Meeting Scheduled for 1999-2000 Realignment

A town hall meeting to discuss a City Section releaguing proposal that will take effect for the 1999-2000 school year will be held Nov. 17 at the Los Angeles Unified School District Board room.

Under the proposal, there will be eight six-school leagues and two seven-school leagues. The leagues will be for all boys’ and girls’ sports.

Most of the leagues will mirror the composition of the current alignment. However, the biggest changes involve inner-city schools, including the creation of a new league that will be made up of Dorsey, Fremont, Locke, Los Angeles, Manual Arts and Washington.

Jefferson would be in a league with Belmont, Eagle Rock, Franklin, Lincoln, Marshall and Wilson.

School representatives with new information or concerns about the proposal will be given five minutes for a presentation at the town hall meeting. The deadline for being put on the agenda is Nov. 13.

The releaguing committee will reconvene Nov. 18 to consider any changes to the proposal. A final draft will be voted on by the Interscholastic Athletic Committee on Dec. 7.

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A young coaching staff that is not afraid to embrace the past has helped put Banning back on top of the Times’ City Section football rankings.

The Pilots, under second-year Coach Chris Gutierrez, improved to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the Southern Pacific Conference with a 42-19 victory over previously top-ranked Crenshaw last week.

Gutierrez, 32, is 1984 graduate of Banning and the oldest member of his staff. He took over a program that won eight City titles in 10 years--the last one coming in 1985--before falling to 0-10 in 1996.

Last season, Banning finished 5-7. The Pilots forfeited three victories for using an ineligible player.

“Last year, a lot of the work we did was psychological as far as building confidence,” Gutierrez said. “When we run into players and coaches from the past, we ask them to come by and talk to the team, to help them learn about the tradition.”

The Pilots travel to Daniels Field on Friday to take on two-time defending City champion San Pedro (5-2, 2-2 in conference).

“They’ve struggled a bit this year, but they’re still the City champs,” Gutierrez said. “We’re always going to respect them.”