Schools will join new league

Jeff Tully

A former Burroughs High football player and coach, Jay Gudzin has

fond memories of competing in a Foothill League that included nearby

schools Hoover, Glendale and Crescenta Valley.

Crescenta Valley Co-principal Mike Livingston, who was a teacher

at the La Crescenta school in the 1970s, also recalls the friendly

and spirited rivalries with the Bulldogs and Indians.

The Burbank-, Glendale- and Foothill-area schools haven’t all been

in the same league since the mid-1970s, but the teams will be

reunited for the 2006-07 season.

Earlier this week, representatives from a CIF Southern Section

region that stretches from the San Fernando Valley to La Mirada voted

29-5 to move Burbank and Burroughs from the Foothill League to the

Pacific League.

Along with Hoover, Glendale and Crescenta Valley, the Bulldogs and

Indians will make up an eight-team league that includes Pasadena,

Muir and Arcadia.

Though Burbank and Burroughs will play in their current league for

another season, the schools leave a tough Foothill League that

includes Hart, Valencia, Saugus and Canyon.

The only Pacific League schools that reportedly voted in favor of

the new alignment were Crescenta Valley and Glendale.

“By adding the Burbank schools, we looked at it as an opportunity

to get schools back together in a league that many of us remember,”

Livingston said. “It’s kind of the feeling of getting that old

Foothill League competition back.”

Unlike many of the other Pacific League schools that might feel

threatened with the addition of the two new schools, Livingston said

Crescenta Valley welcomes the competition.

“We feel we are competitive with both the Burbank schools in all

the sports. Also, what we liked is that both schools field all of the

sports,” he said.

Another individual who said he welcomes the new additions is

Glendale Co-principal Leroy Sherman.

“We think it’s going to be a good addition to the Pacific League,”

he said.

Trying to get Burbank and Burroughs out of the Foothill League has

been a four-year struggle for Gudzin, who is assistant principal of

activities and athletics at Burroughs.

And now that the move has been finalized, Gudzin said he couldn’t

be happier.

“I am just so happy with this releaguing,” he said. “I think it’s

an advantage all around for our school, our athletes and our parents.

It is something that, for me, is long overdue.

“I think the Pacific League is a better fit for our teams right

now. We are going to be a lot more competitive in a lot more sports

in this new league, compared to the Foothill League.”

Gudzin also the new league is much more suited to the schools’

athletic abilities, especially coming from a league where the Indians

and Bulldogs continually struggled to earn playoff berths -- let

alone win championships.

Burbank and Burroughs should also have a better chance at

competing in the playoffs.

In the past four seasons, just one local team has won a league

title. That championship, won by the Burbank boys’ tennis team in

2003, had to be shared with Valencia.

Finishing among the top three teams in league and qualifying for

the playoffs has also been a constant struggle. During the 2003-04

school year, Burbank and Burroughs combined to have seven playoff

teams, and two of those were Burbank’s boys’ and girls’ water polo

programs, which compete in the Almont League.

The seven berths came in 20 sports and 60 possible automatic spots

(teams get automatic berths by finishing among the top three

finishers in league).

“The move will certainly benefit our sports teams,” Burroughs

Principal Emilio Urioste said. “But the biggest benefit we will

receive by changing leagues is financial. We estimate that we will

save a great deal of money on bus travel alone.

Urioste also said moving to the new league will benefit the

schools’ student-athletes, who have to be routinely pulled out of

classes early in order to travel with their teams to away league

games.

Another benefit he mentioned is with the Pacific League schools so

much closer than the ones in Santa Clarita, it will make it much

easier for the schools’ parents and supporters to attend games.

With an estimated annual travel budget of $45,000, the

Burbank-area schools make about 70 trips to the Santa Clarita schools

to play games. At an average of $500 per trip, the cost to transport

athletes for league contests is $35,000.

With the addition of two new Santa Clarita schools, Golden Valley

and West Ranch, which will play varsity sports in 2007, those travel

expenses would have increased dramatically.

“ I remember a baseball game last year at Valencia that went into

extra innings,” Gudzin said. “That trip cost us $700.

“You compare the distance we have to travel to the Santa Clarita

schools to going a few miles to Hoover and Glendale, and it’s a huge

financial savings for us. And I don’t know what we would have done if

we were still in the league and we had to travel to two new schools.”

Joining the Pacific League will mean a lot less time on the road

for the Burbank and Burroughs teams. From Hoover to Burbank, it’s

just 4.3 miles, and the trip to Burroughs is 5.9 miles. Getting to

the new schools would be easy for Glendale, as well, as Burbank is

5.7 miles away and Burroughs is 6.4 miles away.

Those trips are substantially closer than the 52-mile round trip

from Burbank to Canyon Country Canyon, or the 54-mile trip to

Valencia or the nearly 60-mile trip to Saugus.

Some coaches are happy with the move in leagues.

“I am so glad that I will be able to wake up in the morning during

the football season in 2006 and know we will be able to compete in a

league game,” Burroughs football Coach Keith Knoop said.

“In the Foothill League we were competitive, but even when we

compete at our best, we are still battling for fifth place. This new

league is a much better fit for us.”

However, there are those who aren’t as excited about the switch.

Said Burbank football Coach Greg Sobiech: “I’ve got to be honest

with you, I’m going to miss the Foothill League. When you play in the

Foothill League, you get respect. I have enjoyed the compositeness of

the league.”

Burroughs baseball Coach Tom Crowther said he can see the

positives and negatives of moving to a new league.

“The Pacific League has some good teams, but they’re nothing like

the teams we see in the Foothill League,” he said. “Finishing among

the top three in the Foothill League is an accomplishment. I think we

lose a little of that in the new league.”