Posted by Zach Ewing, The Bakersfield Californian, on January 31, 2012 League Realignment Gets Closer To Reality
A new league alignment for Kern County's high school sports teams is one step closer to reality after Wednesday's Central Section Board of Managers meeting in Porterville.
The Board of Managers heard the final proposal, which moves Garces into the Southwest Yosemite League and takes Independence out, and moved it along for a final vote in May with little discussion, section commissioner Jim Crichlow said.
"I expect it will pass easily," he said.
Independence would then join a yet-to-be-named league with East, Golden Valley, Ridgeview, Tehachapi and West. A third league would contain Foothill, Highland, Mira Monte, North and South.
The changes would take effect for the 2014-15 school year.
Also discussed at the meeting and moved on for final vote in May was a proposal to move all section volleyball championships to one location in time for next fall. The championship locale would rotate between north area (Fresno and Madera Counties) to central area (Tulare and Kings Counties) to south area (Kern County) every three years.
Crichlow said football could be headed toward one-site finals, too. A Fresno group led by businessman Bob Kayajanian is drafting a proposal that all football section championships be held at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno. Crichlow advised Kayajanian to iron out a few more details in the proposal and present it at the May meeting. The final vote could then take place next fall.
Posted by Zach Ewing, The Bakersfield Californian, on January 29, 2012 Tomorrow's Central Section
Board of Managers Meeting Is Important
Tomorrow's Central Section Board of Mangers meeting starts at about 9:30 a.m. By lunchtime, Kern County's high school sports landscape likely will look significantly different.
The league realignment proposal I've written about before is up for a final vote, and section commissioner Jim Crichlow said today he expects it to be approved. As a refresher, the proposal moves Garces into the Southwest Yosemite League in place of Independence. The other two city leagues would undergo more drastic changes, resulting in the following structure.
Southwest Yosemite League
Bakersfield
Centennial
Frontier
Garces
Liberty
Stockdale
League No. 2 (yet to be named)
East
Golden Valley
Independence
Ridgeview
Tehachapi
West
League No. 3 (yet to be named)
Foothill
Highland
Mira Monte
North
South
If approved, the new league structure would still be open to appeal (Garces, the school most impacted, said a month ago it would not appeal) and go into effect for the 2014-15 school year.
But that's not the only significant happenings at tomorrow's BOM meeting. The board also will hear a proposal to move the section volleyball championship finals to one site, much like is done with basketball at Selland Arena in Fresno. The proposal calls for the volleyball finals to rotate between the north area (Fresno/Madera County), central area (Tulare/Kings County) and south area (Kern County) each year.
The volleyball proposal will be heard tomorrow but won't be voted on until May at the earliest. If approved, it could go into effect as early as next year.
Finally, the board will finalize division placement for spring sports playoffs. Schools will have a chance to appeal those placements before they're finalized.
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