El Camino Real, Chatsworth to Keep Their ’91 Classifications : Prep football: By swapping places, former will stay in 4-A Division, latter in the 3-A.

The El Camino Real and Chatsworth high football programs have agreed to swap places next fall in league play, allowing El Camino Real to remain in the City Section 4-A Division and Chatsworth in the 3-A.

Based on its league record from 1991, Chatsworth (9-5, 4-3 in league play) would have been promoted from the 3-A North Valley League to the 4-A West Valley. El Camino Real finished 3-7, 1-6 and was scheduled to be moved from the 4-A to the 3-A.

Under a two-year-old City plan, teams annually are reclassified by division according to their performance in league play. El Camino Real Coach Mike Maio expressed a desire to remain in the 4-A, however, and Chatsworth Coach Myron Gibford agreed to remain in the 3-A.

“We’re both happy with the way it turned out,” said Gibford, whose team advanced to the 3-A final last fall. “Michael thinks he has a good team coming back and he wants to stay in the 4-A, and that’s fine with us.”

City Section Commissioner Hal Harkness said he was glad that an accord had been reached. Coaches at El Camino Real and Chatsworth informed their school administrators of their wishes, and at a recent meeting of Northwest Valley Conference representatives a compromise was worked out.

“With a 1-6 record, I was a little surprised they wanted to make the change,” Harkness said of El Camino Real. “But the (releaguing) process is supposed to work on a local level.

“That’s why I like it.”

The 3-A North Valley will consist of Chatsworth, Cleveland, Reseda and Taft; the 4-A West Valley will contain El Camino Real, Granada Hills, Kennedy and San Fernando.

Last summer, rather than accept a move from the 4-A to the 3-A, Kennedy petitioned to remain at the higher level, and the 4-A West Valley became a five-team league while the 3-A North Valley consisted of three teams.

Chatsworth’s decision to remain in the 3-A in this instance helped avoid a similar imbalance had El Camino Real simply insisted on remaining in the 4-A.