Proposal for Releaguing Would Restore Del Rey : Prep football: Crespi, Alemany, Bishop Amat, St. Paul, St. John Bosco and Loyola would be bunched for two seasons starting in ’92.
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After a two-year hiatus, the now-defunct Del Rey League likely will be pulled from mothballs and reformed for two seasons beginning in the fall of 1992, pending Southern Section approval of a series of releaguing proposals made by the Catholic Athletic Assn.
Del Rey League teams would play at the Division I level in football and the league would be composed of Crespi, Alemany, Bishop Amat, St. Paul, St. John Bosco and Loyola, the defending Division I champion.
The proposal is subject to the formal approval of the Southern Section General Council, which meets Sept. 19 to hear any appeals regarding the sweeping plan.
Under the proposed changes:
* Crespi, Loyola and Alemany would play in the Del Rey League only in football and in the Mission League in all remaining sports.
* The Mission League would compete at the Division III level in football with Bishop Montgomery, Chaminade, Harvard, Notre Dame, St. Bernard and St. Francis as members. St. Francis would compete in the Mission League only in football, and in the Del Rey in all other sports.
* In all sports except football, the Mission League would be composed of Alemany, Chaminade, Crespi, Harvard, Louisville, Loyola, Bishop Montgomery, Notre Dame and St. Bernard.
* The Del Rey League, in all sports except football, would be composed of Bishop Amat, Bosco Tech, Pius X, St. Anthony, St. Francis, St. John Bosco, St. Joseph and St. Paul.
* The San Fernando League would be split and reformed as the Santa Fe and Camino Real leagues. In football, the Santa Fe, which would compete at the Division IX level, would be composed of Bell-Jeff, Cathedral, La Salle, Murphy, Pater Noster, Salesian and St. Genevieve.
* In all other sports, Bell-Jeff and St. Genevieve would compete in the Camino Real League along with Cantwell, La Salle, Serra, St. Monica, St. Mary’s Academy and Heart of Mary.
* The Santa Fe League, in all sports except football, would include Cathedral, Murphy, Mary Star, Pater Noster, Salesian and Verbum Dei.
The proposal would send Crespi and Alemany back into the upper echelon of Southern Section football. Both teams played at the Division III level last season as members of the Mission League. Both schools again will play in the Mission League in 1991-92 as the two-year releaguing cycle is completed.
As a member of the Del Rey League in 1986, Crespi won the Big Five Conference title. And though the terminology has since been changed to Division I, the competition remains just as stiff.
“It’s nice to be in Division I again, but we’ll be fighting for a playoff spot every year in that league,” Crespi Coach Tim Lins said of the Del Rey. “We’ll have to be ready to play top-notch football every week, and that’s a challenge.”
Notre Dame, which has a long-standing rivalry with Crespi, would remain at the Division III level in football as part of the Mission League. Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin Rooney, who also is the school’s football coach, admitted he has mixed emotions about the possible separation, but said that he is trying to schedule nonleague games against Crespi and Alemany in the fall of 1992.
“I’m a little disappointed that Crespi and Alemany won’t be in the league for football,” Rooney said. “But we hope to keep (the rivalry) alive by scheduling them in preseason games.”
Said Lins: “We’d love to be able to pull that off. I don’t know if it’ll happen, but we’d like to play.”
The Del Rey would be the lone Division I football league containing member schools of the Catholic Athletic Assn. Perennial CAA powerhouses Servite and Mater Dei are scheduled to compete in public-school leagues in Orange County beginning in 1992.
Rooney said the Mission League would play at the 5-A level in baseball.
Catholic Athletic Assn. Football Releaguing Proposal
DEL REY LEAGUE
Division I
Alemany
Bishop Amat
Crespi
Loyola
St. John Bosco
St. Paul
MISSION LEAGUE
Division III
Bishop Montgomery
Chaminade
Harvard
Notre Dame
St. Bernard
St. Francis
CAMINO REAL LEAGUE
Division VII
Cantwell
Mary Star
Pius X
Serra
St. Anthony
St. Monica
Verbum Dei
SANTA FE LEAGUE
Division IX
Bell-Jeff
Cathedral
La Salle
Murphy
Pater Noster
Salesian
St. Genevieve
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