NCS Committee Recommends Massive Overhaul of League Structures

Change is coming.

The North Coast Section Alignment and Classification Committee met Monday and recommended a proposal which would dramatically alter the structure of the Bay Shore Conference, which currently includes the Alameda Contra Costa, Bay Shore, Hayward Area and Mission Valley Athletic Leagues. 

The proposal, which was introduced to the committee in a presentation by NCS commissioner Gil Lemmon at Redwood High in Larkspur, would disband the ACCAL, BSAL and HAAL, while creating two new 12-team leagues (see bottom).

For the proposal to work, Castro Valley High would remain part of the Bay Shore Conference. The school was previously  and the Valley Conference. 

Castro Valley athletic director Andy Popper said the school had gauged the interest in potential "super leagues" of other Bay Shore Conference schools over a year ago, but there didn't seem to be any. This prompted the school to seek membership in the Valley Conference.

"We've always been looking out for the best interest of our athletic program and our students," Popper said. 

With talk of the "super leagues" resurfacing in recent weeks, Castro Valley again became interested. 

"(The super leagues are) exactly what we wanted from the start," Popper said. 

Under the proposed format, which will be voted on by the NCS Board of Managers on April 18, the 12-team leagues would likely be split into two six-team divisions varying from sport to sport. How they are divided would be handled by the specific leagues, and during Monday's meeting Lemmon said it is possible the leagues could have two automatic qualifiers for the NCS playoffs. 

"There will be two proposals that go forward," Lemmon said. "One for the Bay Shore and one for the Valley."

The proposal for the Valley Conference keeps the status quo, although there was much discussion about the possibility of Livermore leaving the East Bay Athletic League for either the Diablo Foothill or Bay Valley Athletic League.

Livermore principal Darrel Avilla informed the committee Livermore would like to remain part of the EBAL despite the school's inability to consistently compete in the league.

One of Lemmon's proposals on Monday moved Livermore to the DFAL where it would be a better fit from a competitve equity standpoint. He said he didn't think Livermore could compete in the current EBAL, but acknowledged the added travel time and cost the switch would create. 

If the proposals are ratified on April 18, they would go into effect for the 2012-2016 alignment cycle. 

New League #1

New League # 2

Mission Valley Athletic League