PREP FOOTBALL : City Plan Balances Divisions

In an attempt to balance competition in the high school football playoffs, the City Section has adopted a new format for next season that will double the number of teams in the 4-A Division.

The adopted plan calls for each of the City’s six conferences to have one 4-A league and one 3-A league. This means there will be 24 teams in 4-A and 25 teams in 3-A.

Last season, the 4-A had only 12 teams in three leagues. The remaining 37 schools competed in 3-A.

The 4-A leagues will be made up of teams with the best conference records from last year, and the 3-A leagues will consist of the other four teams from each conference. Since the Southeastern Conference has nine teams, five will be placed in 3-A.

Although several 3-A coaches are upset at moving up to 4-A, City officials say they are simply responding to earlier complaints regarding imbalance.

“A lot of people weren’t happy with what we had last year, so we’re trying something new,” said Lee Joseph, a City athletic administrator. “I still have some concerns for some of the 3-A schools that are moving up, but I guess they’ll have to learn to compete with the big boys.”

Poly of Sun Valley defeated Los Angeles Wilson in the 3-A championship game last season. Both teams will move up to 4-A next season.

“Basing the divisions on a one-year record is ridiculous,” Poly Coach Fred Cuccia said. “I don’t care if we’re in the 4-A, but it would have been more equitable to look at a broader period of time. Then you can see a trend.”

Poly was 9-3 last season but 8-29-1 in the four previous years.

All 12 teams in the 4-A qualified for the playoffs last season, including Reseda Cleveland (0-9-1).

CITY REALIGNMENT

City Section football conference alignment for 1991.

COASTAL CONFERENCE

4-A league: Fairfax, Manual Arts, Venice, Westchester

3-A league: Hamilton, Los Angeles, Palisades, University

NORTHERN CONFERENCE

4-A league: Belmont, Eagle Rock, Lincoln, Wilson

3-A league: Franklin, Hollywood, Marshall, Verdugo Hills

NORTHWEST VALLEY CONFERENCE

4-A league: El Camino Real, Granada Hills, San Fernando, Taft

3-A league: Chatsworth, Cleveland, Kennedy, Reseda

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

4-A league: Bell, Garfield, Locke, South Gate

3-A league: Fremont, Huntington Park, Jefferson, Jordan, Roosevelt

SOUTHERN PACIFIC CONFERENCE

4-A league: Carson, Banning, Dorsey, Gardena

3-A league: Crenshaw, San Pedro, Narbonne, Washington

VALLEY PAC-EIGHT CONFERENCE

4-A league: Sylmar, Birmingham, North Hollywood, Poly

3-A league: Canoga Park, Grant, Monroe, Van Nuys

NOTE: League names have not been announced.