and Taft. The West Valley (4-A) will contain Chatsworth, Granada Hills, Kennedy and San Fernando.

El Camino Real co-Coach Mike Maio criticized the plan, saying he prefers to continue competing at the 4-A level, despite the Conquistadores’ 3-7 record.

“We might not be as competitive as we have been in the past, but then, we might be,” said Maio, whose team reached the 4-A semifinals two years ago. “We still want to play against the best.”

Taft also has played at the 4-A level since the City adopted the conference format four years ago. Troy Starr, who was hired as the Taft coach last week, said he would agree to play at the 3-A level--with one provision.

“There’s a lot of work to be done here,” said Starr, who inherits a team that finished 1-8 and last in the West Valley in 1991. “I’d go along with (the change) for one year, but it’s real important that it’s only for one year.”

Chatsworth competed at the 3-A level last season and won the North Valley title. The Chancellors (9-5) advanced to the 3-A final before losing to Crenshaw, 27-7. According to the proposed league alignments, Chatsworth would be promoted to the 4-A in the fall. “This is one of those things where I’m not sure it’s the best way to go,” said Gibford, whose teams were a combined 8-21-1 from 1988-90.

After a similar outcry last summer, five teams were placed in the 4-A West Valley (El Camino Real, Kennedy, Granada Hills, San Fernando and Taft).

Kennedy originally was placed in the 3-A North Valley along with Cleveland, Chatsworth and Reseda but requested a move. Though Kennedy Coach Bob Francola admitted that the Golden Cougars hadn’t played well in 1990, he nonetheless wanted his team to play in the higher division. Kennedy advanced the to 4-A semifinals last fall and finished 11-2.

Before the coaches had voiced their displeasure, Harkness had said the matter--in terms of making the divisional split according to 1991 team records--was cut and dried.

“I don’t anticipate any objections,” Harkness said. “Based on last year’s results, the records clearly separate the teams.”

In the Valley Pac-8 Conference, two teams swapped league positions. Van Nuys (5-4) was promoted to the 4-A East Valley with Birmingham, Poly and Sylmar. North Hollywood (0-10) moved to the 3-A Mid-Valley, joining Canoga Park, Grant and Monroe.

Harkness said the proposal would be sent to school athletic directors “sometime within the next two weeks or so,” and said that input from administrators and coaches will be considered before league formations are finalized.