Last Wednesday, The California Interscholastic Federation Sac Joaquin Section presented a league realignment proposal that could send Roseville High School to the Division III Tri-County Conference.

As it exists now, the current proposal would result in 56 out of the 189 schools in the section to switch leagues and over 45 of them to switch divisions for the 2018-19 through 2021-22 school years. RHS is a school that falls under both of these categories and, in the proposal, would move from the Division II Capital Valley Conference to the Division III TCC.

Realignments come every four years, as an SJS realignment committee evaluates the competitive strengths and capabilities of its schools’ athletic programs and places schools in divisions and leagues that it deems fit. In the last reshuffling in 2014, the committee moved RHS from the Division I Sierra Foothills League to the Division II CVC.  

RHS athletic director Emily Dodds is fighting against RHS’ league switch in the current proposal and, along with many RHS coaches, wants RHS to stay in the CVC. Dodds sent an email to RHS coaches to inform them of the SJS proposal and her plan to combat the move to the TCC this week.

Dodds plans to provide an alternate proposal concerning schools currently within the CVC and TCC leagues at the SJS realignment committee second meeting on Thursday, Jan. 12.

She plans to argue for RHS to remain in the CVC for multiple reasons.

One reason she provides is that RHS has shown competitive equity in terms of athletics amongst schools in the CVC, finishing in the top four every year that it has been a part of the league’s All Sport Competition.

According to Dodds, TCC schools do not mirror RHS’ number of sports programs or levels. These differences could force RHS to add or remove coaches if they were placed in the TCC.

Rio Linda High School currently competes in the Division III TCC league. The SJS’ proposal aims to move RLHS into the CVC, where RHS currently sits, though RLHS would prefer to remain in the TCC due to competitive equity and so, in the upcoming realignment meeting, it will request to do so.

Because of this, RHS’ proposal will be a joint proposal with RLHS that would request RHS to remain in the Division II CVC and RLHS to remain in the Division III TCC. Dodds says that all current and proposed CVC schools, with the exception of Yuba City High School (YCHS has expressed concerns about the strength of RHS’ football program in conjunction with those of other proposed CVC schools, as it is one of the four high schools proposed to transition to the CVC), have approved of this combined request.

Varsity girls basketball coach Josh Errecart is against the section realignment and believes that the decision to switch around the schools again has come too soon.

“I don’t like that we are already reconsidering realignment after just four years,” Errecart said. “I think we took a big blow four years ago, moving from the SFL to the CVC. I think it has taken a long time to start building rivalries back up again, and it has taken a long time to feel like a part of another league and to change that again after only four years is going to be another struggle.”

RHS’ Athletic Department will hold a meeting for all coaches next Monday at 6 p.m. in RM 600 to further discuss the realignment proposal and what it means for RHS moving forward.