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Preps: All section champs to receive state berth

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No longer will a team win a San Diego Section championship and fail to advance to a state or regional playoff.

The CIF Board of Managers unanimously approved a proposal Wednesday that was initially recommended by the Southern Section. Now all section champions in boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer as well as boys and girls volleyball advance.

It is then up to the section commissioners to place those teams where they best fit.

That hasn’t been the case.

For example, Escondido won the San Diego Section Boys Division I basketball title last season, but was left out of the Southern California playoffs. In boys volleyball last spring, division champions La Costa Canyon, Valhalla, Helix and Castle Park didn’t advance.

“Our section playoffs are based on a competitive basis,” said San Diego Section Commissioner Jerry Schniepp. “Other sections do it differently, mostly by enrollment.

“So when it came time to determine state playoff qualifiers it was like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.”

Now all section champions will move on to a state or regional game and it’s the responsibility of the commissioners to place their champions in the appropriate spots at the state level.

For instance, a school with a large-enrollment school of 2,500 students could play for a Division IV state title if the commissioners deem it doesn’t pose a mismatch threat at that level.

Conversely, a Division V team - for example La Jolla Country Day girls basketball in several of its dominant seasons - could play for an Open or Division I state crown if the commissioners see that team as the best representative of the section at that level.

“I like this a lot,” Schniepp said. “It eliminates the disappointment of winning a section title and not advancing, and assures our section champions a shot at a Southern California title.”

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Meeting notes

A proposal that would not guarantee league champions an automatic berth in to the playoffs passed.

Instead, a league champion is only guaranteed a play-in game.

“With more leagues and more league champions, we think this is the right thing to do,” Schniepp said. The San Diego Section has a Power Rankings system in place. With that system, league champions could fall outside of the 12 or 16-team playoff field.

Under the old system, that league champion displaced a team with a better Power Ranking.

Now the league champion and the team it would have displaced will meet in a play-in game the Monday before the playoffs start. The league champion would host the game and the winner would advance into the regular playoff bracket.

“This doesn’t work in football because we don’t have the time for a play-in game,” Schniepp said. “But it works in every other sport. And should be a good deal.”

Two new schools - The Cambridge School in Rancho Penasquitos - and Juan Bautista de Anza - in Ramona - have applied for admission to the San Diego Section. Cambridge is a private school while Juan Bautista de Anza is a charter school and is part of the Borrego Springs Unified. Schools must field teams in four boys and four girls sports to be considered for admission to the San Diego Section. The Board of Managers has concerns about both schools and will address those concerns before the next meeting in January.

Southwestern College will host the section football championships while Canyon Crest Academy and Cathedral Catholic will host girls volleyball. The field hockey championships will be played at San Dieguito Academy.

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