Montclair Prep Mulls Joining Foothill League

A school needs a league and vice versa.

So, could Montclair Prep, ousted earlier this month from the Alpha League, become the welcome sixth member of the revamped Foothill League?

Both sides say the idea is appealing.

“I know the baseball team definitely wants to move up to a stronger division,” said Greg Reece, Montclair Prep athletic director. “And I’m going to talk to (football Coach) George Giannini about it today.

“But we still have some investigating to do. We’re still gathering information.”

Coaches from the new Foothill League--scheduled to make its debut in the fall with a five-team configuration of Burbank, Burroughs, Canyon, Hart and Saugus--are virtually begging for another member.

“I’d like to see Montclair Prep join our league,” said Bud Murray, the Hart baseball coach. “I like the idea of playing Canyon and Saugus. But I don’t like the five-team league.”

Canyon football Coach Harry Welch, forced to schedule a nonleague game next season against tiny Mary Star of the Sea, said he would welcome the Mounties.

“I’m willing to drop our game with Mary Star and put Montclair Prep in there tomorrow,” said Welch, who watched the Mounties when both Canyon and Montclair Prep played in Hawaii in 1990. “They showed that, year to year, they could be competitive.”

Montclair Prep currently is trying to rejoin the Delphic League, of which it was a member from 1970-82. Reece is scheduled to meet Thursday with league athletic directors.

However, at least two Delphic League coaches already have expressed doubts.

Pat Brown, Brentwood athletic director and football coach, said the school historically has had a bad relationship with Montclair Prep. “As long as I’m here, I don’t think their chances (of joining the league) are very good,” he said.

Chuck Ice, Crossroads athletic director and baseball coach said: “Their chances of returning to the Delphic League are not very strong. They do bring a lot of excess baggage.”

On May 6, Montclair Prep was voted out of the Alpha League by league members. The school will be reduced to free-lance status starting in the fall unless it finds another league to join. The Mounties were barred from postseason play in all sports this school year in accordance with an agreement reached between the school and the Southern Section. The agreement came after Montclair Prep admitted to recruiting violations in the football program.

“Right now we’re just trying to get through the first year (without a league),” Reece said. “We have a lot to consider about (joining the Foothill League). We have to consider the girls’ program. I have not seen how good--off the top of my head--Canyon’s tennis team is.”

Montclair Prep won Southern Section championships in football in 1990 and baseball in 1990 and 1991, but the Mounties play at the Division X level in football and at the 1-A Division in baseball.

Last season, Canyon and Saugus played at the Division I level in football and in the 3-A Division in baseball. Burbank, Burroughs and Hart were in Division III in football and 5-A in baseball. “I just don’t know if we have the numbers to compete against those schools in football,” Reece said. “Last year, we had 18 kids on the team.”

Montclair Prep has made no official attempt to join the Foothill League. But the fact that Foothill members want the Mounties is flattering to Reece.

“I’m sure the reason they feel that way is because they need another school,” Reece said. “But with all the bad press we’ve had lately, it feels pretty good.”