Every four years there is a relieving cycle where schools in the Southern Section of California come together to decide if they want to leave or re-join the sports leagues they compete in. The latest relieving cycle has led to a change in what was the Pacific View League. Three schools, Santa Barbara, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos, have joined the league which will now be called the Channel League. 

“Even though we think Pacific View [since] we’ve been in it [more] recently, Buena was actually part of Channel League first,” Athletic director Shaun Strople said. “As a result of it being one of the longest standing names, it has a lot of tradition.” 

The change was prompted by Santa Ynez, Cabrillo and Lompoc high schools who decided to longer be part of the South Central section in favor of the Central Coast section. This left the Santa Barbara schools without a league, leading to them asking to join the Pacific View league. 

“It was for multiple reasons but that’s what they decided was best for them,” Strople said.

This reorganizing disproportionately affected the three Santa Barbara high schools, who were left without a league to compete in. Schools across the southern section voted and agreed that Santa Barbara would join the Channel league. 

This change will affect the number of games in a season. Each team will play eight games, with the exception of football which will have nine. The season itself does not get longer. The amount of league games will become eight for almost all teams, football will have nine. 

“90% of our season will be league games, which means 90% of our games will directly affect our ability to make the playoffs,” Head Coach of football Ryan Bolland said. “So, it’s important for us to prepare a little bit more quickly [since] the games will matter more early on.” 

Football will have more games because Channel Islands high school decided to remain in the Channel League, while its other sports will be in the Citrus League. This decision was made so that there will be five automatic playoff spots and more teams will have the chance to compete

“Football is a whole other vote, it’s all sports and then football,” Strople said. “We didn’t want four when we can have five automatic spots, so Channel Islands was voted to stay for football but to be part of the Citrus Coast for all other sports.” 

The three Santa Barbara schools were not the only ones added to the new football league. Oxnard schools are also being added to the football league now.

“Adding in Oxnard and Pacifica will have a greater effect in my opinion since we didn’t play them last year,” Bolland said. “We played Dos Pueblos and San Marcos last year and beat them.” 

 Adding more teams to a division could make it more difficult for our teams to qualify for CIF, but not impossible. A coach has the opportunity to show their non-season or non-league games and if the team is above 500, they have a chance for a spot in the playoffs. 

“There is still opportunity for those teams even though their league schedule might be a little more difficult,” Strople said. “[But] there are other programs, like girls and boys soccer, where you do not know who is going to win because all teams are really good.” 

The change in leagues may be a challenge, but one thing is clear, next year no game will be easy and all athletes will have to consistently perform their best on a constant basis. It is a good opportunity to grow as individual athletes against other skilled teams. 

“With the new leagues our goals [are still the same], we want to beat the rival school and, of course, try to win in our league,” Bolland said. “This year it’ll be challenging but we still have the same goals.”