I’m sure Nightingale likes the perks of being the league winner (home playoff games) but I’m sure he would also prefer better competition. SPSV, always good, bailed on Salesian this year, not sure why but at least that game was replaced with a strong Sac team Inderkum. St. Mary’s also bailed (good decision, no point in that slaughter) but apparently late enough that he couldn’t find anyone other than Kennedy to play. Middletown & McClymonds are good competition in the other non-league games, though it’s also unfortunate that Swett is still on the schedule.

I didn’t say these leagues are about boosting a team’s computer ranking on Cal Preps. But go back and look at those ratings. What I noticed is that there aren’t large differences between the highest rating and the lowest rating. The Lake has the largest gap with the high being 0 and the low being 33.5.

Let’s compare to the affected East Bay leagues. In the BSAL, the gap between the highest rated team (Encinal) and the lowest (Albany) is 56.8. In the ACCAL, it’s 57.1 between Pinole Valley and De Anza. In the HAAL, it’s 48.9 between O’Dowd and Mt. Eden.

To round out, the PAL-Bay high to low gap is 26.5 and the PAL-Ocean is 30.4. That shows me those leagues are much closer to each other top to bottom. Competitive equity doesn’t mean every team is good. It means teams in the same league are comparable. These numbers (and I don’t live and die by them, but they were brought up so I’m using them) show those leagues have more competitive equity.

There’s a Executive Board that then determines the divisions. Schools can request a switch of divisions with the commissioner. If a school disagrees with a division placement, it can file an appeal.

That sounds like a very fair process to me.

Appeal of Division Placement -
5.1 All members schools are required to submit to the League Commissioner, by the date requested,
the Team Summary and Profile Report/End of Season Summary Form. The completed report is
to be signed by the principal, the athletic director and the coach. If these reports are not
received by the due date the penalty is as follows:(5/20/08)
• First Infraction -
Schools not submitting the required completed form(s) on time will be fined $25 per sport for
that school year and season.
• Second Infraction – Schools not submitting the required completed form(s ) on time for the
next sport season will be fined $50 per sport for that school year and season.
• Third Infraction – Schools not submitting the required completed forms on time for the next
sport season will be fined $100 per sport for for that school year and season.
• Schools that do not submit the form on time will not be allowed to appeal any league movement.
(6/23/06)
5.2 Failure to remit payment in 30 days will incur a 20% late fee. If this payment is not received
in 30 days procedures as outlined in Article 3, Section 3 Delinquent Fee/Dues Policy will apply.
(6/23/06)
5.3 Schools wanting to appeal their division placement as set by the BVAL Executive Board shall
request an appeals hearing and must inform the Commissioner if they are requesting a change
with another school. (5/24/01)(moved from Sec 5 5/20/08)
5.4 The appeal board is chaired by the BVAL Past President, two appointed principals, and 3
Athletic Director’s selected by the BVAL Athletic Directors. (5/24/01) (moved from Sec 5
(5/20/08)