LAKE ELSINORE – It might still be the school year 2022-2023 but on Monday at Rancho Mirage High School the Citrus Belt Area Athletic Directors Association met to sort out new leagues for 2024-2026.
There were not a lot of changes to affect the valley but the proposal submitted by Lakeside High School which prevailed does have one big change.
Two of Lake Elsinore Unified School District’s three high schools will have new leagues as a result of this proposal. Elsinore and Temescal Canyon were reassigned to the Mountain Pass League after spending this current cycle as members of the Raincross Conference.
“We feel like this move will make travel better for us in the long run,” Elsinore athletic director Don Nicholson said via email. “Mountain Pass League schools are closer to us and the trips will not require us to use the 60/215 connection. Also, because we are going to play the same school on the same day we can put multiple teams on the same bus, taking some pressure off our transportation staff.”
For every school or league happy with a change there is someone displeased.
“It’s a sad day for Hemet/San Jacinto area teams,” West Valley volleyball coach Shaun Pulsipher said via social media. “A group of coaches from Tahquitz, West Valley and San Jacinto got together and talked about the news and we don’t see how this helps our schools or student-athletes at all. It takes us back to when Hemet and Beaumont were in the Pass and we were all competing for third place in most sports.”
They’ll replace Liberty (Menifee) and Perris who were moved into the Raincross Conference. Also joining the Raincross Conference will be three Riverside area schools in Arlington, Citrus Hill and Hillcrest.
“We are thankful to the Mountain Pass League for allowing us to start our school and develop our programs in their league,” Bison athletic director Scott Moore said. “I care about all of my programs being able to compete for league titles and playoff berths and feel moving to the Raincross Conference will give us that opportunity. Our athletes should not have to worry about lopsided outcomes of games so we can save money on transportation. It might create more work to track where our teams are going or who is coming here but in the end it’s about the student-athletes, not us adults.”
As a result of the meeting, here are the new look leagues. Once again these are effective with the 2024-2025 school year.
Mountain Pass: San Jacinto, Tahquitz, Hemet West Valley, Elsinore and Temescal Canyon
Raincross Conference: Canyon Springs, Hemet, Heritage, JW North, Lakeside, Moreno Valley, Orange Vista, Paloma Valley, Rancho Verde, Riverside Poly, Valley View, Vista Del Lago, Rancho Christian, Arlington, Liberty, Perris, Citrus Hill and Hillcrest
Remember that in the Raincross Conference there are three leagues and a school is placed into a league based on success in each sport. Its leagues are the Ivy, Sunbelt and Inland Valley (listed in order of difficulty).
In addition, it was announced that the newly formed Big West Conference (football only) will remain for the upcoming cycle. This conference combines the Southwestern and Big VIII Leagues into two leagues of six based on competitive equity for just football.
Derryl Trujillo can be reached at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
