JJ SAYS: Change is not always progress

New league alignment not good for Petaluma and Casa Grande.|

The smoke hasn’t yet cleared from the tragedy that will forever link Sonoma and Napa counties. Mendocino and Lake counties have all felt the burn, but it was Napa and Sonoma counties that took the full force of the firestorm.

It is a reminder of how close the two counties are geographically, that is true, but it still doesn’t mean that we have to play ball with them.

Right now, high school athletics are the farthest thing from people’s minds, thoughts and prayers. They are so far down on the area’s priority list as to be totally obscured by the smoke.

But, athletics are an important part of the lives of people, and especially high school athletes.

Through the diligent work of the heroic first responders from all over Northern California, the immediate danger is pretty well past, although it will be weeks and perhaps months before the fires are full extinguished. And it will be much longer before most people will be able to enjoy normal lives.

But life will go on and sports will be an important part of the healing process for hundreds of young athletes and their families.

In light of what is happening all around us, it might sound trivial to complain or even discuss the new league realignment, but come next spring, when the horror of the last two weeks is more memory than reality, young athletes and school administrations will feel the impact of that decision by the North Coast Section.

The California Interscholastic Federation North Coast Section Board of Managers unanimously approved last week a restructuring that will lump Napa, Vintage, American Canyon, Justin-Siena, Sonoma Valley, Petaluma and Casa Grande into an as-yet unnamed league in the North Coast Section.

The remaining “large” schools from Sonoma County - Analy, Cardinal Newman, El Molino, Elsie Allen, Healdsburg, Maria Carrillo, Montgomery, Piner, Rancho Cotate, Santa Rosa, Ukiah and Windsor - will be placed in what has been called a “Super League.”

There will be two divisions, an upper and a lower. Teams will be rearranged once every two years based on their performance. Placement would be by individual sports.

We’ve written about this before, but now it’s official and it will happen.

Napa, Vintage, American Canyon and Justin-Siena come out winners. They get into a geographically closer and, at least for Napa, Vintage and American Canyon, a much less competitive league in most sports, especially football.

The Napa schools are larger than the Petaluma schools (except for Casa Grande, which currently has about the same enrollment as Vintage) and growing rapidly. American Canyon, with its college-like campus and sports facilities, has an especially bright athletic future.

The Super League experiment is interesting, although there will be a multitude of unforeseen and unintended side effects.

The real losers are Petaluma, Casa Grande and Sonoma Valley. In general, they are going to struggle to compete in most sports, except where they have exceptional programs as Petaluma does in softball and girls volleyball and Sonoma Valley does in volleyball.

There is also tradition to consider. The Egg Bowl will continue, since Casa and Petaluma will be in the same league, but gone will be one of the most historic football rivalries ever in the North Bay - Santa Rosa vs. Petaluma. Also gone will be the longtime intense rivalry between Montgomery and Casa Grande.

The competitive side is important, but of more concern is the travel. Napa is more-or-less the same distance from Petaluma as are the Santa Rosa schools and even closer for Sonoma Valley.

But it would be a traffic jammed journey along Highway 37, or alternative routes. Most Petaluma and Casa teams travel by private car. Do we really want our young adults buzzing up and down Highway 37 in the middle of winter?

Not all change is progress.

(Contact John Jackson at johnie.jackson@arguscourier.com)

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