Preps: North County Conference realignment pushes Del Norte High to Avocado East; Mt. Carmel to replace Torrey Pines in Palomar League for football

By Michael Bower

Del Norte High athletic programs will be moving from the Valley League to the Avocado East and the Mt. Carmel football team will replace Torrey Pines in the Palomar League starting in the fall of 2014.

Those were the key local changes in the realignment proposal, which the 24 principles of North County Conference schools voted on and approved Wednesday.

The realignment for football leagues narrowly passed with a vote of 12-10 with two abstaining.

The CIF Board of Managers, the governing board for high school sports, has to put their stamp of approval on the proposal before it is set in stone, but that is just a formality.

The realignment process takes place every two years and considers factors such as geography, school size and competitive equity.

The Nighthawks are currently in the Valley League, but will now help makeup the Avocado East League along with Mission Hills, San Dieguito Academy, San Marcos, Escondido and San Pasqual.

The aforementioned teams is what the league will look like for all sports except football. The Avocado East League for football will include Del Norte, Mission Hills, Rancho Buena Vista, San Marcos and Vista.

It was no secret that Del Norte was hoping to move to the Palomar League along with Mt. Carmel so all schools within the Poway Unified School District would be in one league.

“I was a little disappointed to be honest,” Nighthawks athletic director Mike Giaime said. “I know it is a very tough thing to do and it is a real challenge to realign the leagues. Our school really wanted to be paired with other Poway Unified School District schools for proximity in regards to transportation costs and just natural rivalries.”

If Del Norte would have landed in the Palomar League, budgeting for transportation costs would have been a breeze compared to what it will be now. The Nighthawks also would have had a better opportunity to make more money at home football games with the PUSD schools being close in proximity.

“With these leagues we have gotten, I am going to really have to do some creative things for the next few years to ensure we don’t have a deficit,” Giaime said.

“But I can’t complain. It is not going to do any good and I don’t want to send the wrong message to our kids. This is who they’re asking us to play and we will strap up and go out and play. I just hope the community goes out and buys tickets. That is the only way our athletic programs will survive. If we can’t sell tickets, it becomes very difficult to manage our programs.”

Rancho Bernardo athletic director Peggy Brose, who is on the nine-person North County Conference realignment committee, would have liked to see all the PUSD schools in one league. But she said there was some push back to that idea.

“I don’t know if they have a good reason to not want us in the same league,” Brose said. “I think the thought is: ‘why do they get to be in one league? Are they something special?’

“You would think they would want us to be together so we can beat the snot out of each other ... My feeling is teams in the same district should be in the same leagues as much as possible.”

The Sundevils moving from the Valley League to the Palomar League for football ensures their rivalry with Poway in the Kiwanis Cup game will be back for two years. The Palomar League for all other sports will remain the same as it was this year.

Here is a look at the approved leagues for the 2014-2015 school year:

Football Leagues

Avocado West: Carlsbad, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, Oceanside, Torrey Pines.

Palomar: Mt. Carmel, Poway, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo, Westview.

Avocado East: Del Norte, Mission Hills, Rancho Buena Vista, San Marcos, Vista.

Valley: Escondido, Fallbrook, Orange Glen, San Pasqual, Valley Center.

All other sports

Avocado West: Carlsbad, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, Rancho Buena Vista, Sage Creek, Vista.

Palomar: Canyon Crest Academy, Mt. Carmel, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Torrey Pines, Westview.

Avocado East: Del Norte, Escondido, Mission Hills, San Dieguito Academy, San Marcos, San Pasqual.

Valley: Fallbrook, Mission Vista, Oceanside, Orange Glen, Ramona, Valley Center.