Southern Section Panel Rejects Realignment Plan

Esperanza Principal Ray Plutko said he would appeal any decision to leave his school in the Sunset League, and those charged with making the decision regarding league realignment for the 1998-2000 school years listened.

On Tuesday, the Southern Section council voted against the most recent proposal, 35-24, and told county principals to return to committee meetings to reconsider Esperanza’s request for a more geographically favorable placement.

The vote also scuttled a controversial two-year “pilot program” that would have prevented parochial powers Mater Dei and Santa Margarita from competing for league titles in 11 varsity sports in their new leagues.

Huntington Beach Principal Jim Staunton, who heads the county’s re-leaguing committee, is expected to schedule more meetings to present the council another realignment plan by January.

The proposal voted on Tuesday was essentially the same one approved by county principals, 47-13, in February and by the section’s re-leaguing committee in an 8-0 vote in May. However, three major changes were added by principals of the Sunset, South Coast and Pacific Coast leagues over the last month.

* Mater Dei and Santa Margarita, which were to move to the Sunset and South Coast leagues, respectively, would not be allowed to compete for league titles in such varsity sports as football, basketball and baseball. They could qualify for playoff berths as at-large teams.

* Marina, which was supposed to move to the Pacific Coast League from the Sunset League, would remain in the Sunset League.

* The proposal was for two years instead of the re-leaguing cycle’s usual four.

Marina Principal Carol Osbrink had planned to appeal the original proposal, saying it ignored competitive equity, enrollment and travel costs.

Plutko, who had the same concerns about travel for Esperanza, convinced the majority of council voters Tuesday on two points:

* Leaving Esperanza in the Sunset League went against the section’s criteria regarding geographical proximity. Plutko claimed five Sunset League schools were within three to eight miles of each other; Esperanza was 24 to 32 miles from the schools.

Esperanza, a member of the Sunset League since the last league realignment in 1994, is located in east Anaheim. The other schools are in western Orange County.

* He said the agreement among the Sunset, South Coast and Pacific Coast league principals to amend the proposal--in particular, moving Marina back to Sunset--should have been discussed by all re-leaguing committee members.

“In light of these changes after the original proposal was drafted . . . more people should have looked at it,” Plutko said.

The vote, taken during a 3 1/2-hour council meeting, caught some principals off guard.

Mater Dei Principal Patrick Murphy said he wasn’t surprised Esperanza’s appeal was upheld.

“Both Marina and Esperanza had legitimate concerns regarding geography,” Murphy said. “Mater Dei would still like a long-term solution to the problem and that is my focus, hopefully some regionalized Catholic league. If not, we will go where we are placed.”

Santa Margarita Principal Merritt Hemenway, who is reluctant to have his school join a Catholic league, said the worst result of Tuesday’s vote was not being able to begin scheduling the 1998-99 sports seasons.

“The biggest concern is getting preleague schedules done,” Hemenway said. “If you don’t know what league you’re in, who do you schedule?

“We originally argued to stay in the Sea View League, but we’re not opposed to the South Coast under those conditions [not being able to play for league titles]. We will try to be part of the solution.

“I don’t think this moves us closer to a Catholic league; we are too far away geographically for any Catholic league,” Hemenway said. “Geographically, South Coast is best for us. It has been great being in the Sea View, but if we have outgrown it, so be it.”

Huntington Beach’s Staunton was uncertain of his next step.

“Right now, I’m shooting in the dark,” he said. “But I believe we have to settle Esperanza’s issue [first] because that’s what the section told us to do today.

“The question is, will we start all over again with a series of proposals? If Esperanza moves to its geographical area [in northeast Orange County], someone else is displaced or you have a seven-team league somewhere.”

Marina’s Osbrink was unsure which way the issue is headed.

“If the direction from the council is for the principals to go back and start over,” she said, “I hope that they have learned some lessons and will do this the right way.”