Unlike professional and college athletics, high school athletics is not always about wins and losses. It’s also about giving student-athletes as positive an experience as possible, which is why the Peninsula Athletic League was formed in the mid-1990s and why the Central Coast Section and California Interscholastic Federation continue to tweak their playoff formats. The goal is to make games as competitive as possible.
Which is why the PAL needs to look at its three-division format in girls’ soccer, specifically. Because for the second year in a row, it’s looking like there are some major discrepancies.
As things currently stand, PAL girls’ soccer is divided into three divisions of six teams each. It was mostly done to ensure that the Lake Division, the least competitive of three divisions, maintains league status in the eyes of CCS, which allows a CCS playoff berth to the division winner.
That’s all fine and dandy, but at what cost? For the second time in as many seasons, the goal of competitive balance has been knocked out of whack.
The bottom line is, there are more than six teams good enough to play in the Bay Division and you can look to the Ocean Division the last two seasons to see it. Last year, it was an Aragon squad that outscored its Ocean Division opponents by a combined score of 69-1 while going 9-0-1. This season, it’s Carlmont that has taken the Dons’ place atop the Ocean Division standings, having outscored its six division opponents 36-1. A perennial Bay Division and CCS contender, there was a lot of head scratching after the Scots were relegated to the Ocean for the 2021-22 season and they are showing their discontent by destroying Ocean Division competition.
So how does this get fixed? First off, get away from trying to make everything equal. There is a group of teams in the Lake Division that simply do not possess the talent, drive or desire to turn their teams into competitive sides. Those schools will always be at the bottom of the standings, no matter which division in which they play.
The bottom line is this: there is no doubt Carlmont is a Bay Division team, just as San Mateo is an Ocean Division team. Gets those programs into the right divisions next season, even if it means unbalanced schedules or no playoff berth for a Lake Division champion.
That would make the Bay Division a seven-team division, six in the Ocean and five in the Lake. Or, make a seven- or eight-team Bay Division, with the other nine to 10 programs playing in the Ocean. At the very least, it should prevent the 7-0 win by Carlmont over Capuchino, or San Mateo’s 10-0 win over Jefferson. As it stands right now, 10 teams, from the Ocean and Lake divisions combined, are not having much fun or competitive games this season.
Many will look at the horrible interception thrown by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo that sealed the win for Los Angeles.
Or, people will look at the dropped interception by 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt, which could have flipped the script for the game. There will also be, of course, second-guessing of the play calling by head coach Kyle Shanahan.
None of which, in a vacuum, led specifically to the 49ers’ loss. Instead, it was all the things fans have complained about that all came together Sunday. Garoppolo probably doesn’t throw the interception if the offensive line had given him any kind of time on a fourth-and-12 play in the shadow of their own end zone with just over 30 seconds to play. The secondary struggled again, the Tartt drop not withstanding. The 49ers had no answers for Cooper Kupp or Odell Beckham Jr. The defense failed to get stops on third down or get any kind of real pressure on LA quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Throw in some dubious play calling from the coaching staff and it added up to just their third loss in 12 games.
But don’t pick and choose which player or play was “the one” that cost the 49ers a trip to the Super Bowl. Like the old saying goes: win as a team, lose as a team. The 49ers — all of them — are responsible for Sunday’s loss.
If there is a silver lining, at least the inevitable 49ers-Garoppolo divorce will be a lot easier now that there isn’t a Super Bowl hanging over the team.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.