Newest proposal could add to TCAL
The Sac-Joaquin Section held its second realignment meeting on Thursday, and though some ideas were voted on and others shot down, nothing is set in stone with two more meetings scheduled.
Two main ideas involve the Tri-City Athletic League, home to both Lodi and Tokay. One that’s been up for discussion since the first meeting is the idea of moving Modesto Christian to the TCAL for boys basketball only, and the other would move Kimball, the third public school in Tracy, from the Valley Oak League to the TCAL to join Tracy and West.
“Nope. Nothing is set in concrete,” said Will DeBoard, the section’s Director of Communications. “Kimball is involved in a handful of other proposals, and it would not surprise me if that comes up again.”
The Kimball proposal was approved 5-4. The Modesto Christian proposal wasn’t voted on, but was discussed a fair amount, according to DeBoard.
“That was talked about quite a bit as to where they should go and if the TCAL is the strongest basketball league in the south,” he said. “My guess is that is something else that will be talked about more.”
While proposals for the northern part of the section were discussed, one that involved the south was a proposed shuffling between the Modesto Metro Conference, the Central California Conference, the Western Athletic Conference and the VOL. That proposal was shot down by a 7-2 vote of the realignment committee.
Tokay athletic director Michael Holst said he feels the Kimball move is a more natural fit than the Modesto Christian move, even if the biggest benefactor of the move is Kimball and not the Lodi schools.
“This is something we knew Kimball wanted. They’re kind of a fit geographically. Instead of playing in the SJAA, at least they get a couple of league games in Tracy,” Holst said. “It’s not always about what’s best for you, it’s got to work best for everybody.”
As far as Modesto Christian playing in what would then be a seven-team TCAL (eight for boys basketball), he wasn’t as optimistic.
“It’s a tough one. Nobody wants them, and for good reason,” he said. “They’re a legitimate open division contender each year, and the kids they have playing for them are elite-level kids. There’s that aspect, there’s the aspect that it doesn’t make sense geographically. You look at Tracy, and there’s not much difference mileagewise, but those teams have been in our league since SJAA expanded to eight.”
He said the idea comes about mostly because the TCAL is the only Division I league in the south, though there are leagues with higher enrollment and more postseason success.
“The other side of it for me is, you do what you have to do, play who you have to play and call it a day,” Holst said. “It’s complicated. I’m glad it’s not my job to figure this whole thing out. It’s multi-faceted, and you have a lot more schools now that kind of makes it jumbled.”