Put PHS, Casa in same league

Suggested high school alignment would include all private-school leagues.|

Editor’s Note: Frequent Argus-Courier contributor Scott Baker has his own proposal for North Coast Section realignment as Napa schools American Canyon, Vintage, Napa and Justin-Siena join the North Coast Section. Baker’s proposals go beyond NCS realignment.

First, the Catholic schools in the North and East Bay should have their own league because they have some built-in competitive advantages in recruiting and fundraising:

Catholice League North: Marin Catholic, Cardinal Newman, De La Salle, Bishop O’Dowd, St. Joseph’s, St. Ignatius.

Catholice League South: Archbishop Mitty, Bellarmine Prep, Junipero Serra, Sacred Heart Prep, Archbishop Riordan, St Francis.

Wouldn’t it be fun to see De La Salle play in the North Bay occasionally? The schools above represent approximately half the top 25 sports schools in the Bay Area, and are on another level (De La Salle is in another football universe).

Second, there should be schools of relatively equal size playing in relatively close proximity in our North Bay area:

Marin-Napa North: American Canyon, Vintage, Napa, Novato, San Marin.

Marin-Napa South: Tamalpais, Drake, San Rafael, Terra Linda, Redwood.

Private School Division-North & East Bay: Justin-Siena, Branson, Salesian, Marin Academy, Sonoma Academy, St Mary’s, Berean Christian.

Justin-Siena and Salesian may dominate this division, and apply to join the Catholic league.

Redwood Empire Large School North: Ukiah, Montgomery, Maria Carillo, Santa Rosa, Windsor, Ft. Bragg.

Redwood Empire Large School South: Sonoma, Petaluma, Casa Grande, Analy, Piner, Rancho Cotate.

Redwood Empire Small School North: Willits, Healdsburg, Middletown, Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Lower Lake.

Redwood Empire Small School South: St Vincent, El Molino, Elsie Allen, St. Helena, Cloverdale, Calistoga.

Beyond this, I believe there are even smaller schools playing 8-man football and with other sports programs that don’t line up (Tomales is now playing Point Arena, Upper Lake, and the like).

Each league would be set up like the current Pac-12 or Big 10, where you play everyone within your own division plus a few from the other similar-sized division. There would be a championship game between the two leagues.

I’m not sure if Fort Bragg would survive with all the big dogs in Santa Rosa, but they’re awfully good in sports. Similarly, perhaps Calistoga could not hang with the St. Helenas and St. Vincents, but it’s worth a try.

Petaluma would be in a league similar to the last iteration of the Sonoma County League, perhaps not as competitive in football, but competitive in everything else. This would seem to be fairest to Elsie Allen, Healdsburg and El Molino, which are falling into small-school status, either by enrollment or competitive ability.

Another option would be for teams to play in different leagues for different sports (similar to some college leagues), especially football and basketball where lopsided high-school defeats are so demoralizing and perhaps even injury causing.

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