Final Vote on Moving Mater Dei, Santa Margarita Expected Today

The paths Mater Dei and Santa Margarita athletes will follow the next two school years are expected to be decided today by vote of the Southern Section council.

The council, during its meeting in Buena Park, will decide if its two-year “pilot program” will pass for league realignment for the 1998-2000 school years.

If approved, Mater Dei will move from the South Coast League to the Sunset League, and Santa Margarita will leave the Sea View League for the South Coast. But under the proposal, the two parochial schools would be unable to compete for league titles in 11 boys’ and girls’ varsity team sports, including football, basketball and baseball. Instead, they will vie for the playoffs as at-large teams.

The two-year addendum is a compromise to the original four-year league realignment proposal that would have also sent Marina from the Sunset League to the Pacific Coast League. That proposal was approved by county principals in a 47-13 vote in February and by the section’s releaguing committee in an 8-0 vote in May.

Marina Principal Carol Osbrink protested, saying the proposal ignored competitive equity, enrollment and travel costs.

Osbrink said she believes the new proposal, which also leaves Marina in the Sunset League will be approved.

“It’s my hope that it does,” Osbrink said. “My impression is, there is a lot of support for us to come back in two years. I’m taking a chance. We wanted to be back in the Sunset League and we are.”

Tom Triggs, Buena Park principal and council president, also wants today’s voting to go smoothly.

“This [proposal] will give us some time,” Triggs said. “And it is a pilot program; it will be evaluated day to day. We want all parties to look it through and give it an honest shot.”

Mater Dei Principal Pat Murphy said his school is willing to accept the two-year package as a short-term solution, just as much as he is seeking the creation of an All-Catholic school league format that would include Santa Margarita, Servite and Rosary.

“This [new proposal] is just a compromise,” Murphy said. “My focus is on getting a long-term solution to the situation.”

But there are still some potential obstacles.

Esperanza Principal Ray Plutko is appealing the decision to leave his school in the Sunset League because of the expense and time needed to travel to away games.

“We pass schools in as many as three different leagues getting to some of our games,” Plutko said. “In our district we have what they call ‘turnaround’ busing, meaning the buses first take the athletes to the event, then have to be back here by 2:45 to take other students home. So the players have to miss an academic period to travel.”

“All the other schools in the Sunset, as currently configured, are within three to eight miles of each other. We are a low of 24 miles and high of 32 miles from the other Sunset schools. We feel this is not conducive to our needs academically, when there are schools closer to us that can provide the same services and competition.”

Though Esperanza is a Division I school--the Sunset and South Coast are the county’s only Division I leagues--Plutko said it didn’t matter what league his school was assigned to as long as it was geographically compatible.

“With the exception of football, when it comes to the playoffs you can go to different divisions anyway, based on your enrollment,” Plutko said.

If Esperanza’s appeal is upheld, county principals could conceivably be back to Square 1.

In addition, Murphy said he has received calls from schools in Riverside and the San Fernando Valley complaining that Mater Dei and Santa Margarita, in the new proposal, would take away playoff at-large bids they normally compete for. But it is doubtful that argument would sway the council.

If the proposal is approved as it stands, there would be no changes to the Century, Empire, Freeway, Garden Grove, Golden West or Orange Leagues.

The new league lineups:

* Sunset: Mater Dei would join Edison, Esperanza, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos and Marina.

* South Coast: Santa Margarita and El Toro would join Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo, San Clemente and Trabuco Hills.

* Sea View: Aliso Niguel, Dana Hills and Laguna Hills would join Irvine, Newport Harbor and Woodbridge.

* Pacific Coast: Corona del Mar would join Costa Mesa, Estancia, Laguna Beach and Irvine. Northwood, which is scheduled to open in Irvine in 1999, would join the league.