Big Four proposal crumbles at realignment meeting

After being carefully built up all morning at the Sac-Joaquin Section realignment meeting, the house of cards that is the Big Four proposal came tumbling down in the afternoon session Thursday at The Reserve at Spanos Park.

The four largest conferences in The Bee’s Stanislaus District – the Modesto Metro Conference, Central California Conference, Valley Oak League and Western Athletic Conference – had worked out a unified counter-proposal to the section’s initial plan, which was unveiled at the first realignment meeting Dec. 14.

Though the CCC withdrew its support at the 11th hour, commissioners Ed Felt (MMC), Norm Antinetti (VOL) and Kerry McWilliams (WAC) made their pitch to the realignment committee, and it seemed to have ample support.

Under the revised plan, Downey would remain in a revamped MMC, which includes Enochs, Gregori, Modesto, Turlock and Pitman; the WAC would welcome in Beyer, Davis, Johansen and Trans-Valley League refugee Mountain House; the CCC would take on Central Valley and Patterson to replace Turlock and Pitman; and the VOL wouldn’t change at all.

But committee member Erin Aitken questioned whether Lathrop and Weston Ranch should remain in the VOL based on their competitive equity score.

“It’s hard, I understand that,” said Aitken, an athletic director at Lodi High who is serving on her second realignment committee. “Overall, I thought the rest of the proposal was good. But competitive equity is No. 1 for me.”

A motion to adopt the Big Four plan was defeated 7-2.

The committee then took up the issue of Tracy’s Kimball High, headed for the San Joaquin Athletic Association under the section’s recommendation.

Kimball principal Robert Pecot sent a letter to the committee stating his desire to remain in the VOL. Failing that, Pecot said he favored the Tri-City Athletic League over the SJAA.

When the committee approved Kimball’s entrance into the TCAL, the Big Four plan was, effectively, dead since it called for the current VOL remaining intact.

“Why did they even bring that up?” said Antinetti, referring to the Kimball issue. “Going to the TCAL is not even Kimball’s top choice.”

At this point, in regard to Stanislaus District conferences, everything reverts back to the section’s original proposal, with the exception of Denair, Orestimba and Riverbank.

The committee voted to allow Denair and Orestimba to remain in the Southern League – Denair had been earmarked for the Central California Athletic Association and Orestimba for the TVL – while Riverbank gets to stay in the TVL rather than moving to the SL.

“Our goal now is to try again,” said Central Valley athletic director Greg Magni, the architect of a counter-proposal on Dec. 14 that became the framework of the Big Four plan. “The committee clearly stated that the biggest issue with our proposal was Lathrop and Weston Ranch remaining in the VOL, even though it was their desire to remain.

“So now we’re giving relief to two schools and throwing four schools – Los Banos, Pacheco, Patterson and Central Valley – into a very challenging competitive-equity situation.”

Mother Lode League member Linden campaigned for a spot in the SL, but that was shot down and they’ll remain in the revamped TVL.

The Big Four plan dominated much of the talk in the morning session that allowed for public comments.

Beyer, Davis, Downey, Enochs, Gregori, Johansen and Modesto wish to remain together in the MMC. Failing that – and it appears the schools are destined to be split – the Modesto City Schools would rather be moved into two conferences rather than three, as the section suggested in its original proposal.

Felt, Beyer principal Dan Park, Downey principal Richard Baum, Johansen principal Nathan Schar, Davis athletic director Tim Garcia, and Modesto City Schools’ director of educational services Mike Coats all addressed the committee to lend their support for a plan that divvies up the Modesto schools between the MMC and Western Athletic Conference.

That, now, is up in the air.

Every four years, the Sac-Joaquin Section restructures its athletic conferences to ensure competitive balance. Beginning with the 2018-19 school year, the section will once again shuffle the deck.

The next realignment meeting is slated for Jan. 26 at The Reserve at Spanos Park’s banquet room.

This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Big Four proposal crumbles at realignment meeting."